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First contact. A scanning tunneling microscope’s (STM’s) atomically sharp tip, made of normal-metal atoms (blue spheres), approaches a phthalocyanine molecule (blue and white peaks, representing the STM-generated map) on a superconducting lead surface (dark spheres). An electron (blue sphere with arrow above the molecule) can jump across the gap along various paths (jagged pink lines), and this jump is accompanied by the production of a hole (red sphere) that moves in the other direction, a process called Andreev reflection. Superconductivity in the lead is produced by Cooper pairs of electrons (paired spheres), some of which are generated by Andreev-reflection events.

First contact. A scanning tunneling microscope’s (STM’s) atomically sharp tip, made of normal-metal atoms (blue spheres), approaches a phthalocyanine molecule (blue and white peaks, representing the STM-generated map) on a superconducting lead surface (dark spheres). An electron (blue sphere with arrow above the molecule) can jump across the gap along various paths (jagged pink lines), and this jump is accompanied by the production of a hole (red sphere) that moves in the other direction, a process called Andreev reflection. Superconductivity in the lead is produced by Cooper pairs of electrons (paired spheres), some of which are generated by Andreev-reflection events.

Superconductivity traverses a single molecule bridge

Researchers have caused a material’s superconductivity to permeate into a nearby normal metal via a single molecule. They showed that this effect could be controlled and say that this control could allow the creation of so-called Majorana quasiparticles, which many research teams are exploring as future quantum bits (qubits) for quantum computers.

Apr 15, 20253 min read

Hidden behavior of quantum quasicrystals

Hidden behavior of quantum quasicrystals

Hidden behavior of quantum quasicrystals

A quantum quasicrystal is a state of matter characterized by an ordered but nonrepeating arrangement of quantum particles. Such phases ar...

Apr 9, 20251 min read

Increasing the size of the magnetic field (red horizontal arrows) applied to rod-like viruses during self-assembly produces thicker, larger disks.

Increasing the size of the magnetic field (red horizontal arrows) applied to rod-like viruses during self-assembly produces thicker, larger disks.

Applying a magnetic field to rod-like viruses induces them to form disks of tunable shape and size

Seeking to mimic self-assembly processes that occur naturally, RIKEN researchers have demonstrated that the self-assembly of rod-shaped v...

Apr 3, 20252 min read

Quantum tornado in momentum space: In the quantum material tantalum arsenide (TaAs), electrons form vortices in momentum space. Momentum space is a physics concept used to analyze how electrons behave in solids. A research team from the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat at Würzburg and Dresden has now provided the first experimental evidence of these quantum tornadoes.

Quantum tornado in momentum space: In the quantum material tantalum arsenide (TaAs), electrons form vortices in momentum space. Momentum space is a physics concept used to analyze how electrons behave in solids. A research team from the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat at Würzburg and Dresden has now provided the first experimental evidence of these quantum tornadoes.

Evidence of a new phenomenon: Quantum tornadoes in momentum space

Momentum space is a physics concept used to analyze how electrons behave in solids. A research team from the Cluster of Excellence ct.qma...

Mar 13, 20253 min read

Even quantum physics obeys the law of entropy

Even quantum physics obeys the law of entropy

Even quantum physics obeys the law of entropy

@ TU Wien It is one of the most important laws of nature that we know: The famous second law of thermodynamics says that the world gets...

Feb 19, 20254 min read

Innovative target design leads to surprising discovery in laser-plasma acceleration

Innovative target design leads to surprising discovery in laser-plasma acceleration

Innovative target design leads to surprising discovery in laser-plasma acceleration

Researchers studying laser-driven proton acceleration introduced an innovative, self-replenishing water sheet target to address the...

Feb 17, 20254 min read

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