Completely new options for the usually extremely difficult handling of nano- and micro-objects

25-Apr-2022

Propelling micrometre-sized drones using light only and exerting precise control: Physicists at the University of Würzburg have succeeded at this for the first time. Their microdrones are significantly smaller than red blood cells. A hand-held laser pointer produces no noticeable recoil forces ...

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Researchers have highlighted and quantified a three-fold coupling between exciton, photon, and phonon in a microcavity with embedded two-dimensional materials

25-Feb-2022

Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials can provide highly interesting excitonic properties, which render them an attractive platform to explore polaritonic physics. In the literature, a variety of inorganic exciton-polariton systems have been studied experimentally and described ...

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Producing materials for solar cells, light-emitting diodes and other organic electronics applications as sustainably as possible

17-Feb-2022

Some hikers carry a small solar power plant with them: a foil is attached to their backpack that converts sunlight into electricity. This allows them to charge their mobile phone while on the move. Flexible, thin and lightweight solar panels can also be attached to outdoor clothing or glued to ...

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Toward a new kind of superconductivity

15-Feb-2022

In the past four years scientists have discovered metals whose crystal structure mimics that of a traditional Japanese woven bamboo pattern: kagome metals. The international research activity in this new direction of quantum materials has recently reached a new climax: an international team of ...

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Several layers of nanographenes stacked on top of each other: such functional elements could one day be used in solar cells

09-Feb-2022

Graphene is a carbon material that forms extremely thin layers. Because of its unusual properties, it is interesting for many technical applications. This also applies to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which can be regarded as cut-outs of graphene. They are considered promising ...

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Topological quantum materials with distinctive advantages

16-Sep-2021

Researchers from the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat–Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter – have conceived and realized a new quantum material: "Indenene". Consisting of a single layer of the chemical element Indium, indenene enriches the family of the so-called topological ...

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Startup Flux Polymers receives funding

23-Aug-2021

The start-up Flux Polymers, which has its roots at the University of Würzburg, offers a simple and easy solution to keep plastic surfaces free of bacteria. Recently, it has found an investor and can now start its operational business. In clinics and medical practices, it is crucial to work with ...

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Important new insights into a key process for the development of more efficient solar cells

09-Jul-2021

The efficiency of solar cells can be significantly increased with a certain physical effect. A research team has now observed in detail for the first time how molecular movements influence this effect. Researchers from the Fritz Haber Institute (FHI) in Berlin, the Max Planck Institute for the ...

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An international research team now has determined for the first time how strongly 2D materials vibrate when electronically excited with light

15-Feb-2021

Current electronic components in computers, mobile phones and many other devices are based on microstructured silicon carriers. However, this technology has almost reached its physical limits and the smallest possible structure sizes. Two-dimensional (2D) materials are therefore being intensively ...

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Chemists have achieved the conversion of nitrogen to ammonium at room temperature and low pressure using only light elements

16-Sep-2020

The industrial conversion of nitrogen to ammonium provides fertiliser for agriculture. Würzburg chemists have now achieved this conversion at room temperature and low pressure using only light elements. Humankind is reliant on the ammonium in synthetic fertiliser for food. However, producing ...

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