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Single-atom vacancies in atomically thin insulators created in ultra-high vacuum Single photons have applications in quantum computation, information networks, and sensors, and these can be emitted by defects in the atomically thin insulator hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Missing nitrogen atoms have been suggested to be the atomic structure responsible for this activity, but it is difficult to controllably remove them.

At TU Wien (Vienna, scientists use microscopy techniques to observe chemical reactions on catalysts more precisely than before yielding a wealth of detail. This made clear why some effects cannot be predicted. Catalysts composed from tiny metal particles play an important role in many areas of technology - from fuel cells to production of synthetic fuels for energy storage.

By Falko Schoklitsch Using a newly developed method for the efficient and cost-effective production of biocompatible microfibres, the production of autologous skin and organs can be significantly accelerated. In biomedical technology, tissue engineering for the ex-vivo production of skin or organs is becoming increasingly important.

Quantum physicists at the University of Innsbruck, together with colleagues at the ETH Lausanne, have found a new way to generate a crystalline structure that emerges as a "coherent matter density wave" in an atomic gas. The findings help to better understand the fascinating behavior of quantum matter near absolute zero.

A quarter of a century ago, theoretical physicists at the University of Innsbruck made the first proposal on how to transmit quantum information via quantum repeaters over long distances which would open the door to the construction of a worldwide quantum information network. Now, a new generation of Innsbruck researchers has built a quantum repeater node for the standard wavelength of telecommunication networks and transmitted quantum information over tens of kilometers.

New techniques can answer questions that were previously inaccessible experimentally - including questions about the relationship between quantum mechanics and relativity. The theory of relativity works well when you want to explain cosmic-scale phenomena - such as the gravitational waves created when black holes collide.

By ÖAW A sensor developed for JUICE in Graz delivers a first quantum interference signal about a month after the launch towards Jupiter, thus achieving an important mission milestone. The European Space Agency's JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft has achieved another milestone. It started its eight-year journey to the Jupiter system on 14 April 2023 to explore the largest planet in our solar system and its icy moons - Ganymede, Callisto and Europa - which may offer the essential requisites for life.

In quantum research, tailor-made electromagnetic fields are needed to precisely control particles. The TU Vienna has shown that machine learning is an excellent tool for this purpose . Tiny particles can be manipulated with electromagnetic fields: You can capture them, hold them, or move them to a specific location.

Exact solutions are often impossible in materials physics. In an international research cooperation involving TU Wien and Saitama University in Japan a technique has now been developed to make unsolvable quantum calculations solvable on certain scales. In physics, one often has to deal with different scales that can be described separately from one another: For the earth's orbit around the sun, it makes absolutely no difference whether an elephant in the zoo walks to the left or to the right.

How do quantum particles share information? A peculiar conjecture about quantum information has been experimentally confirmed at the TU Wien. Some things are related, others are not. Suppose you randomly select a person from a crowd who is significantly taller than the average. In that case, there is a good chance that they will also weigh more than the average.

A Goldilocks material that might be just right: the precious metal palladium could be used to make superconductors that remain superconducting even at relatively high temperatures, show calculations by TU Wien. It is one of the most exciting races in modern physics: How can we produce the best superconductors that remain superconducting even at the highest possible temperatures and ambient pressure? In recent years, a new era of superconductivity has begun with the discovery of nickelates.

The simplest explanation is often the best - this also applies to fundamental science. Researchers from TU Wien and Toho University recently showed that a supposed quantum spin liquid can be described by more conventional physics. For two decades, it was believed that a possible quantum spin liquid was discovered in a synthetically produced material.

By Falko Schoklitsch A new type of meta-optics from Harvard has proven its functionality in experiments at Graz University of Technology. With it, it is possible to observe the smallest structures such as nanoparticles or transistors. Developed at Harvard, and successfully tested at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), a revolutionary new meta-optics for microscopes with extremely high spatial and temporal resolution has proven its functional ability in laboratory tests at the Institute of Experimental Physics at TU Graz.

Erasing data perfectly and reaching the lowest possible temperature - sound like completely different tasks, but they are closely intertwined. At the Vienna University of Technology, a quantum formulation was found for the third law of thermodynamics . The absolute lowest temperature that is possible at all is -273.15 degrees Celsius.

Erasing data perfectly and reaching the lowest possible temperature - those two things seem to be completely different, but they are closely intertwined. At TU Wien, a quantum formulation has now been found for the third law of thermodynamics. The absolute lowest temperature possible is -273.15 degrees Celsius.

Tiny structures made of gold can be specifically manipulated by ion bombardment at TU Wien (Vienna) - surprisingly, the decisive factor is not the force of the impact. Normally, we have to make a choice in physics: Either we deal with big things - such as a metal plate and its material properties, or with tiny things - such as individual atoms.

By Susanne Filzwieser The honeycomb patterns which are often found in salt deserts in Death Valley and Bolivia, among other places, look like something from another world. Researchers, including those from TU Graz, explain the origin of the mysterious patterns for the first time. Honeycomb patterns form in salt deserts all over the world, for example in the Badwater Basin of Death Valley in California or in the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia.

Tailor-made laser light fields can be used to slow down the movement of several particles and thus cool them down to extremely low temperatures - as shown by a team from TU Wien. Using lasers to slow down atoms is a technique that has been used for a long time already: If one wants to achieve low-temperature world records in the range of absolute temperature zero, one resorts to laser cooling, in which energy is extracted from the atoms with a suitable laser beam.

Sometimes, chemical reactions do not solely run stationary in one direction, but they show spatio-temporal oscillations. At TU Wien, a transition to chaotic behavior on the nanometer scale has now been observed. Chaotic behavior is typically known from large systems: for example, from weather, from asteroids in space that are simultaneously attracted by several large celestial bodies, or from swinging pendulums that are coupled together.

Countries and corporations around the world are researching a completely new type of computer - quantum computers. But the road to usability is arduous. Researchers at Johannes Kepler University Linz have succeeded in making progress in the storage of quantum information as part of an international collaboration.