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Artist's impression of aligned spins in an organic semiconductor

Switching ‘spin’ on and off (and up and down) in quantum materials at room temperature

16 Aug 2023

Researchers have found a way to control the interaction of light and quantum ‘spin’ in organic semiconductors, that works even at room temperature...

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Artist's illustration of photosynthesis

Photosynthesis ‘hack’ could lead to new ways of generating renewable energy

22 Mar 2023

Researchers have ‘hacked’ the earliest stages of photosynthesis, the natural machine that powers the vast majority of life on Earth, and discovered...

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Quantum particles

Light used to detect quantum information stored in 100,000 nuclear quantum bits

15 Feb 2021

Researchers have found a way to use light and a single electron to communicate with a cloud of quantum bits and sense their behaviour, making it...

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The Electron Manifesto: transforming high performance computing with 'spintronics'

26 Jul 2017

Electron ‘spin’ could hold the key to managing the world’s growing data demands without consuming huge amounts of energy. Now, researchers have shown...

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Spin, an intrinsic property of electrons, is related to the dynamics of electrons excited as a result of singlet fission – a process which could be used to extract energy in future solar cell technologies.

Researchers road-test powerful method for studying singlet fission

17 Oct 2016

In a new study, researchers measure the spin properties of electronic states produced in singlet fission – a process which could have a central role...

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Regime of a single 1D wire subband filled

A tight squeeze for electrons – quantum effects observed in ‘one-dimensional’ wires

15 Sep 2016

Researchers have observed quantum effects in electrons by squeezing them into one-dimensional ‘quantum wires’ and observing the interactions between...

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Excitation of a spin liquid on a honeycomb lattice with neutrons.

New state of matter detected in a two-dimensional material

04 Apr 2016

Researchers have observed the ‘fingerprint’ of a mysterious new quantum state of matter in a two-dimensional material, in which electrons break apart...

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PhD student Maria Kiourlappou holding a piece of SmB6

To conduct, or to insulate? That is the question

02 Jul 2015

Researchers have identified a material that behaves as a conductor and an insulator at the same time, challenging current understanding of how...

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"Green Power". While conventional solar cells use silicon, it is possible that other materials could eventually be used that would increase their efficiency.

Scientists move closer to “two for one deal” on solar cell efficiency

16 Mar 2015

The causes of a hitherto mysterious process that could enhance the power of solar cells have been explained in a new study.

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Atomic structure of the SiV- color center, consisting of an Si impurity (red) situated on an interstitial position along the bond axis and surrounded by a split-vacancy (transparent) and the next-neighbor carbon atoms (grey).

Gone in 45 nanoseconds – but a new opportunity for quantum control?

22 Dec 2014

In a breakthrough study scientists have revealed the coherence, or the visibility lifespan, of the spin of an electron in an emerging colour centre...

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A high performance semiconducting polymer with an amorphous structure

Clearing a path for electrons in polymers: closing in on the speed limits

05 Nov 2014

A new class of low-cost polymer materials, which can carry electric charge with almost no losses despite their seemingly random structure, could lead...

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Spin manipulation in a noisy environment. In the quest for ever more precise manipulation of quantum systems, any uncontrolled interaction with the environment is usually considered detrimental.

Spin with a new twist

10 Oct 2014

Scientists have successfully demonstrated a new way to control the “spin” of an electron – the natural intrinsic angular momentum of electrons which...

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