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Study Reveals “Floppy” Atomic Mechanism of Thermoelectric Materials

An atomic mechanism unraveled by materials scientists from Duke University ensures that specific thermoelectric materials are extremely efficient close to high-temperature phase transitions.

7 Sep 2020

A Touch of Gold Sends Crystals Electric with Excitement

A touch of gold - or another noble metal – can change the structure of a crystal and its intrinsic properties, physicists at the University of Warwick have demonstrated in a display of modern-day alchemy.

19 Aug 2020

Linkam THMS600 Stage Used by University of Glasgow to Study Laser-Induced Phase Separation

A team of scientists set out to understand how and why lasers trigger crystallisation and how changes made to the properties of the laser could influence which crystal form would be generated.

From Linkam Scientific Instruments 24 Jul 2020

Scientists Identify Higher-Order Topological Insulator in 2D Crystal

Over the last decade, the field of condensed matter physics has experienced a golden age with the discovery of new materials and properties, and related technologies being developed at breakneck speed thanks to the arrival of topological physics. Topological physics took off in 2008 with the discovery of topological insulator, a type of material that is electrically insulating in the bulk but metallic on the surface.

16 Jul 2020

Liquid Crystal Elastomer Technology Helps Build Remotely Controlled Functional Structures

Researchers at the Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, used the liquid crystal elastomer technology to demonstrate a series of micro-tools grown on optical fibers. The 200-micrometer gripers are controlled remotely, without electric wiring or pneumatic tubing, with green light delivered through the fibers - absorbed light energy is directly converted into the gripper jaws' action.

16 Jul 2020

Researchers Demonstrate Hammer-on Analogue in Crystals

Vibrations of atoms in a crystal of the semiconductor gallium arsenide (GaAs) are impulsively shifted to a higher frequency by an optically excited electric current.

15 Jul 2020

Scientists Develop New Way to Stretch and Strain Liquid Crystals to Generate Different Colors

Chameleons are famous for their color-changing abilities. Depending on their body temperature or mood, their nervous system directs skin tissue that contains nanocrystals to expand or contract, changing how the nanocrystals reflect light and turning the reptile's skin a rainbow of colors.

13 Jul 2020

New Tool Straightens Out Molecule-Sized Tangles of Polymers

A team of scientists at the University of Vermont have invented a new tool--they call it a "nanocage"--that can catch and straighten out molecule-sized tangles of polymers.

13 Jul 2020

New Approach to Better Measure Crystal Growth Rate in Supercooled Liquids

The authors propose a new quantitative approach to better measure the crystal growth rate in supercooled liquids.

10 Jul 2020

Study Determines Crystal Structure of Superhard Tungsten Boride

Skoltech researchers together with their industrial colleagues and academic partners have cracked a 1960s puzzle about the crystal structure of a superhard tungsten boride that can be extremely useful in various industrial applications, including drilling technology.

7 Jul 2020

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