/ en-us �鶹��Ժ internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: �鶹��Ժics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. As the global demand for clean and sustainable energy continues to surge, the photovoltaic sector remains at the forefront of this transition. Lead halide perovskite solar cells (LHPs) have long been celebrated for their remarkable power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), which have rapidly progressed to over 26% for single-junction cells. However, despite their outstanding performance, the widespread commercialization of LHPs faces persistent challenges. /news/2025-07-high-bazrs-solar-cells-powered.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 07 Jul 2025 11:10:01 EDT news671105187 Traditional medical tests often require clinical samples to be sent off-site for analysis in a time-intensive and expensive process. Point-of-care diagnostics are instead low-cost, easy-to-use, and rapid tests performed at the site of patient care. Recently, researchers at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology reported new and optimized techniques to develop better biosensors for the early detection of disease biomarkers. /news/2025-07-nanoscale-advance-biosensing.html Bio & Medicine Nanophysics Tue, 01 Jul 2025 17:52:04 EDT news670611122 How does a cloud stay cool under direct sunlight—or seem to vanish in infrared? In nature, phenomena like white cumulus clouds, gray storm systems, and even the hollow hairs of polar bears offer remarkable lessons in balancing temperature, color and invisibility. Inspired by these atmospheric marvels, researchers have now created a nanoscale "cloud" metasurface capable of dynamically switching between white and gray states—cooling or heating on demand—all while evading thermal detection. /news/2025-06-nano-clouds-temperature-outwit-sensors.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 30 Jun 2025 13:05:03 EDT news670507501 Optical biosensors use light waves as a probe to detect molecules, and are essential for precise medical diagnostics, personalized medicine, and environmental monitoring. /news/2025-06-scientists-illuminating-biosensor.html Optics & Photonics Quantum �鶹��Ժics Thu, 26 Jun 2025 07:05:18 EDT news670140313 Blue phosphorescent OLEDs can now last as long as the green phosphorescent OLEDs already in devices, University of Michigan researchers have demonstrated, paving the way for further improving the energy efficiency of OLED screens. /news/2025-05-enables-blue-oleds-green-efficiency.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 23 May 2025 13:15:03 EDT news667224901 An international research team has successfully achieved single-molecule spectroscopic observation of hydrogen (H2) and deuterium (D2) confined within a picocavity. The picocavity was formed between a silver nanotip and a silver single-crystal substrate under cryogenic and ultrahigh vacuum conditions, using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS). /news/2025-05-molecule-spectroscopy-reveals-isotope-effect.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 21 May 2025 14:08:03 EDT news667055281 A research team from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with North Carolina State University, has developed a simulation capable of predicting how tens of thousands of electrons move in materials in real time, or natural time rather than compute time. /news/2025-05-simulate-tens-thousands-electrons-real.html Condensed Matter Quantum �鶹��Ժics Wed, 21 May 2025 13:23:03 EDT news667052581 By carefully placing nanostructures on a flat surface, researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have significantly improved the performance of so-called optical metasurfaces in conductive plastics. This is a major step for controllable flat optics, with future applications such as video holograms, invisibility materials, and sensors, as well as in biomedical imaging. /news/2025-05-flat-optical-metasurfaces-plastics-boost.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 21 May 2025 12:41:03 EDT news667050061 Imagine a medical scanner that works faster and produces clearer images, or a radiation detector that pinpoints tiny traces of radioactive material with unprecedented accuracy. These futuristic possibilities are a step closer to reality thanks to new research by scientists at the Łukasiewicz Research Network—PORT Polish Center for Technology Development. /news/2025-05-thin-bulk-brighter-faster-scanning.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 20 May 2025 11:30:22 EDT news666959418 Laser ion acceleration uses intense laser flashes to heat electrons of a solid to enormous temperatures and propel these charged particles to extreme speeds. These have recently gained traction for applications in selectively destroying cancerous tumor cells, in processing semiconductor materials, and due to their excellent properties for imaging and fusion-relevant conditions. /news/2025-05-small-scale-laser-enable-high.html General �鶹��Ժics Plasma �鶹��Ժics Mon, 19 May 2025 10:34:03 EDT news666869642 A study published in ACS Nano presents a novel biosensor for the isothermal, highly sensitive detection of bladder cancer biomarkers—miRNAs, short non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression—using programmable pH-responsive triplex DNA nanostructures. /news/2025-05-biosensor-ph-responsive-dna-nanoswitches.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 13 May 2025 14:29:02 EDT news666365341 Vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) is a nonlinear spectroscopic method widely used to investigate the molecular structure and dynamics of surface systems. However, in far-field observations, the spatial resolution of this method is constrained by the diffraction limit, which restricts its ability to resolve molecular details in inhomogeneous structures smaller than the wavelength of light. /news/2025-05-nanoscale-spectroscopy-vibrational-molecules-confined.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 12 May 2025 12:05:04 EDT news666270301 Natural and engineered systems have a whole world of chemistry inside their tiny pores—known as nanopores—that changes depending on the chemical functional groups inside. /news/2025-05-contaminants-nanopores-desalination-carbon-dioxide.html Nanomaterials Mon, 12 May 2025 11:13:04 EDT news666267182 Polarization, along with intensity, wavelength, and phase, is a fundamental property of light. It enhances contrast and resolution in imaging compared to traditional intensity-based methods. On-chip polarization devices rely on complex four-pixel arrays or external polarizers. /news/2025-04-torsion-unipolar-barrier-heterojunction-device.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 30 Apr 2025 16:30:03 EDT news665249402 Researchers from Max Born Institute have demonstrated a successful way to control and manipulate nanoscale magnetic bits—the building blocks of digital data—using an ultrafast laser pulse and plasmonic gold nanostructures. The findings were published in Nano Letters. /news/2025-04-ultrafast-plasmon-magnetic-bit-nanoscale.html Nanophysics Thu, 24 Apr 2025 10:03:24 EDT news664707798 In new research published in Nature, Weizmann Institute scientists introduce a powerful tool to explore quantum phenomena—the cryogenic Quantum Twisting Microscope (QTM). /news/2025-04-microscope-reveals-quantum-atoms-graphene.html Condensed Matter Quantum �鶹��Ժics Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:00:02 EDT news664472881 A research group at the University of Stuttgart has manipulated light through its interaction with a metal surface so that it exhibits entirely new properties. The researchers have published their findings in Nature �鶹��Ժics. /news/2025-04-fields-extraordinary-plasmonic-skyrmion-bags.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 22 Apr 2025 12:01:03 EDT news664542061 A new study by Brown University researchers suggests that gold nanoparticles—microscopic bits of gold thousands of times thinner than a human hair—might one day be used to help restore vision in people with macular degeneration and other retinal disorders. /news/2025-04-golden-eyes-gold-nanoparticles-day.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 16 Apr 2025 15:46:56 EDT news664037211 Researchers from ICMAB are revolutionizing how we manipulate light at the nanoscale using chiral plasmonic structures—nanomaterials designed to interact with polarized light in extraordinary ways. /news/2025-04-chiral-plasmonic-nanostructures-limits-nanoscale.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 10 Apr 2025 11:58:03 EDT news663505081 More than 150 million metric tons of propylene are produced annually, making it one of the most widespread chemicals used in the chemical industry. /news/2025-04-illuminating-atoms-sustainable-propylene-production.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Tue, 01 Apr 2025 17:42:04 EDT news662748121 When light interacts with metallic nanostructures, it instantaneously generates plasmonic hot carriers, which serve as key intermediates for converting optical energy into high-value energy sources such as electricity and chemical energy. Among these, hot holes play a crucial role in enhancing photoelectrochemical reactions. However, they thermally dissipate within picoseconds (trillionths of a second), making practical applications challenging. /news/2025-03-advancing-electricity-energy-conversion-method.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 17 Mar 2025 17:40:10 EDT news661451995 The conversion of CO2 into e-fuels by light offers a sustainable solution to close the carbon cycle. Researchers at the Laboratory for Nanometallurgy have pioneered an innovative approach to plasmon-assisted catalytic CO2 conversion using nanoscale disordered network metamaterials. /news/2025-03-plasmon-catalytic-conversion-method-sustainable.html Nanomaterials Wed, 12 Mar 2025 13:09:02 EDT news661003741 A research group recently discovered the disappearance of nonreciprocal second harmonic generation (SHG) in MnPSe₃ when integrated into a two-dimensional (2D) antiferromagnetic MnPSe₃/graphene heterojunction. /news/2025-02-magnetism-nonreciprocal-harmonic-generation-2d.html Nanophysics Fri, 14 Feb 2025 12:07:03 EST news658757221 In April 1982, Prof. Dan Shechtman of the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology made the discovery that would later earn him the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: the quasiperiodic crystal. According to diffraction measurements made with an electron microscope, the new material appeared "disorganized" at smaller scales, yet with a distinct order and symmetry apparent at a larger scale. /news/2025-02-fourth-dimension-scientists-glimpse-4d.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Thu, 13 Feb 2025 16:00:35 EST news658684830 Attosecond time-resolved experiments have revealed the increasing importance of electronic correlations in the collective plasmon response as the size of the system decreases to sub-nm scales. /news/2025-02-quantum-revealed-attosecond-delay.html Nanophysics Thu, 13 Feb 2025 09:33:03 EST news658661581 �鶹��Ժicists from the group of Jorik van de Groep at the UvA-Institute of �鶹��Ժics have devised a new method that can be used to detect edges of images in an extremely energy efficient and ultrafast way. The results were recently published in the journal ACS Photonics. /news/2025-01-edges-images.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 23 Jan 2025 09:17:03 EST news656846221 Imagine standing by a lake and throwing a stone into the water. Waves spread out in circular patterns and can reflect at obstacles and boundaries. Researchers at the University of Regensburg, in collaboration with colleagues from Milan and Pisa, have recreated this everyday phenomenon in a fascinating miniature world: They observed the propagation of waves—not on water but in an "electron sea"—using one of the fastest slow-motion cameras on the nanoscale. The study is published in Nano Letters. /news/2025-01-scientists-ultrafast-surface-graphene.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 16 Jan 2025 10:11:04 EST news656244662 Diamond, often celebrated for its unmatched hardness and transparency, has emerged as an exceptional material for high-power electronics and next-generation quantum optics. Diamond can be engineered to be as electrically conductive as a metal, by introducing impurities such as the element boron. /news/2025-01-diamond-properties-semiconductors.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Tue, 14 Jan 2025 05:00:01 EST news655980676 Plasmons are collective oscillations of electrons in a solid and are important for a wide range of applications, such as sensing, catalysis, and light harvesting. Plasmonic waves that travel along the surface of a metal, called surface plasmon polaritons, have been studied for their ability to enhance electromagnetic fields. /news/2024-12-electron-microscopy-technique-reveals-complex.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Fri, 20 Dec 2024 13:09:59 EST news653922595 Leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics, quantum computers can perform calculations at lightning-fast speeds, enabling them to solve complex problems faster than conventional computers. In quantum technology applications such as quantum computing, light plays a central role in encoding and transmitting information. /news/2024-12-unity-quantum-efficiency-2d-photon.html Optics & Photonics Quantum �鶹��Ժics Tue, 17 Dec 2024 16:05:05 EST news653673899