Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: materials – Page 31

Study predicts existence of Type-III multiferroics, which exhibit ferroelectricity-driven magnetism

Multiferroics are materials that exhibit more than one ferroic property, typically ferroelectricity (i.e., a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by electric fields) and ferromagnetism (i.e., the spontaneous magnetic ordering of electron spins). These materials have proved promising for the development of various new technologies, including spintronics, devices that exploit the spin of electrons to process and store information.

So far, physicists and material scientists have uncovered two distinct types of multiferroics, dubbed Type-I and Type-II multiferroics. In Type-I multiferroics, ferroelectricity and arise independently from distinct physical mechanisms, while in Type-II multiferroics, ferroelectricity is driven by magnetic ordering.

Researchers at Nanjing University of Science and Technology recently predicted the existence of a third type of multiferroics, referred to as Type-III multiferroics, in which magnetism is driven by ferroelectricity. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, could inspire future efforts aimed at identifying materials with the characteristics they described, which could be highly advantageous for the advancement of spintronics as well as other memory and information processing systems.

Quantum state lifetimes extended by laser-triggered electron tunneling in cuprate ladders

Quantum materials exhibit remarkable emergent properties when they are excited by external sources. However, these excited states decay rapidly once the excitation is removed, limiting their practical applications.

A team of researchers from Harvard University and the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have now demonstrated an approach to stabilize these fleeting states and probe their using bright X-ray flashes from the X-ray free electron laser SwissFEL at PSI. The findings are published in the journal Nature Materials.

Some materials exhibit fascinating quantum properties that can lead to transformative technologies, from lossless electronics to high-capacity batteries. However, when these materials are in their natural state, these properties remain hidden, and scientists need to gently ask for them to pop up.

“They Morph Like Liquid Metal”: Scientists Reveal Mini-Robot Swarm That Shape-Shifts Just Like in Sci-Fi Movies

IN A NUTSHELL 🔬 Scientists have created a swarm of tiny robots that function as a dynamic, living material. 🧬 Inspired by embryonic development, these robots can change shape, self-heal, and adapt like smart materials. 💡 Equipped with light sensors and magnets, the robots coordinate their movements to transition between solid and liquid states. 🏗️

Producing superconductors for quantum circuit elements at high temperatures

A project led by the University of Melbourne’s Dr. Manjith Bose and Professor Jeff McCallum, who are also members of the ARC Center of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, has identified a promising class of superconductors that may potentially avoid the need for high levels of cryogenic cooling. These advanced materials can be manufactured, be integrable and be compatible using standard silicon and superconducting electronics approaches.

To optimize the growth of these silicide superconductors, Dr. Bose and Prof. McCallum are making extensive use of high– neutron reflectometry on the Spatz reflectometer at ANSTO’s Australian Center for Neutron Scattering.

Neutrons are an ideal tool for exploring extreme sample environments, such as the high pressure, temperatures or fields that are present when manufacturing circuit elements. This is because neutrons can penetrate through most common metals, allowing one to see reflective thin films deep inside furnaces, magnets and cryo-chambers.

Your ketchup will see you now: Solid-phase properties reveal when yield stress fluids start to flow

Pounding on the bottom of a glass bottle of ketchup is one of life’s small annoyances. Getting that sweet, red concoction from its solid phase to a liquid takes too long when you’re hungry and could even require messy strategies with a butter knife.

Now a team of scientists has shown that determining the point where the solid transitions to a liquid can be predicted from the properties of the alone. The research has been published in Physical Review Letters.

The new work focuses on yielding, a phenomenon where a solid-like material starts to behave like a liquid. “This behavior occurs constantly all around us, from desserts like custards that smoothly flow onto your spoon to personal care products like toothpaste that are easily squeezed out of tubes but hold their shape on your toothbrush,” Ryan Poling-Skutvik of the University of Rhode Island in the United States told Phys.org.

/* */