news 2023

An international research team recently demonstrated how magnetism can be actively changed by pressure. Magnetism occurs depending on how electrons behave. For example, the elementary particles can generate an electric current with their charge and thereby induce a magnetic field. However, magnetism can also arise through the collective alignment of the magnetic moments (spins) in a material.

Along with ElaadNL, PhD researcher Tim Slangen studied the phenomenon known as supraharmonic disturbances, which can adversely affect the operation and efficiency of electrical appliances. With the growing and obvious concerns about climate change, the transition from fossil to renewable energy is accelerating.

As industrial computing needs grow, the size and energy consumption of the relevant hardware must keep up with those demands. A solution to this dilemma could lie in superconducting materials, which reduce that energy consumption exponentially. Imagine cooling a giant data center - full of constantly running servers - down to nearly absolute zero, enabling large-scale computation with incredible energy efficiency.

To ensure safe and efficient traffic, the various objects in road and air traffic must be able to quickly detect their spatial environment using radar and communicate with each other via radio networks. In order to investigate the radar reflection of a so-called VTOL drone (short for "Vertical Take-Off and Landing"), which can take off and land vertically without a runway, the Electronic Measurements and Signal Processing (EMS) Group at TU Ilmenau has set up a test facility at the BiRa test facility has just completed an extensive measurement campaign at the BiRa test facility.

Researchers have detected a new type of magnetism in an artificially produced material. The material becomes ferromagnetic through minimization of the kinetic energy of its electrons. For a magnet to stick to a fridge door, inside of it several physical effects need to work together perfectly. The magnetic moments of its electrons all point in the same direction, even if no external magnetic field forces them to do so.

Transparent conductors are essential for many devices, such as touch screens and solar cells. Copper iodide (CuI) can conduct electricity while staying see-through but is not as good as some other materials. Researchers from the University of Twente managed to improve the conductivity of CuI while keeping 75% of its transparency.

Anouk Hubrechsen defended her PhD thesis cum laude at the Department of Electrical Engineering on October 26th. We are using ever more (smart) devices connected to the 5G network. The high-frequency antennas they contain are often integrated with chips, and this adds a layer of complexity to testing.

A research collaboration has uncovered a surprising magnetic property of an exotic material that might lead to computers that need less than one-millionth of the energy required to switch a single bit. The world of materials science is constantly discovering or fabricating materials with exotic properties.

For the first time, experimental physicists from the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat have demonstrated a new quantum effect aptly named the "spinaron." In a meticulously controlled environment and using an advanced set of instruments, they managed to prove the unusual state a cobalt atom assumes on a copper surface.

Quantum physicists at Delft University of Technology have shown that it's possible to control and manipulate spin waves on a chip using superconductors for the first time. These tiny waves in magnets may offer an alternative to electronics in the future, interesting for energy-efficient information technology or connecting pieces in a quantum computer, for example.

Research testing new technology to more effectively locate polar bear dens across the Arctic is showing promising results. Researchers from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Brigham Young University (BYU), collaborating with Polar Bears International, hope that improving detection tools to locate dens-which are nearly invisible and buried under snow-will help efforts to protect mother polar bears and their cubs.

MIT researchers show how topology can help create magnetism at higher temperatures. Researchers who have been working for years to understand electron arrangement, or topology, and magnetism in certain semimetals have been frustrated by the fact that the materials only display magnetic properties if they are cooled to just a few degrees above absolute zero.

Amith Varambally of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, comes to Caltech as a first-year undergraduate student in fall 2023 already a co-author of a journal article related to his work as a high school intern at MIT in summer 2022. It is uncommon for undergraduates to publish in STEM journals. Still less common is to see a high school student appearing as a co-author in the pages of an esteemed physics journal.

Researchers at TU Wien discover excellent thermoelectric properties of nickel-gold alloys. These can be used to efficiently convert heat into electrical energy. Thermoelectrics enable the direct conversion of heat into electrical energy - and vice versa. This makes them interesting for a range of technological applications.

New technology involving dots and wires adhering to live cells could some day provide early warnings for health problems Engineers have developed nanoscale tattoos-dots and wires that adhere to live cells-in a breakthrough that puts researchers one step closer to tracking the health of individual cells.

Researchers discover how to control the anomalous Hall effect and Berry curvature to create flexible quantum magnets for use in computers, robotics, and sensors. Some of our most important everyday items, like computers, medical equipment, stereos, generators, and more, work because of magnets. We know what happens when computers become more powerful, but what might be possible if magnets became more versatile?

In a ground-breaking experiment, scientists from the University of Groningen, together with colleagues from HFML-FELIX, University of Twente and the Harbin Institute of Technology (China), have discovered the existence of a superconductive state that was first predicted in 2017. In this week's edition of Nature, they present evidence for a special variant of the so-called FFLO superconducting state, a discovery that could have significant applications, particularly in the field of superconducting electronics.

Is it possible to 3D print biodegradable sensors and displays? Researchers from Empa's Cellulose & Wood Materials laboratory have developed a cellulose-based material that allows just that. The mixture of hydroxpropyl cellulose with water, carbon nanotubes and cellulose nanofibrils changes color when heated or stretched - without the addition of any pigments.

A new photonic radar system has been developed by scientists at Sydney Nano and the School of Physics that delivers contactless, high-definition detection of vital signs. It could be developed for use in ICUs, aged-care facilities and for people with sleep apnoea or infants with breathing concerns. Constant monitoring of vital health signs is needed in a variety of clinical environments such as intensive care units, for patients with critical health conditions, health monitoring in aged care facilities and prisons, or in safety monitoring situations where drowsiness can cause accidents.

Quantum computing could revolutionize our world. For specific and crucial tasks, it promises to be exponentially faster than the zero-or-one binary technology that underlies today's machines, from supercomputers in laboratories to smartphones in our pockets. But developing quantum computers hinges on building a stable network of qubits - or quantum bits - to store information, access it and perform computations.