Physics Condensed matter physics

Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, carry out computer experiments to track how water nanodroplets wet surfaces

New “GMBU” procedure reveals band structures in finite, curved nanomaterials, linking nano‑ARPES and theory for next‑generation device design.

Researchers from The University of Osaka created stable cobalt-based honeycomb structures inside a layered material and observed ferromagnetic-like ordering at low temperatures. By introducing a small amount of cobalt into NaSbO3, the team demonstrated a new platform to study Kitaev materials using abundant 3d transition metals, potentially supporting future cost-effective quantum technologies.

A once-theoretical structure is now shaping the future of computing. Researchers have uncovered key properties of magnetic skyrmions, ultra-stable, 2 nm vortex-like structures that could enable next-gen memory with extremely low power consumption. Even more surprising? They can form in materials once thought impossible.

Imagine a “smart fluid” whose internal structure can be rearranged just by changing temperature. In a new study in Matter, researchers report a way to overcome a long-standing limitation in a class of “smart fluids” called nematic liquid crystal microcolloids, allowing for reconfigurable self-assembly of micrometer-sized particles dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal host.

Solves a long-standing challenge in fundamental physics

Researchers at The University of Osaka have developed a new program, “postw90-spin,” that enables high-precision calculations of a novel performance indicator for the spin Hall effect, a phenomenon crucial for developing energy-efficient and high-speed next-generation magnetic memory devices. This breakthrough addresses a long-standing challenge in spintronics research by providing a definitive measure of the spin Hall effect, overcoming ambiguities associated with traditional metrics.

The team’s findings have potential applications in photonics and memory devices.

Charge density waves usually cause electrons to become heavier and slow down. Dr. Ming-Wen Chu and the collaborators in National Taiwan University find the opposite is true in CuTe and study the phenomenon using advanced momentum-dependent electron energy loss spectroscopy.

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo have found that ice starts forming near the surface of water via structures similar to a rare, recently discovered type of ice, which helps us understand ice formation better

Bacteria hitchhike on red blood cells, New model simulates effects of exercise on muscles, Argon found in air of ancient atmosphere and Revealing emergent elastic fields of chiral crystals. Read all in the April Editor's Choice and this month's Asia Research News 2022 magazine pick - Asia's race to outsmart antimicrobial resistance.

A team led by a Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo researcher has created a model to probe the role of emergent elastic fields in chiral molecular crystals

Through numerical simulations, a researcher details the discovery of a new isolated skyrmion with a half-integer topological quantum number in the ferromagnetic phase of the magnetic quantum fluid Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). The new skyrmion is generated by applying a spin current to a magnetic domain wall and it has an eccentric (off-center) spin singularity inside it.

A hydrogel, a type of soft matter, developed at Hokkaido University successfully reverted cancer cells back to cancer stem cells within 24 hours, in six different human cancer types. This could lead to the development of anti-cancer stem cell drugs and personalized medicines.