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In a new Nature Physics study, researchers created particle-like so-called “vortex knots” inside chiral nematic liquid crystals, a twisted fluid similar to those used in LCD screens. For the first time, these knots are stable and could be reversibly switched between different knotted forms, using electric pulses to fuse and split them.

Researchers from TU Delft and Radboud University have discovered that the two-dimensional ferroelectric material CuInP₂S₆ (‘CIPS’) can be used to control the pathway and properties of blue and ultraviolet light like no other material can. With ultraviolet light being the workhorse of advanced chipmaking, high-resolution microscopy and next-generation optical communication technologies, improving the on-chip control over such light is vital. As the researchers describe in the

On the one hand, pixels ranging in size from 100 to 200 nanometres form the foundation for ultra-high-resolution screens that could display razor-sharp images in glasses worn close to the eye, for example. In order to illustrate this, Shih's team of researchers displayed the ETH Zurich logo. This ETH logo consists of 2,800 nano-OLEDs and is similar in size to a human cell, with each of its pixels measuring around 200 nanometres (0.2 micrometres). The smallest pixels developed

The group demonstrated that shining three self-trapped light beams into a specially engineered hydrogel can execute a NAND logic operation, one of the most fundamental building blocks of computing. Because all other digital logic gates can be built from NAND, the achievement establishes soft, photoresponsive materials as a realistic platform for autonomous, computation-capable systems.

A research team at the City University of New York and the University of Texas at Austin has discovered a way to make previously hidden states of light, known as dark excitons, shine brightly, and control their emission at the nanoscale. Their findings, published today in Nature Photonics, open the door to faster, smaller, and more energy-efficient technologies. Dark excitons are exotic light-matter states in atomically thin semiconductors that typically remain invisible beca

Scientists at New York University report the discovery of “gyromorphs”—a material that combines the seemingly incompatible properties of liquids and crystals and that performs better than any other known structure in blocking light from all incoming angles. The breakthrough, described in the journal Physical Review Letters, marks an innovative way to control optical properties and to potentially advance the capabilities of light-based computers.