Browse Physics

Plasmonic nanostructures can be used to generate optical vortices with varying amounts of angular momentum.

Natural defect states can render nanomechanical oscillators nonlinear and allow creation of nonclassical mechanical states.

Researchers unveil the first chemically sensitive transmission electron microscope with single-atom resolution.

Nanoscale crystals pass through narrow constrictions in carbon nanotubes by shuttling atoms from their back end to their front end, according to new experiments.

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

Metal nanorods grown by physical vapor deposition can be fabricated with a much narrower diameter than previously thought, potentially enabling the design of more efficient catalysts.

Defects in diamond could be used to engineer portable timekeeping devices as precise as modern atomic clocks, according to a new theoretical proposal.

Calculations suggest that there are ways to drive spasers—the nanoplasmonic counterparts of lasers—by standard electrical currents.

Nanoscale engineering of multiferroic thin films enables electric control of a device’s interface magnetism, thus offering a promising prospective for ultralow power spintronics.

A new theory attempts to explain the exceptionally long life of air nanobubbles on wet surfaces.

A new scheme exploiting the orbital rather than the spin degree of freedom allows for studying the Kondo effect without disturbing it.

A nanowalker made of DNA moves along biomolecules without chemically altering them.

Intertwined loops of DNA can stably bind tiny particles together, giving researchers a new tool for coaxing particles into larger assemblies.

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

Magnetic interactions between atoms contribute to sliding friction.

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

A new self-assembly process creates nanowires of germanium without the metal catalyst required in earlier experiments.

Single-molecule microscopy reveals the nature of the chemical bonds between a large organic molecule and a metallic surface.

Graphene researchers show the leakage of heat from electrons to sound vibrations is small enough to allow for sensitive light detectors.

Experiments on electron transport across single molecules show evidence of enhancement of the current at higher temperatures due to suppression of destructive quantum interference.