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Defects in single-crystal indium gallium zinc oxide could fix persistent display instability

Many displays found in smartphones and televisions rely on thin-film transistors (TFTs) made from indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) to control pixels. IGZO offers high transparency due to its large bandgap (the gap existing between the valence and conduction bands), high conductivity, and can operate even in an amorphous (non-crystalline) form, making it ideal for displays, flexible electronics, and solar cells.

However, IGZO-based devices face long-term stability issues, such as negative bias illumination stress, where prolonged exposure to light and electrical stress shifts the voltage required to activate pixels. These instabilities are believed to stem from structural imperfections, which create additional electronic states—known as subgap states—that trap charge carriers and disrupt current flow.

Until recently, most studies on subgap states focused on amorphous IGZO, as sufficiently large single-crystal IGZO (sc-IGZO) samples were not available for analysis. However, the disordered nature of amorphous IGZO has made it difficult to pinpoint the exact causes of electronic instability.

Low-loss spin waveguide network could pave way for energy-efficient AI hardware

The rapid rise in AI applications has placed increasingly heavy demands on our energy infrastructure. All the more reason to find energy-saving solutions for AI hardware. One promising idea is the use of so-called spin waves to process information.

Calculating the electron’s magnetic moment: State-dependent values emerge from Dirac equation

Quantum mechanics has a reputation that precedes it. Virtually everyone who has bumped up against the quantum realm, whether in a physics class, in the lab, or in popular science writing, is left thinking something like, “Now, that is really weird.” For some, this translates to weird and wonderful. For others it is more like weird and disturbing.

Chip Sebens, a professor of philosophy at Caltech who asks foundational questions about physics, is firmly in the latter camp. “Philosophers of physics generally get really frustrated when people just say, ‘OK, here’s quantum mechanics. It’s going to be weird. Don’t worry. You can make the right predictions with it. You don’t need to try to make too much sense out of it, just learn to use it.’ That kind of thing drives me up the wall,” Sebens says.

One particularly weird and disturbing area of physics for people like Sebens is theory. Quantum field theory goes beyond quantum mechanics, incorporating the and allowing the number of particles to change over time (such as when an electron and positron annihilate each other and create two photons).

Studies offer new insights into production and structure of heavy hollow atoms

Hollow atoms are special atoms with multiple missing electrons in their inner shells, while their outer shells are still fully or partially filled with electrons. Studying the production mechanisms, internal structure, and de-excitation properties of these excited-state atoms provides insights into quantum electrodynamics and quantum many-body interactions, with applications in fields such as inner-shell ionization X-ray lasers, high-energy density physics, and molecular imaging.

Researchers at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently confirmed that the fully stripped heavy ion-atom collision is an effective way to produce heavy hollow atoms in high yield. They have also developed a high-resolution planar crystal to measure the fine structure of inner-shell multi-ionization ion X-rays.

The results have been published in Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy and Physical Review A.

Researchers discover more efficient way to route information in quantum computers

Quantum computers have the potential to revolutionize computing by solving complex problems that stump even today’s fastest machines. Scientists are exploring whether quantum computers could one day help streamline global supply chains, create ultra-secure encryption to protect sensitive data against even the most powerful cyberattacks, or even develop more effective drugs by simulating their behavior at the atomic level.

But building efficient quantum computers isn’t just about developing faster chips or better hardware. It also requires a deep understanding of quantum mechanics—the strange rules that govern the tiniest building blocks of our universe, such as atoms and electrons—and how to effectively move information through .

In a paper published in Physics Review X, a team of physicists—including graduate student Elizabeth Champion and assistant professor Machiel Blok from the University of Rochester’s Department of Physics and Astronomy—outlined a method to address a tricky problem in quantum computing: how to efficiently move information within a multi-level system using quantum units called qudits.

Stoichiometric crystal shows promise in quantum memory

For over two decades, physicists have been working toward implementing quantum light storage—also known as quantum memory—in various matter systems. These techniques allow for the controlled and reversible mapping of light particles called photons onto long-lived states of matter. But storing light for long periods without compromising its retrieval efficiency is a difficult task.

Affordable, room-temperature maser created using LED technology

With the ability to detect and amplify extremely weak electromagnetic signals without adding additional noise, masers have many potential uses, including the production of more sensitive magnetic resonance body scanners, such as those used in airports.

Despite their discovery in the 1950s, there has been little development of the technology since then due to the complex and expensive conditions required to make them—masers are only able to be produced in very cold conditions, while also within a vacuum and a high magnetic field.

Northumbria’s Dr. Juna Sathian is one of the U.K.’s leading experts in maser technology and has previously worked with colleagues at Imperial College London and University College London to develop a room-temperature maser which works using laser light. However, this method is expensive and difficult to replicate in everyday applications.

Multisynapse optical network outperforms digital AI models

For decades, scientists have looked to light as a way to speed up computing. Photonic neural networks—systems that use light instead of electricity to process information—promise faster speeds and lower energy use than traditional electronics.

But despite their potential, these systems have struggled to match the accuracy of digital . A key reason: most photonic systems still mimic the structure and training methods of digital models, introducing errors when translating from software to hardware.

Now, a research team from Northwestern Polytechnical University and Southeast University in China has developed a new kind of photonic neural network that breaks free from this digital imitation. Their design, published in Advanced Photonics Nexus, uses physical transformations of light to process information directly, without relying on mathematical models. This approach not only improves accuracy but also highlights a new direction for building smarter, faster AI hardware.

New Chemistry Discovery Promises More Effective Cancer Drugs With Fewer Side Effects

Researchers discovered how to flip the structure of complex drug compounds using a simple reagent, offering a game-changing approach for making better medicines. For the first time, chemists have developed a novel method to manipulate a type of chemical compound that plays a crucial role in many

NASA Flips a Mars Orbiter Upside Down — And Discovers a Hidden World

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a long-running spacecraft mission dedicated to studying the Red Planet from orbit. Launched in 2005 and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate, MRO is part of NASA’s broader Mars Exploration Program. It plays a key role in analyzing Mars’ surface, atmosphere, and subsurface using a suite of advanced instruments.

One of MRO’s standout tools is SHARAD (Shallow Radar), which probes beneath the Martian surface to detect features like ice and rock layers. Provided by the Italian Space Agency and operated by Sapienza University of Rome, SHARAD is a collaborative effort analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team, with U.S. participation led by the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona.

Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, built the orbiter and continues to support its operations, ensuring the spacecraft’s longevity and scientific productivity well into its second decade.