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Category: particle physics – Page 188

Diamond Can Be Squeezed Into Something Even Harder. Now We Know How to Do It

Simulations of an elusive carbon molecule that leaves diamonds in the dust for hardness may pave the way to creating it in a lab.

Known as the eight-atom body-centered cubic (BC8) phase, the configuration is expected to be up to 30 percent more resistant to compression than diamond – the hardest known stable material on Earth.

Physicists from the US and Sweden ran quantum-accurate molecular-dynamics simulations on a supercomputer to see how diamond behaved under high pressure when temperatures rose to levels that ought to make it unstable, revealing new clues on the conditions that could push the carbon atoms in diamond into the unusual structure.

Supercomputers Crack the Code of Super-Diamond Synthesis

Researchers are on a quest to synthesize BC8, a carbon structure predicted to be tougher than diamond, using insights from advanced simulations and experimental efforts. This material, theoretically prevalent in the extreme pressures of exoplanets, remains a scientific mystery with promising applications in materials science.

Diamond is the strongest material known. However, another form of carbon has been predicted to be even tougher than diamond. The challenge is how to create it on Earth.

The eight-atom body-centered cubic (BC8) crystal is a distinct carbon phase: not diamond, but very similar. BC8 is predicted to be a stronger material, exhibiting a 30% greater resistance to compression than diamond. It is believed to be found in the center of carbon-rich exoplanets. If BC8 could be recovered under ambient conditions, it could be classified as a super-diamond.

Unlocking Quantum Secrets: The Revolutionary Dance of Nanoparticles

Innovative research leverages levitated optomechanics to observe quantum phenomena in larger objects, offering potential applications in quantum sensing and bridging the gap between quantum and classical mechanics.

The question of where the boundary between classical and quantum physics lies is one of the longest-standing pursuits of modern scientific research and in new research published today, scientists demonstrate a novel platform that could help us find an answer.

The laws of quantum physics govern the behavior of particles at minuscule scales, leading to phenomena such as quantum entanglement, where the properties of entangled particles become inextricably linked in ways that cannot be explained by classical physics.

Quantum Leap in Material Science: Researchers Unveil AI-Powered Atomic Fabrication Technique

Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed an innovative method for creating carbon-based quantum materials atom by atom. This method combines the use of scanning probe microscopy with advanced deep neural networks. The achievement underlines the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) in manipulating materials at the sub-angstrom level, offering significant advantages for basic science and potential future uses.

Open-shell magnetic nanographenes represent a technologically appealing class of new carbon-based quantum materials, which host robust π-spin centers and non-trivial collective quantum magnetism. These properties are crucial for developing high-speed electronic devices at the molecular level and creating quantum bits, the building blocks of quantum computers.

Despite significant advancements in the synthesis of these materials through on-surface synthesis, a type of solid-phase chemical reaction, achieving precise fabrication and tailoring of the properties of these quantum materials at the atomic level has remained a challenge.

Quantum Leap: How Spin Squeezing Pushes Limits of Atomic Clock Accuracy

Physicists are pushing the limits of atomic clock accuracy by using spin-squeezed states, achieving groundbreaking control over quantum noise and entanglement, leading to potential leaps in quantum metrology.

While atomic clocks are already the most precise timekeeping devices in the universe, physicists are working hard to improve their accuracy even further. One way is by leveraging spin-squeezed states in clock atoms. Spin-squeezed states are entangled states in which particles in the system conspire to cancel their intrinsic quantum noise. These states, therefore, offer great opportunities for quantum-enhanced metrology since they allow for more precise measurements. Yet, spin-squeezed states in the desired optical transitions with little outside noise have been hard to prepare and maintain.

One particular way to generate a spin-squeezed state, or squeezing, is by placing the clock atoms into an optical cavity, a set of mirrors where light can bounce back and forth many times. In the cavity, atoms can synchronize their photon emissions and emit a burst of light far brighter than from any one atom alone, a phenomenon referred to as superradiance. Depending on how superradiance is used, it can lead to entanglement, or alternatively, it can instead disrupt the desired quantum state.

MIT’s Electron Spin Magic Sparks Computing Evolution

An MIT team precisely controlled an ultrathin magnet at room temperature, which could enable faster, more efficient processors and computer memories.

Experimental computer memories and processors built from magnetic materials use far less energy than traditional silicon-based devices. Two-dimensional magnetic materials, composed of layers that are only a few atoms thick, have incredible properties that could allow magnetic-based devices to achieve unprecedented speed, efficiency, and scalability.

While many hurdles must be overcome until these so-called van der Waals magnetic materials can be integrated into functioning computers, MIT researchers took an important step in this direction by demonstrating precise control of a van der Waals magnet at room temperature.

Physicists Unlock the Secrets of Light-Induced Ferroelectricity in Quantum Materials

Mid-infrared and terahertz laser pulses serve as potent instruments for altering the characteristics of quantum materials by specifically tailoring their crystal lattice. The induction of ferroelectricity in SrTiO3 when exposed to mid-infrared light is a significant example of this phenomenon. In this process, SrTiO3 undergoes a change to a state where electrical dipoles are permanently aligned, a condition not found in its natural state of equilibrium. The process driving this remarkable transformation remains a mystery.

Now, a team of researchers of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Germany and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the United States has performed an experiment at the SwissFEL X-ray Free-Electron Laser to identify the intrinsic interactions relevant to creating this state. The new insight was gained not by detecting the position of the atoms, but by measuring the fluctuations of these atomic positions.

The result provides evidence that these fluctuations are reduced, which may explain why the dipolar structure is more ordered than in equilibrium, and why a ferroelectric state could be induced. The work by the Cavalleri group has appeared in Nature Materials.