NEWSROOM

From a two-colour diffraction pattern (left), two snapshots of a helium droplet doped with xenon nanoparticles can be reconstructed (centre). These images can inform a potential 3D rendering of a xenon-doped helium nanodroplet (right). An overarching goal of ultrafast science is to enable researchers to watch structural changes in matter on their natural timescale. Experimentally, this translates into taking two snapshots of the same nanoscale object that are only femtosecond

Researchers have shown that tiny wrinkles in graphene can change the material’s electrical properties. By harnessing this characteristic, scientists may one day control electricity in atomically thin materials — such as graphene — by changing their shape instead of adding new chemicals or materials, potentially powering more responsive sensors and ultrathin electronic devices. Credit: Mario Norton/Rice University. All Rights Reserved. Tiny wrinkles could reveal new behaviors

A simulated microscopy image of hexagonal boron nitride with a circular pore surrounded by triangular ones. Darker circles correspond to individual boron and brighter circles to nitrogen atoms. A research team at the University of Vienna led by physicist Jani Kotakoski demonstrates how the shape of nanopores in hexagonal boron nitride - the electrically insulating counterpart to graphene, also known as "white graphene" - can be precisely controlled at the atomic level. Electr

An AI-generated illustration depciting the Kondo effect. Conducting electrons in a metal are shown interacting with the spin of an embedded magnetic atom impurity. Credit: AI-generated artwork by Linqing Peng A team of scientists from Caltech and Yale University has shown for the first time how to accurately quantify an important quantum phenomenon in metals, called the Kondo effect, for specific real materials. Unlike previous approaches, which for decades have relied on sim

Researchers at the University of Basel and Technical University of Munich have used light to probe the collective motion of electrons in a Wigner crystal formed in monolayer tungsten diselenide. Optical signatures of Wigner crystal polarons reveal internal dynamics of this fragile quantum state, opening a new window into strongly correlated electronic systems. Published in Nature Physics.

An international team from École polytechnique, Collège de France, and HZDR has experimentally realized an all-optical photonic time crystal. Using HZDR’s TELBE terahertz source, they strongly modulated the optical properties of a plasmonic metamaterial on picosecond timescales. This enables ultrafast control of light in the terahertz range and opens paths toward new lasers and optical technologies. Published in Nature.