Scientists photographed, for the first time, individual atoms floating less than a thousandth of a millimeter above a light-conducting glass fiber

06-Aug-2020

The first photograph of a single trapped atom represented a milestone for quantum research. This breakthrough was made possible because the atom was captured in a vacuum using electric fields and held far from surfaces whose scattered light could blind the camera. Scientists at Humboldt ...

more

The Art of Making Tiny Holes: Scientists developed a technique for processing surfaces on an atomic scale

04-Aug-2020

Nobody can shoot a pistol bullet through a banana in such a way that the skin is perforated but the banana remains intact. However, on the level of individual atomic layers, such a feat has now been achieved - a nano-structuring method has been developed at TU Wien (Vienna), with which certain ...

more

Chemist from the TU Wien was awarded an Elise-Richter scholarship: She is conducting research in catalysis with ultra-small gold clusters

17-Jul-2020

Nanometer-sized gold particles consisting of only a few atoms can be used as catalysts for important chemical reactions. Noelia Barrabés from the Institute of Materials Chemistry at TU Wien has been researching new methods of adapting and precisely controlling such tiny gold clusters for years. ...

more

How can surfaces be studied as gently as possible on an atomic scale?

10-Jun-2020

Oxygen is highly reactive. It accumulates on many surfaces and determines their chemical behavior. At the Vienna University of Technology, scientists study the interaction between oxygen and metal oxide surfaces, which play an important role in many technical applications - from chemical sensors ...

more

With new nickelates and the predictive power of supercomputers to the superconductor without any cooling

29-Apr-2020

Nickel is supposed to herald a new age of superconductivity – but this is proving more difficult than expected. Scientists at TU Wien (Vienna) can now explain why. Last summer, a new age for high-temperature superconductivity was proclaimed - the nickel age. It was discovered that there are ...

more

Water replaces toxins: Green production of plastics using hydrothermal synthesis

22-Apr-2020

Although organic plastics are not harmful to the environment themselves, toxic substances are often used during their synthesis. TU Wien shows - there is another way. Many materials that we use every day are not sustainable. Some are harmful to plants or animals, others contain rare elements that ...

more

Ultra-fast image sensor with a built-in neural network can be trained to recognize certain objects

06-Mar-2020

Automatic image recognition is widely used today: There are computer programs that can reliably diagnose skin cancer, navigate self-driving cars, or control robots. Up to now, all this has been based on the evaluation of image data as delivered by normal cameras - and that is time-consuming. ...

more

22-Jan-2020

A new, extremely efficient source of terahertz radiation has been developed at TU Wien (Vienna): Lasers turn air into plasma, thereby producing terahertz rays for many possible applications. Terahertz radiation is used for security checks at airports, for medical examinations and also for quality ...

more

20-Jan-2020

For years, a new synthesis method has been developed at TU Wien (Vienna) to unlock the secrets of "strange metals". Now a breakthrough has been achieved. Superconductors allow electrical current to flow without any resistance - but only below a certain critical temperature. Many materials have to ...

more

15-Nov-2019

A new type of material generates electrical current very efficiently from temperature differences. This allows sensors and small processors to supply themselves with energy wirelessly. Thermoelectric materials can convert heat into electrical energy. This is due to the so-called Seebeck effect: ...

more