Researchers surprised at the unexpected hardness of gallium nitride

A research team discovers that the widely used semiconducting material is almost as wear-resistant as diamonds.

New technique reveals powerful, 'patchy' approach to nanoparticle synthesis (w/video)

Scientists use 3D visualization to map striking and transformative nanoscale surface structures.

Electrical currents can be now be switched on and off at the atomic scale

Electrical currents can be now be switched on and off at the smallest conceivable scale enabling a new generation of 'green electronics' with the potential for great impact on the digital economy.

The search for disorder in order

A signature of an exotic state of matter that remains disordered even at very low temperatures has been experimentally identified.

New surfaces repel water in oil as well as oil in water

Researchers have developed new surface materials that are extremely difficult to wet both by water and oil. Because they don't need isolating air to stay trapped between the droplet and rough surface to prevent wetting, these surface materials work even when wet by another liquid.

Novel light sources made of two-dimensional materials

Physicists have designed a light source that emits photon pairs. Two-photon sources are particularly well suited for tap-proof data encryption. The experiment's key ingredients: a semiconductor crystal and some sticky tape.