Browse Physics

Optical measurements in electron gases at low temperatures and high magnetic fields show the electron spins are, as predicted, polarized, but that this state is surprisingly delicate.

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.

Molecular dynamics simulations unveil an example of dynamical symmetry breaking at the nanoscale.

An advance in magnetic resonance force microscopy enhances its chemical sensitivity and opens up the possibility of identifying different organic substances at the nanoscale.

Measurements of the heat transport at the edges of two-dimensional electron systems appear to provide explanations about the quantum Hall state that have not been forthcoming via charge transport experiments.

Researchers bring the prospect of new electronic devices based on oxide materials closer to reality by doping interfaces via polar discontinuities rather than chemical substitution.

Scientists have found that the spontaneous ferroelectric polarization can be fully and reversibly flipped by varying partial oxygen pressure above the surface of an epitaxially compressed ${\text{PbTiO}}_3$ film. The inward polarized state is stabilized by ordered oxygen vacancies in the topmost atomic layer.

Measurements of how out-of-equilibrium electrons lose energy along a carbon nanotube reveal that they do not significantly scatter over several microns.

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

Individual molecules can be accurately positioned using a scanning tunneling microscope tip by transferring the energy of internal molecular vibrations into a controlled translational motion.

The rotation of individual large molecules adsorbed onto a gold surface has been observed with a scanning tunneling microscope.

If a magnet is small enough, an electric current carrying polarized spins can flip it around. Scientists are finding clever ways to control this spin-torque effect precisely, both for when it is wanted and when it is not.

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.

Most applications based on magnetism are incompatible with domain walls, which interrupt a homogeneous magnetization. Scientists are turning this view around as they discover new ways to use an electric current to manipulate and store information in nanoscale domain walls.

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.

The response of nanostructured metal strips to an electromagnetic field may turn out to be similar to that of atomic gases. Periodic arrays of these artificial metal “molecules” could in principle form a metamaterial that slows light pulses and is easily integrated into optical circuits.

A molecule that links two metal electrodes could function like a chemically tunable miniature electronic device, provided that electrons can move easily across the molecular junction. A group in Leiden has now made highly conducting molecular junctions with benzene.

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.

Modification of electromagnetic zero-point fluctuations by closely spaced conductors causes an interaction between them called the Casimir force. New experiments with nanostructured silicon substrates show that the geometry of the conducting surfaces has a large effect on this force.

Single photon emission is normally only observed in systems, such as atoms, that are quantum confined in all directions. Now, scientists have shown that carbon nanotubes, which are quasi-one-dimensional materials, can also act as single photon emitters.