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Category: materials – Page 51

Nonlinear optical crystal for ultraviolet lasers remains remarkably stable under extreme pressure

Researchers from Oakland University have made a significant breakthrough in the field of optical materials, unveiling the exceptional capabilities of Ba₃(ZnB₅O₁₀)PO₄ (BZBP). Although this transparent crystal closely resembles ordinary window glass, it exhibits extraordinary properties that set it apart from others.

Already renowned for its exceptional qualities, such as excellent heat dissipation, minimal uneven expansion when exposed to temperature changes, and the ability to transmit (a type of light that comes from the sun and other sources like special lamps, but it’s invisible to the human eye), BZBP has emerged as an ideal choice for laser systems operating in deep ultraviolet ranges. These systems are crucial in fields such as medical diagnostics, semiconductor production, and cutting-edge scientific research.

In a study recently published in Advanced Functional Materials, researchers explored how BZBP performs under .

Scientists make breakthrough discovery after ‘atomic spray painting’ experiment: ‘It’s like spray-painting atoms onto a surface’

A research team has discovered that by using a new method of “atomic spray painting,” they can tweak the atomic structure of lead-free potassium niobate in order to enhance its ferroelectric properties.

The study, created by a team led by Penn State researchers, explains how molecular beam epitaxy can be employed to deposit atomic layers onto a substrate to create thin films, as a report by SciTechDaily explained.

Using a technique called strain tuning, the researchers adjusted how successive layers are aligned to modify a material’s properties by stretching or compressing the atoms that make up its crystal structure.

Researchers design mind-blowing construction material to replace steel: ‘This technology holds a lot of promise’

Researchers at the University of Maine have managed to 3D print an organic building material with the strength of steel.

The SM2ART Nfloor is printed as a single piece in about 30 hours, which is a third faster than building something comparable by hand according to TechXplore.

The nice thing about this set-up is that these panels can be printed in bulk off-site and get shipped to the construction area. Since there are already channels in the floor for electrical and plumbing, the only other thing that needs to be applied by hand is soundproofing and floor covering.

Shape of electrons is revealed for the first time through big advance in quantum physics

For the first time, researchers have measured the shape of an electron as it moves through a solid. This achievement could open a new way of looking at how electrons behave inside different materials.

Their discovery highlights many effects that could be relevant to everything from quantum information science to electronics manufacturing.

Those findings come from a team led by physicist Riccardo Comin, MIT’s Class of 1947 Career Development Associate Professor of Physics and leader of the work, in collaboration with other institutions.

Terahertz pulses induce chirality in a non-chiral crystal

Chirality refers to objects that cannot be superimposed onto their mirror images through any combination of rotations or translations, much like the distinct left and right hands of a human. In chiral crystals, the spatial arrangement of atoms confers a specific “handedness,” which—for example—influences their optical and electrical properties.

A Hamburg-Oxford team has focused on so-called antiferro-chirals, a type of non-chiral crystal reminiscent of antiferro-magnetic materials, in which anti-align in a staggered pattern leading to a vanishing net magnetization. An antiferro-chiral crystal is composed of equivalent amounts of left-and right-handed substructures in a unit cell, rendering it overall non-chiral.

The research team, led by Andrea Cavalleri of the Max-Planck-Institut for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, used light to lift this balance in the non-chiral material boron phosphate (BPO4), in this way inducing finite chirality on an ultrafast time scale.

Rewriting the Rules: Scientists Discover New Superconductor With “Unconventional” Properties

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have identified a groundbreaking new superconducting material. By combining iron, nickel, and zirconium in specific ratios, they synthesized a novel transition metal zirconide, with varying proportions of iron and nickel.

While pure iron zirconide and nickel zirconide do not exhibit superconductivity, the new mixtures demonstrate superconducting properties, forming a “dome-shaped” phase diagram characteristic of unconventional superconductors. This finding represents a significant step forward in the search for high-temperature superconducting materials that could have widespread applications.

Superconductors are already integral to advanced technologies, such as superconducting magnets in medical imaging devices, maglev trains, and power transmission cables. However, current superconductors require cooling to extremely low temperatures, typically around 4 Kelvin, which limits their practicality. Researchers are focused on discovering materials that achieve zero electrical resistance at higher temperatures, especially near the critical threshold of 77 Kelvin, where liquid nitrogen can replace liquid helium as a coolant—making the technology more accessible and cost-effective.

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