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Scientists at the Cavendish Laboratory have discovered spin coherence in Hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) under normal conditions, offering new prospects for quantum technology applications.

Cavendish Laboratory researchers have discovered that a single ‘atomic defect’ in a material known as Hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) maintains spin coherence at room temperature and can be manipulated using light.

Spin coherence refers to an electronic spin being capable of retaining quantum information over time. The discovery is significant because materials that can host quantum properties under ambient conditions are quite rare.

Recent high profile controversies haven’t deterred scientists from searching for one of research’s ultimate prizes: room temperature superconductors. Kit Chapman reports on the claims.

In July 2023, the world became obsessed with superconductivity. Two pre-prints from a group in South Korea claimed that a copper-doped lead-apatite, dubbed LK-99 after its two proposers, Lee Sukbae and Kim Ji-Hoon, was a superconductor at room temperature and ambient pressure. The claims spread across social media, with both seasoned groups and amateur chemists trying to recreate the material. By August, a consensus was reached that LK-99 was yet another dead end, and not a superconductor at all.

Continue reading “Superconductivity: the search and the scandal” »

Metal halide perovskites, a class of crystalline materials with remarkable optoelectronic properties, have proven to be promising candidates for the development of cost-effective thin-film transistors. Recent studies have successfully used these materials, particularly tin (Sn) halide perovskites, to fabricate p-type transistors with field-effect hole mobilities (μh) of over 70 cm2 V−1 s−1.

MIT scientists found that metals like copper can become stronger when heated and impacted at high velocities, challenging traditional views and potentially enhancing materials for extreme environments like space and high-speed manufacturing.

Metals get softer when they are heated, which is how blacksmiths can form iron into complex shapes by heating it red hot. And anyone who compares a copper wire with a steel coat hanger will quickly discern that copper is much more pliable than steel.

But scientists at MIT have discovered that the opposite happens when metal is struck by an object moving at a super high velocity: The hotter the metal, the stronger it is. Under those conditions, which put extreme stress on the metal, copper can actually be just as strong as steel. The new discovery could lead to new approaches to designing materials for extreme environments, such as shields that protect spacecraft or hypersonic aircraft, or equipment for high-speed manufacturing processes.

Lighting a gas grill, getting an ultrasound, using an ultrasonic toothbrush ⎯ these actions involve the use of materials that can translate an electric voltage into a change in shape and vice versa.

Known as piezoelectricity, the ability to trade between mechanical stress and electric charge can be harnessed widely in capacitors, actuators, transducers, and sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes for next-generation electronics. However, integrating these materials into miniaturized systems has been difficult due to the tendency of electromechanically active materials to ⎯ at the submicrometer scale, when the thickness is just a few millionths of an inch ⎯ get “clamped” down by the material they are attached to, which significantly dials down their performance.

Rice University researchers and collaborators at the University of California, Berkeley have found that a class of electromechanically active materials called antiferroelectrics may hold the key to overcoming performance limitations due to clamping in miniaturized electromechanical systems. A new study published in Nature Materials reports that a model antiferroelectric system, lead zirconate (PbZrO₃), produces an electromechanical response that can be up to five times greater than that of conventional piezoelectric materials even in films that are only 100 nanometers (or 4 millionths of an inch) thick.

For centuries, civilizations have used naturally occurring, inorganic materials for their perceived healing properties. Egyptians thought green copper ore helped eye inflammation, the Chinese used cinnabar for heartburn, and Native Americans used clay to reduce soreness and inflammation.

Soft materials and magnetic fields enable a new generation of dexterous, fast-moving microrobotic joints for complex object manipulation tasks.

New materials engineered to be both stiff and heat-insulating could revolutionize thermal insulation applications in electronics.

Scientists have successfully engineered materials that are both rigid and effective at insulating against heat. This extremely rare combination of attributes offers significant potential for various applications, including the creation of new thermal insulation coatings for electronic devices.

“Materials that have a high elastic modulus tend to also be highly thermally conductive, and vice versa,” says Jun Liu, co-corresponding author of a paper on the work and an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University. “In other words, if a material is stiff, it does a good job of conducting heat. And if a material is not stiff, then it is usually good at insulating against heat.

Accurate high-speed measurements of wavelength are fundamental to optical research and industrial applications, such as environmental monitoring, biomedical analysis, and material characterization.