Method found for analysing complex, tiny crystals

15-Feb-2023 - The atomic structure of solid substances can often be analysed quickly, easily and very precisely using X-rays. However, this requires that crystals of the corresponding substances exist. Chemist Professor Oliver Oeckler from Leipzig University and his team are developing methods to make this ...

Looking at molecules from two sides with table-top femtosecond soft-X-rays

03-Jan-2019 - X-ray spectroscopy provides direct access into the nature of chemical bonds, from which the outcome of chemical reactions can be understood. For this, intense activities both at x-ray source development and implementation of new measurement methods is pursued by key research labs. Researchers at ...

Individual impurity atoms detectable in graphene

17-Apr-2018 - A team including physicists from the University of Basel has succeeded in using atomic force microscopy to clearly obtain images of individual impurity atoms in graphene ribbons. Thanks to the forces measured in the graphene’s two-dimensional carbon lattice, they were able to identify boron and ...

Prediction of titanic nitride proved unsinkable

26-Jan-2018 - A team of experimental and computational scientists led by Carnegie's Tim Strobel and Venkata Bhadram have synthesized a long sought-after form of titanium nitride, Ti3N4, which has promising mechanical and optoelectronic properties. Standard titanium nitride (TiN), with a one-to-one ratio of ...

Prediction of nonmetallic half-metallicity

19-Sep-2017 - A team of researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and the Institute for Theoretical and Applied Electrodynamics (ITAE) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), in collaboration with a colleague from RIKEN (Institute for Physical and Chemical Research in Japan), has ...

Physicists demonstrate method to study atoms critical to medicine

13-Oct-2016 - UCLA physicists have shown that shining multicolored laser light on rubidium atoms causes them to lose energy and cool to nearly absolute zero. This result suggests that atoms fundamental to chemistry, such as hydrogen and carbon, could also be cooled using similar lasers, an outcome that would ...

Microwave Field Imaging Using Diamond and Vapor Cells

12-Nov-2015 - Microwave field imaging is becoming increasingly important, as microwaves play an essential role in modern communications technology and can also be used in medical diagnostics. Researchers from the Swiss Nanoscience Institute and the Department of Physics at the University of Basel have now ...

“Multi-spectra glasses” for scanning electron microscopy

30-Sep-2014 - The scanning electron microscope is not only used for precisely surveying the surface topology of samples, but also for determining their chemical compositions. This is done by exciting the atoms to fluoresce under irradiation by an electron beam while scanning the sample. This secondary emission ...

Graphene foam detects explosives, emissions better than today's gas sensors

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute engineering researchers overcome decade-old hurdle hampering development of nanostructure-based gas sensors

30-Nov-2011 - A new study from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute demonstrates how graphene foam can outperform leading commercial gas sensors in detecting potentially dangerous and explosive chemicals. The discovery opens the door for a new generation of gas sensors to be used by bomb squads, law enforcement ...

JILA frequency comb system detects gas impurities to aid semiconductor manufacturing

10-Aug-2010 - Purity of ingredients is a constant concern for the semiconductor industry, because a mere trace of contaminants can damage or ruin tiny devices. In a step toward solving a long-standing problem in semiconductor manufacturing, scientists at JILA and collaborators have used their unique version of ...