A newly studied ferroelectric crystal can tune and manipulate ultraviolet and blue light in ways that could transform integrated photonics.
Category: materials – Page 27
Nanosecond light-by-light switching achieved in liquid crystal droplet
Controlling light with light is a long-sought goal for computing and communication technologies. Achieving this capability would allow optical signals to be processed without converting them into electrical signals, potentially enabling faster and more energy-efficient devices. In recent years, researchers have begun exploring an unexpected platform for this purpose: soft matter.
Soft-matter photonics investigates how materials such as liquids, liquid crystals, gels, and polymers can self-organize into structures that manipulate light. Unlike conventional solid-state photonic components, which require precise nanofabrication, soft materials can spontaneously form functional optical geometries. Some soft materials also exhibit nonlinear optical behavior. For example, through the Kerr effect, their refractive index can change in response to intense light, enabling one beam to influence another and allowing ultrafast optical switching on picosecond timescales.
As reported in Advanced Photonics, an international team of researchers introduced a different approach: a nanosecond optical switch based on resonant stimulated-emission depletion (STED) in a liquid crystal cavity. Rather than relying on refractive index changes, this method manipulates the stored optical energy inside a resonant structure.
Superconductivity controlled by a built-in light-confining cavity
For the first time, physicists have demonstrated that a material’s superconductivity can be altered by coupling it to an in-built, light-confining cavity. In experiments published in Nature, a team led by Itai Keren at Columbia University show how quantum properties can be deliberately engineered by bonding carefully chosen materials together—without applying any external light, pressure, or magnetic field.
As researchers have probed the quantum behavior of solids in ever greater detail, they have uncovered a wealth of so-called “emergent” properties, which arise from intricate interactions between electrons, quantum spins, and localized vibrations of a crystal lattice. Phenomena including superconductivity, magnetism, and charge ordering all emerge from these kinds of collective effects—all richer and more complex than the sum of their microscopic parts.
Building on this principle, physicists are increasingly exploring whether materials could be designed with specific emergent behaviors built directly into their structures. Rather than tuning a compound after it is made, the goal here is to engineer its quantum environment from the outset.
Scientists have created a leather clothing alternative made entirely from mushrooms that looks and feels like the real thing
Austria’s scientists have created a leather made from mycelium. Growing mushrooms in low-oxygen chambers allows researchers to craft an alternative material that feels and looks like traditional leather. The finished textile is strong, flexible, and even fire-resistant.
Manufacturers grow the material instead of harvesting it from animals. After it reaches the desired thickness, they apply non-toxic enzymes to keep it fully biodegradable. The vegetative part of the fungus grows into a dense mat over a matter of days. Above all, it avoids the environmental impact of traditional leather production…
…This is not science fiction; fungal fabric has grown from a curiosity into reality. A 2025 report listed the benefits of mushroom leather as having a lower carbon footprint. It begins with a substantial reduction in water use. Growing mushrooms, compared to raising cattle, requires a fraction of the water.
Scientists created a mushroom leather made from mycelium that looks and feels like traditional leather. It’s grown in a matter of days.
Material previously thought to be quantum is actually a new, non-quantum state of matter
Magnetic materials in a quantum spin liquid phase are of great interest in the pursuit of exotic state of matter and quantum computation. But in the quantum realm, things are not always what they seem. A study, published in Science Advances and co-led by Rice University’s Pengcheng Dai, found that the material cerium magnesium hexalluminate (CeMgAl11 O19) was not actually in a quantum spin liquid phase despite evidence suggesting it was.
“The material had been classified as a quantum spin liquid due to two properties: observation of a continuum of states and lack of magnetic ordering,” said Bin Gao, co-first author and a research scientist at Rice. “But closer observation of the material showed that the underlying cause of these observations wasn’t a quantum spin liquid phase.”
Scientists create a hexagonal diamond that could be even harder than the real thing
To misquote a famous song, “Diamonds are industry’s best friend.” Cubic diamond is the hardest mineral on Earth and is used in everything from precision cutting tools to high-performance semiconductors as well as expensive jewelry. But there is a rare and potentially tougher form called hexagonal diamond (HD), which has long been the subject of theories and debate over its actual existence. But now researchers from China claim to have created this elusive form of carbon in the lab.
Hexagonal diamond (also known as lonsdaleite) is usually found at sites of meteorite impacts. But because the quantities are so small and mixed with minerals, some scientists doubted it was a distinct material. In a paper published in the journal Nature, researchers describe how they made a bulk piece of pure HD using extreme pressure and heat.