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A new crystal that ‘breathes’ oxygen expands possibilities for clean energy and electronics

A team of scientists from Korea and Japan has discovered a new type of crystal that can “breathe”—releasing and absorbing oxygen repeatedly at relatively low temperatures. This unique ability could transform the way we develop clean energy technologies, including fuel cells, energy-saving windows, and smart thermal devices.

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Physicists solve 90-year-old puzzle of quantum damped harmonic oscillators

A plucked guitar string can vibrate for seconds before falling silent. A playground swing, emptied of its passenger, will gradually come to rest. These are what physicists call “damped harmonic oscillators” and are well understood in terms of Newton’s laws of motion.

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Unified theory may reveal more superconducting materials

Electricity flows through wires to deliver power, but it loses energy as it moves, delivering less than it started with. But that energy loss isn’t a given. Scientists at Penn State have found a new way to identify types of materials known as superconductors that allow power to travel without any resistance, meaning no energy […]

New co-assembly strategy unlocks robust circularly polarized luminescence across the color spectrum

Researchers at the College of Design and Engineering (CDE) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a supramolecular co-assembly platform that produces chiral soft materials with strong and stable full-color circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) across the visible spectrum, including in red, which has historically been a difficult target.

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Orbital Hall effect shows how defects can improve spintronic devices

Scientists have turned a longstanding challenge in electronics—material defects—into a quantum-enhanced solution, paving the way for new-generation ultra-low-power spintronic devices. Spintronics, short for “spin electronics,” is a field of technology that aims to go beyond the limits of conventional electronics.

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Using lasers to bring crystal vibrations to their quantum ground state

Using new techniques, Yale researchers have demonstrated the ability to use lasers to cool quantized vibrations of sound within massive objects to their quantum ground state, the lowest energy allowable by quantum mechanics. This breakthrough could benefit communications, quantum computing, and other applications. The results are published in Nature Physics.

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Sweden’s most powerful laser delivers record-short light pulses

For the first time, researchers at Umeå University have demonstrated the full capabilities of their large-scale laser facility. In a study published in Nature Photonics, the team reports generating a combination of ultrashort laser pulses, extreme peak power, and precisely controlled waveforms that make it possible to explore the fastest processes in nature.

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Using Grover’s algorithm to efficiently prepare collective quantum states in optical cavities

The reliable engineering of quantum states, particularly those involving several particles, is central to the development of various quantum technologies, including quantum computers, sensors and communication systems. These collective quantum states include so-called Dicke and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states, multipartite entangled states that can be leveraged to collect precise measurements, to correct errors made by quantum […]

A quantum gas that refuses to heat—physicists observe many-body dynamical localization

In everyday life, continuously doing work on a system is found to heat it up. Rubbing your hands together warms them. Hammering a piece of metal makes it hot. Even without knowing the equations, we learn from experience: driving any system, whether by stirring, pressing, or striking, leads to a rise in the system’s temperature. […]

Researchers observe evidence of hyperbolic exciton polaritons

The ability to move electron-hole pairs—called excitons—in desired directions is important for generating electricity and creating fuels. This happens naturally in photosynthesis, making it a source of inspiration to researchers innovating optoelectronic devices.

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Novel method upgrades liquid crystals with better recall

Researchers have developed a novel way for liquid crystals to retain information about their movement. Using this method could advance technologies like memory devices and sensors, as well as pave the way to future soft materials that are both smart and flexible.

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Energy-efficient ultracompact laser reduces light loss in all directions

An international team of scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a new type of ultracompact laser that is more energy efficient and consumes less power.

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Laser advance sets the stage for new X-ray science possibilities

A team led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have generated a highly exotic type of light beam, called a Poincaré beam, using the FERMI free-electron laser (FEL) facility in Italy, marking the first time such a beam has been produced with a FEL.

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Scientists achieve first observation of phonon angular momentum in chiral crystals

In a new study published in Nature Physics, scientists have achieved the first experimental observation of phonon angular momentum in chiral crystals.

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Multifocus microscope pushes the limits of fast live 3D biological imaging

Researchers have developed a high-speed 3D imaging microscope that can capture detailed cell dynamics of an entire small whole organism at once. The ability to image 3D changes in real time over a large field of view could lead to new insights in developmental biology and neuroscience.

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