We demand more and better photons!

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The development of quantum technologies requires the regular use of weird quantum effects such as quantum entanglement. And the regular use of entanglement requires the use of coherent spins and coherent photons. Maybe the best host of coherent spins are nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. However, these NV centers are pretty inefficient at generating single coherent photons: only 3% of the generated emission is usable.

 

 

And then doctoral student Daniel Riedel appeared to break the storyline by dramatically increasing the efficiency of the NV centers in a 46%, also doubling the photons emission rate.  Riedel et al (Quantum Sensing Lab and Nanophotonics Group, University of Basel) have reached this achievement by placing a tiny high-quality diamond between two mirrors, spaced only a few micrometers. They also prove a 10 years old theoretical prediction… quite some stuff for a single paper… It’s difficult to predict how much impact this achievement will have eventually, but it has surely brought the implementation of quantum systems (as quantum internet) much closer.

Together we made this image to illustrate the device.

Graphene: behind the scenes

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Prof. Fernández-Rossier is an interesting person for many reasons. Apart from his research work and being a Spinograph partner, he has recently started a new research center (QuantaLab). And some how he still manages to find some time for scientific outreach. And this is a good example.

Here he explains the mass production of the ubiquitous graphene.



We just helped with the video. And as a side note, we are particularly proud of the music piece.

Hyperuniform materials: lesson 1

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Hyperuniform materials are uniformly disordered (amorphous) materials which posses semiconductors properties. The research team of NCCR Bio-Inspired Materials Principal Investigator Prof. Frank Scheffold and Dr. Luis Salvador Froufe-PĂ©rez at the University of Fribourg have been successful in deciphering and systematically classifying their complete optical characteristics.

We made this picture to illustrate how the optical properties of these materials change with the frequency of light.

“Theory of 2D crystals: graphene and beyond”

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2D crystals seem to be here to stay. And it was time to make a review on the essential aspects of graphene and the new families of semiconducting 2D materials. Prof. Francisco Guinea (IMDEA Nanociencia) et al present minimal theoretical models for various materials. And also present some of the exciting new possibilities offered by 2D crystals.

This work deserved the cover of Chemical Society Reviews.

Diamonds are sensor’s best friend

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We have been lately working for Prof. Patrick Malekinsky making pictures to illustrate their research. He, together with his group, has been working on innovative microscopies based on quantum sensors in diamond.

This new technology has propelled the creation of a new company, Qnami. Their goal is to package quantum mechanics into a user-friendly interface.

Quantum boxes

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Do you remember the famous quantum corrals? (see figure below)

The Well (Quantum Corral) (2009) by Julian Voss-Andreae. Created using the 1993 experimental data by Lutz et al., the gilded sculpture was pictured in a 2009 review of the art exhibition

Well, lets say that Prof. Thomas A. Jung and co-workers have gone way further than that. During 2016, they presented a quantum breadboard, composed of a 2D metalorganic network creating surface state derived quantum well states in the pores. Scanning probe microscopy manipulation of Xe atoms was used to configure the Xe population of the pores, which affects the quantum state of the 2D array or breadboard.

On Piezoelectric Layered Materials

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A new addition to the nanoscopic world: the piezoelectric effect. Prof. M. Lanza et al. have studied the ability of layered MoS2 to produce electric currents under the pressure of a conductive atomic force microscope. This would allow the fabrication of self-powered devices.

This research has been published in Nanoscale Journal and its been awarded with the front cover.

A new 2D exotic solid phase

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Dr. Eva G. Noya et al have studied the phase diagram of a two-dimensional system of disk particles with three patches distributed symmetrically along the particle equator (read more). Due to the geometry of the particles, this system shows a rich phase diagram that goes from a nearly empty honey-comb lattice (at low temperatures),to an almost filled lattice at high temperatures.

Their work, along with our picture, made it to the cover of Soft Matter.