Browse Physics

Placing a water molecule inside a 60-carbon-atom cage creates a structure that can be guided by an electric field.

The atomic force microscope, introduced in 1986, provided atomic-scale pictures of surfaces, with few limitations on the type of sample.

Theorists explain how a new generation of laser tractor beams can manipulate nanoparticles with unprecedented dexterity and precision.

The oscillations of a carbon nanotube can strongly affect the spin of an electron trapped on the tube, and the tube can also be affected by the spin, according to theory.

Incoherent light from the sun or from an LED could cool a small object, according to two theory papers.

A proposed system for measuring tiny masses could be several times more sensitive than others because it avoids electrical connections, using laser techniques instead.

The stiffness of a single gold atom–measured as a material property–is at least twice that of a macroscopic chunk of gold, according to measurements of a sharp gold point pressed against a gold surface.

A switch made from a molecule and an atom can be reliably turned on and off many times, and its inventors recorded its motion in great detail. It could be used in future nanoscale circuits.

Simulations show that fluid could potentially be pumped in a complete circuit through a nanometer-sized tube if its surface properties are manipulated and it’s heated in the right places.

Heat-carrying vibrational waves can be transmitted across a small vacuum barrier between a metal point and a flat surface, according to a new experiment.

A new technique gives more detailed images of molecules by measuring the quantum mechanical repulsion between the imaged molecule and a small probe molecule.

A method combining a traditional laser pump-probe experiment with the detection of high-frequency sound and thermal waves reveals the microscopically bumpy interface between two apparently smooth surfaces.

Researchers measured how the electrical conductance between two ${\text{C}}_{60}$ molecules depends on their distance and orientation.

Collisions between nano-particles can sometimes result in more kinetic energy coming out than went in, new simulations show.

Water containing specialized nanoparticles can transport heat at two different rates, depending on the initial configuration of the particles. An improved version of this system could help regulate heat flow in devices.

A synthetic nanomotor made of DNA can take a ‘step’ in one direction without moving backward and without any outside control.

When moved across a surface, some nanoscale metallic islands show frictional resistance, while others do not, adding new support to a theory that attributes friction to trapped impurity atoms.

Slow-moving nanoparticles hitting a surface bounce away, but surprisingly, fast-moving ones stick. New simulations explain that the sticking occurs because the fast particles absorb the collision energy by transforming their atomic structure.

Two research groups show how to detect sound waves that have wavelengths as short as the spacing between atoms in a solid and frequencies in the terahertz range.

A new theory on the interactions of nanoparticles with laser light predicts some surprising effects when more than one particle is involved, such as a particle being drawn toward the source of the beam, against the flow of photons.