Phys.org February 14, 2023 Plasmon modes are treated as quasiparticles, and they are considered essential for the realization of future nanoscale quantum functionality. Implementing and demonstrating such functionality requires access to the quasiparticle’s quantum state to monitor and manipulate its corresponding quantum wave packet dynamics in Hilbert space. Researchers in Germany succeeded in detecting such superposition states of light directly in a nanostructure using plasmon-assisted electron emission as a signal in coherent two-dimensional nanoscopy. The observation of a quantum coherence oscillating at the third harmonic of the plasmon frequency was traced back to the superposition of energetically non-adjacent plasmon occupation […]
Tag Archives: S&T Germany
Researchers gain deeper understanding of mechanism behind superconductors
Phys.org January 17, 2023 High-temperature superconducting cuprates respond to doping with a dome-like dependence of their critical temperature (Tc). But the family-specific maximum Tc can be surpassed by application of pressure. Researchers in Germany investigated the phenomenon with high-pressure anvil cell NMR and measured the charge content at planar Cu and O, and with it the doping of the CuO2. They found that pressure increases the overall hole doping but when it enhances Tc above what can be achieved by doping, pressure leads to a hole redistribution favoring planar O. This is similar to the observation that the family-specific maximum […]
Scientific highlights 2022
Max Plank Society December 14, 2022 Many publications by Max Planck scientists in 2022 were of great social relevance or met with a great media response. We have selected 12 articles to present you with an overview of some noteworthy research of the year…read more.
Erbium atoms in silicon: A prime candidate for quantum networks
Phys.org November 7, 2022 A major challenge for a scalable architecture for quantum information processing is based on emitters in nanostructures that are coupled by light. Researchers in Germany demonstrated the integration of erbium atoms with special optical properties into a silicon crystal. Thus, the atoms could be connected by light at a wavelength that is commonly used in telecommunications, making them ideal building blocks for future quantum networks that enable calculations with several quantum computers, as well as the secure exchange of data in a quantum internet. They achieved a narrow inhomogeneous broadening, less than 1 GHz, strong optical […]
Surface melting of glass
Science Daily November 4, 2022 Microscopic properties of glasses largely differ from that of the bulk material. Researchers in Germany experimentally investigated the surface of a two-dimensional glass as a function of the effective temperature. They used colloidal suspension of micron-sized particles interacting via tunable critical Casimir forces to a free surface. They observed surface melting of the glass. However, underneath they found a region with bulk density but much faster particle dynamics. which resulted from connected clusters of highly mobile particles which are formed near the surface and deeply percolate into the underlying material. Because its thickness can reach […]
Overcoming the optical resolution limit
Phys.org November 1, 2022 When measuring with light, the lateral extent of the structures that can be resolved by an optical imaging system is fundamentally diffraction limited. Researchers in Germany have developed an approach that uses microspheres placed directly on the surface of the object to extend the limits of interferometric topography measurements for optical resolution of small structures. They identified microspheres and photonic nanojets to explain the resolution enhancement. They extended the model with respect to microsphere-assisted interference microscopy providing a rigorous simulation of the scattered electric field directly above the sphere. Simulation and experimental results were compared in […]
Tandem solar cells with perovskite: Nanostructures help in many ways
Science Daily October 24, 2022 Perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells offer the possibility of overcoming the power conversion efficiency limit of conventional silicon solar cells. Researchers in Germany have developed perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells with periodic nanotextures that offer various advantages without compromising the material quality of solution-processed perovskite layers. They showed a reduction in reflection losses in comparison to planar tandems, with the new devices being less sensitive to deviations from optimum layer thicknesses. The nanotextures also enabled a greatly increased fabrication yield from 50% to 95%. The open-circuit voltage was improved by 15 mV due to the enhanced optoelectronic properties […]
Organic thin-film sensors for light-source analysis and anti-counterfeiting applications
Science Daily September 6, 2022 Researchers in Germany have developed an organic thin-film sensor that describes a completely new way of identifying the wavelength of light and achieves a spectral resolution below one nanometer. The principle of operation of the new sensor is that light of unknown wavelength excites luminescent materials in a hair-thin film. The film consists of a mixture of phosphorescent and fluorescent entities, which absorb the light under investigation in different ways. The intensity of the afterglow can be used to infer the wavelength of the unknown input light. They exploited the fundamental physics of excited states […]
Physicists entangle more than a dozen photons efficiently
Phys.org August 25, 2022 Optical photons represent ideal qubit carriers. However, the most successful technique so far for creating photonic entanglement is inherently probabilistic and, therefore, subject to severe scalability limitations. Researchers in Germany generated up to 14 entangled photons in a defined way and with high efficiency by using a single atom to emit the photons and interweave them in a very specific way, they placed a rubidium atom at the center of an optical cavity and triggered the emission of a photon that is entangled with the quantum state of the atom. By repeating the process several times […]
Microbatteries much smaller than a grain of rice for a smart dust future
Nanowerk August 5, 2022 Researchers in Germany have developed an on-chip Swiss-roll current collector made via the micro-origami process and infused it with a MnO2 slurry comprising a zincophilic binder. The zincophilic binder layer enhances zinc ion transportability and suppresses MnO2 dissolution. The MnO2 Swiss-roll microelectrode is used to create an on-chip microbattery with a small electrode footprint area which shows a footprint capacity up to 3.3 mAh cm–2 and has a capacity of more than 1 mAh cm–2 for 150 cycles. According to the researchers the battery stability can be improved to over 600 cycles at a 50% depth […]