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Physics - Astronomy / Space Science - 27.03.2023 
How football-shaped molecules occur in the universe
For a long time it has been suspected that fullerene and its derivatives could form naturally in the universe. These are large carbon molecules shaped like a football, salad bowl or nanotube. An international team of researchers using the Swiss SLS synchrotron light source at PSI has shown how this reaction works.
Life Sciences - Physics - 22.03.2023 
How vision begins
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have deciphered the molecular processes that first occur in the eye when light hits the retina. The processes - which take only a fraction of a trillionth of a second - are essential for human sight. The study has now been published in the scientific journal Nature .
Physics - 21.03.2023 
Scientists open door to manipulating ’quantum light’
Light particles, also called photons, do not normally interact with each other. An international research team has now demonstrated for the first time that a few photons can be manipulated and made to interact in a controlled manner. This could advance both medical imaging and quantum computing. Photons do not interact with each other in a vacuum; they can fly through each other undisturbed.
Physics - Electroengineering - 20.03.2023 
Sculpting quantum materials for the electronics of the future
An international team led by the University of Geneva has developed a quantum material in which the fabric of space inhabited by electrons can be curved on-demand. The development of new information and communication technologies poses new challenges to scientists and industry. Designing new quantum materials - whose exceptional properties stem from quantum physics - is the most promising way to meet these challenges.
Physics - Computer Science - 13.03.2023 
High-performance detectors to combat spies
A team from the University of Geneva and ID Quantique has developed single-photon detectors with unprecedented performance. These results open new perspectives for quantum cryptography. How can we combat data theft, which is a real issue for society? Quantum physics has the solution. Its theories make it possible to encode information (a qubit) in single particles of light (a photon) and to circulate them in an optical fibre in a highly secure way.
Materials Science - Physics - 09.03.2023 
Shape memory for nano-sized objects
Researchers at ETH Zurich achieved a shape memory effect for the first time with objects that are only a few nanometers in size. This can be used to manufacture tiny machinery and robotic devices on the nanoscale. Alloys that can return to their original structure after being deformed have a so-called shape memory.
Physics - Materials Science - 06.03.2023 
Forecast for accidents with nanomaterials
Researchers have for the first time estimated how probable the accidental release of nanomaterials will be in the future. They based this on models from the nuclear industry. For a risk assessment, the results now have to be linked to information about the hazardous nature of the materials. Every year, more than two million tonnes of nanomaterials are produced and used for a wide variety of consumer goods.
Physics - 03.03.2023 
3D-snapshots of nanoparticles
Researchers have managed to take three-dimensional pictures of single nanoparticles using extremely short and strong X-ray pulses. In the future this technique could even be used to make 3D-movies of dynamical processes at the nanoscale. X-ray diffraction has been used for more than a hundred years to understand the structure of crystals or proteins - for instance, in 1952 the well-known double helix structure of the DNA that carries genetic information was discovered in this way.
Electroengineering - Physics - 17.02.2023 
Electronic metadevices break barriers to ultra-fast communications
Researchers have come up with a new approach to electronics that involves engineering metastructures at the sub-wavelength scale. It could launch the next generation of ultra-fast devices for exchanging massive amounts of data, with applications in 6G communications and beyond. Until now, the ability to make electronic devices faster has come down to a simple principle: scaling down transistors and other components.
Life Sciences - Physics - 17.02.2023 
Achieving a better understanding of how the blood-brain barrier works
Up to now, the use of models to research the barrier that separates the circulatory from the nervous system has proven to be either limited or extremely complicated. Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a more realistic model that can also be used to better explore new treatments for brain tumours.
Physics - Materials Science - 13.02.2023 
Chromo-encryption method encodes secrets with color
In a new approach to security that unites technology and art, researchers have combined silver nanostructures with polarized light to yield a range of brilliant colors, which can be used to encode messages. Cryptography is something of a new field for Olivier Martin, who has been studying the optics of nanostructures for many years as head of the Nanophotonics and Metrology Lab EPFL's School of Engineering.
Physics - 27.01.2023
Physics - 16.01.2023 
Deflecting lightning with a laser lightning rod
A European consortium led by UNIGE, école Polytechnique (Paris), EPFL, hes-so and TRUMPF has managed to guide lightning using a high-power laser installed at the top of Mount Säntis in Switzerland. Forest fires, power cuts and damaged infrastructure..lightning fascinates and destroys in equal measure, causing as many as 24,000 deaths a year worldwide not to mention widespread destruction.
Physics - Computer Science - 12.01.2023 
Integrated photonic circuits could help close the 'terahertz gap'
Researchers have collaborated with those at Harvard and ETH Zurich on a new thin-film circuit that, when connected to a laser beam, produces finely tailorable terahertz-frequency waves. The device opens up a world of potential applications in optics and telecommunications. Researchers led by Cristina Benea-Chelmus in the Laboratory of Hybrid Photonics ( HYLAB ) in EPFL's School of Engineering have taken a big step toward successfully exploiting the so-called terahertz gap, which lies between about 300-30,000 gigahertz (0.3 to 30 THz) on the electromagnetic spectrum.
Chemistry - Physics - 04.01.2023 
A step towards solar fuels out of thin air
EPFL chemical engineers have invented a solar-powered artificial leaf, built on a novel electrode which is transparent and porous, capable of harvesting water from the air for conversion into hydrogen fuel. The semiconductor-based technology is scalable and easy to prepare. A device that can harvest water from the air and provide hydrogen fuel-entirely powered by solar energy-has been a dream for researchers for decades.
Physics - Electroengineering - 26.12.2022 
Optomechanics simulates graphene lattices
Scientists at EPFL have overcome the scaling challenges of quantum optomechanical systems and realized the first superconducting circuit optomechanical graphene lattice. The precise control of micro-mechanical oscillators is fundamental to many contemporary technologies, from sensing and timing to radiofrequency filters in smartphones.
Physics - 07.12.2022 
Unexpected speed-dependent friction
In the macro world, friction doesn't depend on the speed at which two surfaces move past one another, but researchers from Basel and Tel Aviv have now observed precisely this effect in special graphene structures on a platinum surface. December 2022 Due to their low-friction properties, materials consisting of single atomic layers are of great interest for applications where the aim is to reduce friction — such as hard disks or moving components for satellites or space telescopes.
Physics - Innovation - 01.12.2022 
Photonics chip allows light amplification
Scientists at EPFL have developed photonic integrated circuits that demonstrated a new principle of light amplification on a silicon chip. It can be employed for optical signals like those used in Lidar, trans-oceanic fiber amplifiers or in data center telecommunications. The ability to achieve quantum-limited amplification of optical signals contained in optical fibers is arguably among the most important technological advances that are underlying our modern information society.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 29.11.2022 
Small asteroids are probably young
The impact experiment conducted on the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission which took place two years ago resulted in an unexpectedly large crater. With the use of simulations, a team led by the University of Bern and the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS has recently succeeded in gaining new insights from the experiment regarding the formation and development of asteroids.
Physics - Electroengineering - 23.11.2022 
Spin correlation between paired electrons demonstrated
Physicists at the University of Basel have experimentally demonstrated for the first time that there is a negative correlation between the two spins of an entangled pair of electrons from a superconductor. For their study, the researchers used spin filters made of nanomagnets and quantum dots, as they report in the scientific journal Nature.
Physics
Results 1 - 20 of 608.
For a long time it has been suspected that fullerene and its derivatives could form naturally in the universe. These are large carbon molecules shaped like a football, salad bowl or nanotube. An international team of researchers using the Swiss SLS synchrotron light source at PSI has shown how this reaction works.
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have deciphered the molecular processes that first occur in the eye when light hits the retina. The processes - which take only a fraction of a trillionth of a second - are essential for human sight. The study has now been published in the scientific journal Nature .
Light particles, also called photons, do not normally interact with each other. An international research team has now demonstrated for the first time that a few photons can be manipulated and made to interact in a controlled manner. This could advance both medical imaging and quantum computing. Photons do not interact with each other in a vacuum; they can fly through each other undisturbed.
An international team led by the University of Geneva has developed a quantum material in which the fabric of space inhabited by electrons can be curved on-demand. The development of new information and communication technologies poses new challenges to scientists and industry. Designing new quantum materials - whose exceptional properties stem from quantum physics - is the most promising way to meet these challenges.
A team from the University of Geneva and ID Quantique has developed single-photon detectors with unprecedented performance. These results open new perspectives for quantum cryptography. How can we combat data theft, which is a real issue for society? Quantum physics has the solution. Its theories make it possible to encode information (a qubit) in single particles of light (a photon) and to circulate them in an optical fibre in a highly secure way.
Researchers at ETH Zurich achieved a shape memory effect for the first time with objects that are only a few nanometers in size. This can be used to manufacture tiny machinery and robotic devices on the nanoscale. Alloys that can return to their original structure after being deformed have a so-called shape memory.
Researchers have for the first time estimated how probable the accidental release of nanomaterials will be in the future. They based this on models from the nuclear industry. For a risk assessment, the results now have to be linked to information about the hazardous nature of the materials. Every year, more than two million tonnes of nanomaterials are produced and used for a wide variety of consumer goods.
Researchers have managed to take three-dimensional pictures of single nanoparticles using extremely short and strong X-ray pulses. In the future this technique could even be used to make 3D-movies of dynamical processes at the nanoscale. X-ray diffraction has been used for more than a hundred years to understand the structure of crystals or proteins - for instance, in 1952 the well-known double helix structure of the DNA that carries genetic information was discovered in this way.
Researchers have come up with a new approach to electronics that involves engineering metastructures at the sub-wavelength scale. It could launch the next generation of ultra-fast devices for exchanging massive amounts of data, with applications in 6G communications and beyond. Until now, the ability to make electronic devices faster has come down to a simple principle: scaling down transistors and other components.
Up to now, the use of models to research the barrier that separates the circulatory from the nervous system has proven to be either limited or extremely complicated. Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a more realistic model that can also be used to better explore new treatments for brain tumours.
In a new approach to security that unites technology and art, researchers have combined silver nanostructures with polarized light to yield a range of brilliant colors, which can be used to encode messages. Cryptography is something of a new field for Olivier Martin, who has been studying the optics of nanostructures for many years as head of the Nanophotonics and Metrology Lab EPFL's School of Engineering.
Ultrafast control of spins in a microscope
Researchers at EPFL have developed a new technique that can visualize and control the rotation of a handful of spins arranged in a vortex-like texture at the fastest speed ever achieved. The breakthrough can advance "spintronics", a technology that includes new types of computer memory, logic gates, and high-precision sensors.
Researchers at EPFL have developed a new technique that can visualize and control the rotation of a handful of spins arranged in a vortex-like texture at the fastest speed ever achieved. The breakthrough can advance "spintronics", a technology that includes new types of computer memory, logic gates, and high-precision sensors.
A European consortium led by UNIGE, école Polytechnique (Paris), EPFL, hes-so and TRUMPF has managed to guide lightning using a high-power laser installed at the top of Mount Säntis in Switzerland. Forest fires, power cuts and damaged infrastructure..lightning fascinates and destroys in equal measure, causing as many as 24,000 deaths a year worldwide not to mention widespread destruction.
Researchers have collaborated with those at Harvard and ETH Zurich on a new thin-film circuit that, when connected to a laser beam, produces finely tailorable terahertz-frequency waves. The device opens up a world of potential applications in optics and telecommunications. Researchers led by Cristina Benea-Chelmus in the Laboratory of Hybrid Photonics ( HYLAB ) in EPFL's School of Engineering have taken a big step toward successfully exploiting the so-called terahertz gap, which lies between about 300-30,000 gigahertz (0.3 to 30 THz) on the electromagnetic spectrum.
EPFL chemical engineers have invented a solar-powered artificial leaf, built on a novel electrode which is transparent and porous, capable of harvesting water from the air for conversion into hydrogen fuel. The semiconductor-based technology is scalable and easy to prepare. A device that can harvest water from the air and provide hydrogen fuel-entirely powered by solar energy-has been a dream for researchers for decades.
Scientists at EPFL have overcome the scaling challenges of quantum optomechanical systems and realized the first superconducting circuit optomechanical graphene lattice. The precise control of micro-mechanical oscillators is fundamental to many contemporary technologies, from sensing and timing to radiofrequency filters in smartphones.
In the macro world, friction doesn't depend on the speed at which two surfaces move past one another, but researchers from Basel and Tel Aviv have now observed precisely this effect in special graphene structures on a platinum surface. December 2022 Due to their low-friction properties, materials consisting of single atomic layers are of great interest for applications where the aim is to reduce friction — such as hard disks or moving components for satellites or space telescopes.
Scientists at EPFL have developed photonic integrated circuits that demonstrated a new principle of light amplification on a silicon chip. It can be employed for optical signals like those used in Lidar, trans-oceanic fiber amplifiers or in data center telecommunications. The ability to achieve quantum-limited amplification of optical signals contained in optical fibers is arguably among the most important technological advances that are underlying our modern information society.
The impact experiment conducted on the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission which took place two years ago resulted in an unexpectedly large crater. With the use of simulations, a team led by the University of Bern and the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS has recently succeeded in gaining new insights from the experiment regarding the formation and development of asteroids.
Physicists at the University of Basel have experimentally demonstrated for the first time that there is a negative correlation between the two spins of an entangled pair of electrons from a superconductor. For their study, the researchers used spin filters made of nanomagnets and quantum dots, as they report in the scientific journal Nature.
