Condensed matter Archives – Page 3 of 224

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Chiral bristlebot toys shed light on transport dynamics in active matter systems

Photo showing eight bristlebots confined by a black circular ring. Seven of the bristlebots are surrounded by plastic rings and covered in semi-transparent foil. The eighth bristlebot is unmodified and is bright blue.

New type of superionic water ice observed for the first time

Hexagonal close-packed phase could exist deep within the planets Uranus and Neptune, contributing to their peculiar magnetic fields

Sound waves come in quantum jumps

First observation of fundamental quantization in mechanical vibrations could have applications in quantum error correction and protein diagnostics

Hofstadter’s butterfly turns 50: a fractal hiding in quantum matter

Indu Satija celebrates the golden anniversary of Hofstadter’s butterfly

Research headlines

‘Vacuumtronics’ could help make better superconductors

Sliding water droplets corrode Teflon-coated metal

Illustration of charged droplets corroding a car body

Magnetic field first kills superconductor, then brings it back to life

Set of four diagrams. First one shows an interface between a grey block of LaTiO3 and a purple block of KTaO3, with an arrow indicating the presence of a magnetic field in the plane of the interface. Second image shows pairs of blue spheres, representing Cooper pairs, forming at low fields. Third image shows the blue spheres separating as at intermediate fields, the pairs are broken. Fourth image shows the situation at high fields, when the pairs reform and superconductivity recovers.

X-ray camera catches spin waves in the act

Magnon microscope focuses on useful non-linear interactions

Crystal symmetry controls hydrogen’s quantum tunnelling

Discovery could support the development of safer and more efficient hydrogen storage media

Topology affects the crumpling of growing elastic sheets

Discovery could lead to new metamaterials

Heat-transfer fins give phase change materials a boost

Modelling points the way towards optimal designs for systems that store and release heat

Experiments provide new insights into the reverse sprinkler problem

New experiments suggest that a reverse sprinkler is driven by angular momentum induced at its centre as water is drawn in

Quantum entanglement explains why strange metals are so strange

New measurements and a tool from quantum metrology provide new insights into metals with unusually high electrical resistance

IOP Publishing and Tsinghua University Presents

A Century of Excellence at Tsinghua University – Shaping the Future of Scientific Discovery with IOP Publishing. Find out more.

Explore more in condensed matter

The physics of novel computation: beyond bits and chips to spikes and spins

Sidney Perkowitz looks into alternative computing methods inspired by physics to improve computational efficiency and power

Metamaterial boosts heat transfer on the nanoscale

New finding could help improve technologies such as on-chip cooling and thermophotovoltaic systems

Static electricity: mysteries lurk within this everyday phenomenon

Soft-matter expert Scott Waitukaitis is our podcast guest

New superconducting diode gives greater control over the flow of electrons

Device based on two-dimensional oxide interface superconductors can be “edited” using atomic force microscope lithography

Three men standing in a laboratory next to a rack of equipment and a vacuum chamber with many ports and hoses. The men are wearing blue lab coats and protective booties over their shoes.

New model of ocean waves sheds fresh light on the spread of microplastic pollution

Waves that decay over time can transport particles vertically as well as horizontally

New class of magnons live a hundred times longer

Discovery could help in the development of on-chip quantum information technologies that can be scaled down to the nanoscale

Venus flytraps snap shut by rapid cell-wall softening

Previous theory of water transport is ruled out

Altermagnets can turn neighbouring materials altermagnetic, too

"Proximity effect" appears in models of semiconductor/altermagnet bilayer structures

A sketch of a chameleon patterned with faint red and blue diamonds sitting on top of a block of material patterned with strong red and blue diamonds

Interface between air and water gets a new twist

Vibrational spectroscopy technique reshapes our understanding of how water molecules behave at the boundary

Illustration showing ball-and-stick models of water molecules near the interface between air and water. A large molecule at the centre has a squiggly-red-line signal coming out of its central red oxygen atom, representing the molecule's dipole, while a dashed line emerging from the other side, between the two angled hydrogen atoms, represents the twist angle of the molecule.

Pigeons’ immune system can sense Earth’s magnetic field, study suggests

Molecules become magnetic by accumulating iron

Switchable skyrmions light up terahertz communications

A chip-sized device that can switch between two topologically protected light structures opens up a route to wireless communications that cannot be scrambled by the environment

Altermagnetic insulator shows giant magneto-optical Kerr effect

Surprising result could accelerate the development of altermagnetic spintronics with potential applications in advanced memories and logic

Four-image figure illustrating MOKE data. Images a and c show the domains themselves, which appear as boundaries between different shades of grey on a block of material. Images b and d show the MOKE signal when a square-wave magnetic field is applied to the material.

Hyperuniformity can be altered by ‘weighting’ many-particle systems

Calculations reveal the richness of systems that have crystal-like and liquid-like properties

Scientists find a new critical point in supercooled water

X-ray experiments provide further evidence that water exists in two distinct phases

Conceptual image showing a bright neon red laser beam striking a glass of water. Inside the water glass are little ball-and-stick models of water molecules. The glass is divided into dark and light blue regions, representing the two liquid phases of supercooled water. On the side of the glass opposite the laser beam, the water is bursting outward.

Want to make a peptide material go from soft to stiff? Just add water

Discovery could facilitate the large-scale fabrication of materials that adapt to changing conditions

A 2x2 grid of diagrams. One column is labelled "high humidity" and the other is labelled "low humidity" The top row contains ball-and-stick chemical models, while the bottom row contains a more simplified, structural view. In both cases, the high humidity column has a hexagonal ordering, whereas the low humidity column shows a layered structure.

Pollen dispersion study offers hope for hay fever sufferers

Studying how pollen is dispersed from trees when the wind blows could help urban planners mitigate future exposure to airborne pollen grains

Stoichiometric iron telluride is a superconductor: magnetic mystery is solved

Antiferromagnetism is caused by excess iron

Miniature magnets break field strength record

New coiled device could rival expensive magnet facilities, say scientists

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Condensed matter | Workshop Hydrodynamic Approaches to Active Matter: Successes and Future Challenges (haam26) 9—13 November 2026 | Dresden, Germany
Condensed matter | Conference Magnetism 2027 1—2 April 2027 | Leeds, UK
Condensed matter | School Boulder Summer School for Condensed Matter and Materials Physics 2027 5—30 July 2027 | Boulder, US

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