Global Energy Awards

 Scientists create ultra-low loss optical device that traps light on a chip Scientists have engineered tiny light-trapping racetracks that could supercharge future sensors and quantum technologies. Credit: AI/ScienceDaily.com Researchers at CU Boulder have developed highly efficient optical microresonators that could support a new generation of powerful sensor technologies. A microresonator is a microscopic structure designed to confine light in a small space. As light circulates inside, its intensity increases. When that intensity reaches a sufficient level, scientists can carry out specialized optical processes that enable sensing and other advanced functions."Our work is about using less optical power with these resonators for future uses," said Bright Lu, a fourth year doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering and a lead author on the study. "One day these microresonators can be adapted for a wide range of sensors from navigation to identifying chemical...

 Dark Matter Breakthrough: Physicists Crack “Big Bang Theory” Puzzle Physicists have long suspected that elusive particles known as axions could help explain the hidden matter shaping the universe. While the idea even made its way into popular culture, solving the problem proved more difficult than fiction suggested. A new theoretical study suggests fusion reactors could do more than generate energy, they might also produce particles linked to dark matter. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati say they have worked out, at least on paper, how fusion reactors could produce subatomic particles known as axions, a challenge that stumped two of America’s most famous fictional physicists. In the CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” particle physicists Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, who share an apartment, grapple with the same idea across three episodes in Season 5 but never solve it. UC physics Professor Jure Zupan and his co-authors, all theoretical physicists from the Fermi ...

 Spinning Plasma Solves a Long-Standing Fusion Reactor Mystery For years, researchers have struggled to explain why plasma particles in tokamaks consistently strike the inner divertor more heavily than the outer one, a subtle but crucial imbalance for fusion reactor design. New simulations reveal that the answer lies not only in sideways particle drifts near the exhaust but also in the powerful rotation of the plasma core itself.  A persistent asymmetry in fusion exhaust has challenged researchers for years. New simulations show that plasma core rotation, working together with cross-field drifts, determines where particles land inside a tokamak. Tokamaks are often described as giant magnetic “doughnuts,” built to keep an ultra-hot soup of charged particles suspended long enough for atomic nuclei to fuse and release energy. But even in the best magnetic cages, some of that plasma leaks out. When it does, the particles race along magnetic field lines into a specially engineered ...

Researchers unlocked a new shortcut to quantum materials Scientists are learning how to temporarily reshape materials by nudging their internal quantum rhythms instead of blasting them with extreme lasers. By harnessing excitons, short-lived energy pairs that naturally form inside semiconductors, researchers can alter how electrons behave using far less energy than before. This approach achieves powerful quantum effects without damaging the material, overcoming a major barrier that has limited progress for years. Scientists have found a way to reprogram materials using internal quantum energy rather than powerful lasers. The breakthrough could make advanced quantum materials far easier to create and control. Credit: AI/ScienceDaily.com What if simply shining light on a material could give it entirely new abilities? That idea may sound like fantasy, but it sits at the heart of an emerging area of physics known as Floquet engineering. Researchers in this field study how repeating influen...

 Groundbreaking 2D Nanomaterial Rolls Into a New Dimension Drexel researchers have transformed flat MXenes into conductive nanoscrolls with a controllable, tubular structure that improves transport and mechanical performance. Credit: Shutterstock Nearly 15 years after identifying a versatile two-dimensional conductive nanomaterial known as MXene, researchers at Drexel University have unveiled a method to create its one-dimensional counterpart, called the MXene nanoscroll. These newly engineered structures are about 100 times thinner than a human hair and offer even greater electrical conductivity than flat MXene sheets. The team believes their unique properties could enhance technologies such as energy storage systems, biosensors, and wearable electronics. The results were recently published in the journal Advanced Materials and describe a scalable production technique that starts with conventional MXene flakes and transforms them into scrolls with tightly controlled shapes and che...

Scientists Discover Surprising Quantum Properties in Seemingly Ordinary Element Cobalt has long been considered a textbook ferromagnet, but new experiments reveal a hidden network of topological electronic states woven into its structure. Credit: Stock A well-known magnetic metal has emerged as a surprisingly versatile quantum platform. Cobalt has long been viewed as a textbook example of a ferromagnetic metal, with its structure and behavior thought to be thoroughly understood. Now, an international research team led by HZB physicist Dr. Jaime Sánchez-Barriga has revealed that this familiar element holds far more complexity than expected. Their experiments uncovered intricate topological features hidden within cobalt’s electronic structure.Using spin-resolved measurements of its band structure (spin-ARPES) at the BESSY II synchrotron, the scientists detected intertwined energy bands that intersect along extended pathways in specific crystallographic directions. Remarkably, these featu...