Asymmetric spin torque unlocks deterministic control of antiferromagnetic memory

A research team led by Prof. Shao Dingfu from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has proposed a universal mechanism that enables deterministic electrical control of collinear antiferromagnets—overcoming a long-standing bottleneck in antiferromagnetic spintronics. The study is published in Physical Review Letters.

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Palm-sized superconducting magnet achieves 42 tesla, rivaling the world’s biggest

When we think of powerful magnets used in particle accelerators or for NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), we often envision bulky machines, sometimes the size of buildings. But in an extraordinary breakthrough for physics, scientists at ETH Zurich have created magnets that are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand yet powerful enough […]

Fiber setup compresses mid-infrared pulses to 187 femtoseconds using just 80 watts

Ultrashort mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser pulses are essential for applications such as molecular spectroscopy, nonlinear microscopy, and biomedical imaging, but their generation often relies on complex and power-intensive systems that are difficult to implement outside of specialized laboratories. These systems usually require high pump powers, elaborate optical setups, and precise alignment, which can limit their widespread […]

Fluid simulation at unprecedented scale provides toolkit for fundamental physics and applied fluid engineering

What governs the speed at which raindrops fall, sediment settles in river estuaries, and matter is ejected during a supernova? These questions circle around one, deceitfully simple factor: the rate at which a fluid filled with particles mixes with a particle-free one. Raindrops travel from one layer of air to another; sediment falls from river […]

Simulations suggest a breakthrough in understanding how turbulence develops

A new study revisits a century-old question about how turbulence starts. The findings could potentially influence not only aircraft engineering but even the design of mechanical heart valves, and treatment of heart disease. The study is published in Scientific Reports.

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Stacked quantum materials enable precise spin control without external magnetic fields

Spintronics—a technology that harnesses the electron’s magnetic quantum states to carry information—could pave the way for a new generation of ultra-energy-efficient electronics. Yet a major challenge has been the ability to control these delicate quantum properties with sufficient precision for practical applications. By combining different quantum materials, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have now […]

Twisted bilayer photonic crystals dynamically tune light’s handedness

Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a chip-scale device that can dynamically control the “handedness” of light as it passes through—also known as its optical chirality—with a simple twist of two specially designed photonic crystals. The study is published in the journal Optica.

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Photonic ‘ski jumps’ efficiently beam light into free space

Photonic chips use light to process data instead of electricity, enabling faster communication speeds and greater bandwidth. Most of that light typically stays on the chip, trapped in optical wires, and is difficult to transmit to the outside world in an efficient manner.

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Acoustic driving enables controlled condensation of light and matter on chip

An international research team led by Alexander Kuznetsov at the Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI) in Berlin has demonstrated a fundamentally new way to control the condensation of hybrid light-matter particles. Using coherent acoustic driving to dynamically reshape the energy landscape of a semiconductor microcavity, the researchers achieved deterministic steering of a […]

Researchers mix X-rays and optical light to track speedy electrons in materials

To unlock materials of the future, including better photocatalysts or light-switchable superconductors, researchers need to understand how the valence electrons within materials respond to light at the atomic scale. Materials are made of atoms, and an atom’s outer electrons, or valence electrons, are responsible for chemical bonding as well as a material’s thermal, magnetic, and […]

Scalable quantum batteries can charge faster than their classical counterparts

Over the past decades, energy engineers have developed increasingly advanced battery technologies that can store more energy, charge faster and maintain their performance for longer. In recent years, some researchers have also started exploring the potential of quantum batteries, devices that can store energy leveraging quantum mechanical effects.

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Watching quantum behavior in action: MagnetoARPES reveals time-reversal symmetry breaking in a kagome superconductor

Electron movement and structures described in quantum physics allow researchers to better understand how and why materials like superconductors behave as they do. Rice University researchers Jianwei Huang and Ming Yi have developed a new capability, magnetoARPES, building on angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) that allows researchers to study quantum behaviors they have been unable to […]

Ultrafast computing: Light-driven logic tops 10 terahertz in WS₂

The future for our computers will literally be at the speed of light. Extremely short light pulses can perform ultrafast logical operations: these are the findings of a study recently published in the journal Nature Photonics. The study represents an important step toward developing a new generation of information processing technologies, potentially hundreds of times […]

Unexpected magnetic response in gold and silver atomic contacts contradicts previous theoretical predictions

Researchers from the Department of Physics and the University Institute of Materials at the University of Alicante (UA) and the Low Temperature and High Magnetic Field Laboratory at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) have succeeded in measuring, for the first time, the electrical conductance of gold and silver atomic contacts subjected to extreme magnetic […]

Chemical shifts help track molecules breaking apart in real time

When molecules fall apart, their electric charge doesn’t stay put—it rearranges as bonds stretch and break. An international team of scientists has now tracked these ultrafast changes in the small molecule fluoromethane (CH₃F). It was the first time that the Small Quantum Systems (SQS) instrument at European XFEL could deliver detailed insights into transient states […]