Molecole magnetiche su grafene per la spintronica

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Una ricerca, svolta in collaborazione fra fisici e chimici italiani, tedeschi e spagnoli, mostra che è possibile realizzare nano-sistemi ibridi depositando magneti molecolari su grafene. L’interazione fra gli spin dei magneti molecolari e il gas bidimensionale di elettroni del grafene modifica profondamente la dinamica quantistica degli spin molecolari. Ciò apre la strada al controllo dello spin mediante campi elettrici nei nano-dispositivi per la spintronica (elettronica di spin) basati sul grafene.… Read the rest

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New porous water ice metastable at atmospheric pressure obtained by emptying a hydrogen-filled ice

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Leonardo del Rosso 1,2, Milva Celli 1 & Lorenzo Ulivi

The properties of some forms of water ice reserve still intriguing surprises. Besides the several stable or metastable phases of pure ice, solid mixtures of water with gases are precursors of other ices, as in some cases they may be emptied, leaving a metastable hydrogen-bound water structure. We present here the first characterization of a new form of ice, obtained from the crystalline solid compound of water and molecular hydrogen called C0-structure filled ice.… Read the rest

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The soft side of hard matter

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Soft condensed matter is characterized by gigantic responses to  external perturbations which is the reason why these systems are extremely useful for applications, like liquid crystals in our cell phones displays. In contrast, hard condensed matter a.k.a. solids respond more weakly to external perturbations but present an enormous richness of interesting phases like metallic, insulating,  magnetic, superconducting, ferroelectric,  charge order, etc.  … Read the rest

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Granular Phases

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Steel spheres move on a plate. The “thermostat ” is a vibrating wall, following a sine law with frequency 20 Hz . Weak gravity (the plate has a small angle of inclination) draws the spheres toward the vibrating wall. In 5 minutes, slowly increasing the amplitude, the many “phases” of a granular material are explored, from an almost perfect crystal, through several liquid/turbulent/convective regimes, up to a gas-solid coexistence.… Read the rest

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