Browse Physics

Alternating layers of insulating materials form a rudimentary device that controls thermal currents.

Piles of staples stand up to shaking better if the staple prongs have an intermediate length.

Metallic glasses, new materials that are strong and durable, are not entirely disordered on the atomic scale but can have regions of near-crystalline order.

Researchers have found an exact solution to an equation describing growth of materials at interfaces.

A spherically symmetric interaction force between particles can cause them to self-assemble into a surprisingly asymmetric (chiral) pattern in two dimensions, according to simulations.

A waveguide’s dielectric properties could result in an effective gauge field for photons even though they have no charge.

Hard spheres may favor one structural arrangement over others that are less mechanically stable during assembly.

Fast excitations of lattice vibrations in a substrate can alter the electronic properties of an oxide thin film.

In some transition metal oxides, disorder makes  the dielectric constant highly sensitive to an applied magnetic field over a broad range of temperatures.

Theoretical models show fractal hierarchical teeth can make joints stronger and more fail-resistant.

Magnetically accelerated metal plates are used to compress water to high pressures and temperatures like those inside Neptune and Uranus, permitting measurements that aid in the development of models of planetary interiors.

Calculations show that combining polymers can improve their dielectic properties and reveal the atomic rearrangements that make this possible.

The discovery of ferroelecticity in mammalian tissue makes researchers wonder what its purpose is and what it may be useful for.

Helicoidal magnetic order induces a record high electrical polarization.

Transport measurements suggest that a lithium-based metal may be a candidate material for thermomagnetic cooling.

An NMR technique tracks the diffusion of water molecules to obtain micron-scale structural information about a porous material.

Quantum interference of pairs of photons emitted by nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond paves the way for entanglement of distant qubits.

Researchers have observed a new phase transition as the geophysically important mineral FeO becomes metallic when compressed in a diamond anvil cell.

Bundles of nearly identical carbon nanotubes have properties that are well-suited for making electricity from light.

Ferroelectric domain patterns enable voltage-induced magnetization reversal in a magnetic alloy.