Phys.org Physics

• Infrared heavy-metal-free quantum dots deliver sensitive and fast sensors for eye-safe LIDAR applications

  The frequency regime lying in the shortwave infrared (SWIR) has very unique properties that make it ideal for several applications, such as being less affected by atmospheric scattering as well as being "eye-safe." These include Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), a method for determining ranges and distances using lasers, space localization and mapping, adverse weather imaging for surveillance and automotive safety, environmental monitoring, and many others.

• Physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

  Research by physicists at The City College of New York is being credited for a novel discovery regarding the interaction of electronic excitations via spin waves. The finding by the Laboratory for Nano and Micro Photonics (LaNMP) team headed by physicist Vinod Menon could open the door to future technologies and advanced applications such as optical modulators, all-optical logic gates, and quantum transducers. The work is reported in the journal Nature Materials.

• Twisted crystals open door to smaller, more powerful sensors for optical devices

  Twisted moiré photonic crystals—an advanced type of optical metamaterial—have shown enormous potential in the race to engineer smaller, more capable and more powerful optical systems. How do they work?

• Intriguing excess of top-quark pairs hints at discovery of smallest composite particle

  The CMS collaboration at CERN has observed an unexpected feature in data produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which could point to the existence of the smallest composite particle yet observed. The result, reported at the Rencontres de Moriond conference in the Italian Alps this week, suggest that top quarks—the heaviest and shortest lived of all the elementary particles—can momentarily pair up with their antimatter counterparts to produce an object called toponium.

• Theoretical physicists unveil 'supermazes' to decode black-hole microstructure

  A team of physicists have discovered a new approach that redefines the conception of a black hole by mapping out their detailed structure, as shown in a research study recently published in Journal of High Energy Physics.

• Error correction method reduces photon requirements for quantum computing

  An invention from Twente improves the quality of light particles (photons) to such an extent that building quantum computers based on light becomes cheaper and more practical. The researchers published their research in the journal Physical Review Applied.

• A 32-bit RISC-V processor made using molybdenum disulfide instead of silicon

  A team of engineers at Fudan University has successfully designed, built and run a 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor that uses molybdenum disulfide instead of silicon as its semiconductor component. Their paper is published in the journal Nature.

• Riding the AI wave toward rapid, precise ocean simulations

  AI has created a sea change in society; now, it is setting its sights on the sea itself. Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed a machine learning-powered fluid simulation model that significantly reduces computation time without compromising accuracy.

• Microwave pulses can control ion-molecule reactions at near absolute zero

  A key objective of ongoing research rooted in molecular physics is to understand and precisely control chemical reactions at very low temperatures. At low temperatures, the chemical reactions between charged particles (i.e., ions) and molecules unfold with highly rotational-state-specific rate coefficients, meaning that the speed at which they proceed strongly depends on the rotational states of the involved molecules.

• Crystal melting and the glass transition obey the same physical law

  The melting of crystals is the process by which an increase in temperature induces the disruption of the ordered crystalline lattice, leading to the disordered structure and highly fluctuating dynamic behavior of liquids. At the glass transition, where an amorphous solid (a glass) turns into a liquid, there is no obvious change in structure, and only the dynamics of the atoms change, going from strongly localized dynamics in space (in the glass state) to the highly fluctuating (diffusive) dynamics in the liquid.

• Repurposed smartphone camera sensors create real-time, high-resolution imaging of antiproton annihilations

  Did you know that the camera sensor in your smartphone could help unlock the secrets of antimatter? The AEgIS collaboration, led by Professor Christoph Hugenschmidt's team from the research neutron source FRM II at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has developed a detector using modified mobile camera sensors to image, in real time, the points where antimatter annihilates with matter.

• Scientists unveil new way to electrically control spin for ultra-compact devices using altermagnetic quantum materials

  Spintronics, an emerging field of technology, exploits the spin of electrons rather than their charge to process and store information. Spintronics could lead to faster, more power-efficient computers and memory devices. However, most spintronic systems require magnetic fields to control spin, which is challenging in ultracompact device integration due to unwanted interference between components. This new research provides a way to overcome this limitation.

• Physicists investigate dynamic phenomena of a time crystal

  Physicists at TU Dortmund University have periodically driven a time crystal and discovered a remarkable variety of nonlinear dynamic phenomena, ranging from perfect synchronization to chaotic behavior within a single semiconductor structure. The team has now published its latest findings in the journal Nature Communications.

• A new wave in ultrafast magnetic control

  Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) have developed an innovative method to study ultrafast magnetism in materials. They have shown the generation and application of magnetic field steps, in which a magnetic field is turned on in a matter of picoseconds.

• Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

  Researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) and at Florida International University report in the journal Science their insights on the emerging field of complex frequency excitations, a recently introduced scheme to control light, sound and other wave phenomena beyond conventional limits.

• A router for photons: Transducer could enable superconducting quantum networks

  Applied physicists at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a photon router that could plug into quantum networks to create robust optical interfaces for noise-sensitive microwave quantum computers.

• Hidden side channels in quantum sources could compromise secure communication

  A team of researchers from University of Toronto Engineering has discovered hidden multi-dimensional side channels in existing quantum communication protocols.

• Vincent van Gogh's 'The Starry Night' is not a masterpiece when it comes to flow physics, researchers say

  The Dutch master Vincent van Gogh may have painted one of Western history's most enduring works, but "The Starry Night" is not a masterpiece of flow physics—despite recent attention to its captivating swirls, according to researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Washington.

• A step toward plant-based gelatin: Gum tragacanth shows promise for reducing animal use

  With increased awareness about food sources and their environmental impacts, replacing animal-derived products in food and drugs is a significant research area. One common—but often overlooked—animal protein is gelatin, found everywhere from candy to plastic-free packaging.

• Magnesium becomes a possible superconductor near the 2D limit

  Magnesium is a common chemical element, an alkaline earth metal, which is highly chemically reactive and is very light (even lighter than aluminum). Magnesium is abundant in plants and minerals and plays a role in human physiology and metabolism. In the cosmos, it is produced by large aging stars.

• Revolutionizing 3D vision: How miniaturized snapshot polarization imaging is transforming depth sensing

  Capturing precise 3D details with a single camera has long been a challenge. Traditional methods often require complex dual-camera setups or specialized lighting conditions that are impractical for real-world applications. However, a groundbreaking approach developed at Nanjing University is set to redefine 3D imaging.

• 'Superhuman vision': Powerful 3D imaging technology paves way for next-generation eye-tracking

  Eye tracking plays a critical role in the latest virtual and augmented reality headsets and is an important technology in the entertainment industry, scientific research, medical and behavioral sciences, automotive driving assistance and industrial engineering. Tracking the movements of the human eye with high accuracy, however, is a daunting challenge.

• A quantum superhighway for ultrafast NOON states

  Until now, creating quantum superpositions of ultra-cold atoms has been a real headache, too slow to be realistic in the laboratory. Researchers at the University of Liège have now developed an innovative new approach combining geometry and "quantum control," which drastically speeds up the process, paving the way for practical applications in quantum technologies.

• No technical obstacles to new giant particle collider in Europe: CERN

  Europe's CERN laboratory said on Monday that a detailed analysis revealed no technical obstacles to building the world's biggest particle collider, even as critics took issue with the "pharaonic" $17-billion project.

• Study resolves long-standing debate on low-pressure phase transitions in hafnium oxide

  Researchers from the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Southwest Jiaotong University, have combined high-pressure electrical transport experiments, high-pressure Raman spectroscopy, and first-principles calculations to reveal the structural phase transition behavior of hafnium oxide (HfO2) under high pressure and its evolution mechanism in electrical properties.