Lifeboat Foundation

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The quantum spin Hall insulator is characterized by a bandgap in the two-dimensional (2D) interior and helical 1D edge states^1,2,3. Inducing superconductivity in the helical edge state results in a 1D topological superconductor, a highly sought-after state of matter at the core of many proposals for topological quantum computing⁴. In the present study, we report the coexistence of superconductivity and the quantum spin Hall edge state in a van der Waals heterostructure, by placing a monolayer of 1T′-WTe₂, a quantum spin Hall insulator^1,2,3, on a van der Waals superconductor, NbSe₂. Using scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS), we demonstrate that the WTe₂ monolayer exhibits a proximity-induced superconducting gap due to the underlying superconductor and that the spectroscopic features of the quantum spin Hall edge state remain intact. Taken together, these observations provide conclusive evidence for proximity-induced superconductivity in the quantum spin Hall edge state in WTe₂, a crucial step towards realizing 1D topological superconductivity and Majorana bound states in this van der Waals material platform.

A preprint of a study conducted by researchers from Utrecht University, in collaboration with Erasmus MC and Harbor BioMed, outlines the first report of a human monoclonal antibody that can block SARS-CoV-2.

Understanding antibodies: Terms and definitions

Antibodies are proteins that are produced by certain cells of the immune system known as B cells. They are able to bind to “foreign” material that tries to invade the body, such as pathogens, and directly neutralize them or trigger an immune response. This is achieved by binding of the antibody to an antigen, a specific molecule present on the pathogen.

These bricks are made out of desert sand, but are as strong as concrete.

Magnetite is the oldest magnetic material known to humans, yet researchers are still mystified by certain aspects of its properties.

For example, when the temperature is lowered below 125 kelvins, magnetite changes from a metal to an insulator, its atoms shift to a new lattice structure, and its charges form a complicated ordered pattern. This extraordinarily complex phase transformation, which was discovered in the 1940s and is known as the Verwey transition, was the first metal-insulator transition ever observed. For decades, researchers have not understood exactly how this phase transformation was happening.

According to a paper published March 9 in Nature Physics, an international team of experimental and theoretical researchers discovered fingerprints of the quasiparticles that drive the Verwey transition in magnetite. Using an ultrashort laser pulse, the researchers were able to confirm the existence of peculiar electronic waves that are frozen at the transition temperature and start “dancing together” in a collective oscillating motion as the temperature is lowered.

Researchers have found that homeowners who seed their lawns with a special grass mix can feed dozens of species of bees that would otherwise go hungry. So, beginning this spring, Minnesota will pay thousands of residents to plant “bee lawns” under a new state program that has attracted attention from other states. Each homeowner will get as much as $350 to do the work.

Why grass mix brings all the bees to the yard.

Novel phenomenon occurs due to quantum tunnelling and might be exploited in future quantum information technologies.

York University researchers have discovered a way to make Lithium-powered batteries more environmentally friendly while retaining performance, stability and storage capacity.

Lithium-ion batteries use toxic, heavy metals which can impact the environment when they are extracted from the ground and are difficult to dispose of safely. Cobalt is one of those heavy metals, used in battery electrodes. Part of the problem is that lithium and cobalt are not abundantly available, and supplies are dwindling.

Using organic materials are the way forward and that has scientists like Professor Thomas Baumgartner of the Faculty of Science and his team busy developing and testing new molecules to find the right ones to replace the rare metals currently in use.

Researchers have generated a wide range of colors from a single laser after discovering a new process for achieving so-called “supercontinuum generation.”

Supercontinuum generation is when intense laser light of one color travels within a material, like glass, and broadens into a spectrum of colors.

The effect lets scientists produce light at colors tailored to particular applications in sectors like bioimaging, optical communications and fundamental studies of materials.

Photonics experts at Heriot-Watt university are hailing a breakthrough in laser research.

They have come up with a new and relatively inexpensive way of creating a laser supercontinuum.

They hope it could eventually have applications in bio-imaging and optical communications.

Continue reading “Researchers create the Jimi Hendrix of lasers” »