National Institute for Materials Science

They modeled all components of the brain and discovered a harmony of frequencies that work together, in an effort to understand universal consciousness.

MIT physicists and colleagues created a five-lane superhighway for electrons that could allow ultra-efficient electronics and more.

When stacked in five layers in a rhombohedral pattern, graphene takes on a rare "multiferroic" state, exhibiting both unconventional magnetism and an exotic electronic behavior known as ferro-valleytricity.

Researchers develop an ionic device utilizing redox reactions as a major step towards using physical reservoir computing...

Researchers at the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and colleagues in Japan have developed a specially coated, light-responsive surface that helps test how the direction of gravity impacts cell movements. The findings, published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, could lead to a better understanding of what happens to cells in people who are bedridden for prolonged periods…

With some careful twisting and stacking, MIT physicists have revealed a new and exotic property in "magic-angle" graphene: superconductivity that can be turned on and off with an electric pulse, much like a light switch.

A National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) research team has identified the mechanism by which microscopic fatigue cracks grow in metals, solving a half-century-old mystery. The team found that these cracks grow along the slip planes of metallic crystals through three-dimensional imaging of large-volume samples. Most cracks were found to be caused by a shearing force rather than the tensile forces previously…

The National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the U.K. and the University of Oxford in the U.K. have experimentally confirmed that a cupric oxide exhibits multiferroic state (i.e., both magnetic and ferroelectric properties) at room temperature under high pressure.

Researchers at Japan's National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) have developed a device capable of taking hundreds of times more electrochemical measurements than conventional devices. By analyzing the device's large amounts of data, the team has identified molecular mechanisms that enable electrogenic bacteria to efficiently generate electricity even when subjected to a wide range of electrode potentials.

In materials science, candidates for novel functional materials are usually explored in a trial-and-error fashion through calculations, synthetic methods, and material analysis. However, the approach is time-consuming and requires expertise. Now, researchers have used a data-driven approach to automate the process of predicting new magnetic materials. By combining first-principles calculations, Bayesian…

A team of researchers has built an intelligent sensor – the size of about 1/1000 of the cross-section of a human hair – that can simultaneously detect the intensity, polarization and wavelength of lig

Just as an electrical switch regulates the flow of electric current, thermal switches can control the flow of heat. These switches serve as thermal control devices and are useful for thermal management applications. For example, they can be used in industries to reduce waste heat, resulting in cost and energy savings. These switches require materials whose thermal conductivity (κ) can be modulated to a large…

With a little twist and the turn of a voltage knob, Cornell researchers have shown that a single material system can toggle between two of the wildest states in condensed matter physics: The quantum anomalous Hall insulator and the two-dimensional topological insulator.

MIT physicists report the discovery of electrons forming crystalline structures in a material billionths of a meter thick. The material, rhombohedral pentalayer graphene, joins a family of materials with exotic properties that may have other "relatives."

Physicists measured how readily a current of electron pairs flows through "magic-angle" graphene, a major step toward understanding how this unusual material superconducts.

Polymers such as polypropylene are fundamental materials in the modern world, found in everything from computers to cars. Because of their ubiquity, it's vital that materials scientists know exactly how each newly developed polymer will perform under different preparation conditions. As described in a new study, which was published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, scientists can now use machine…

A research team has demonstrated that the transverse thermoelectric conversion (i.e., energy conversion between charge and heat currents that flow orthogonally to each other) can be greatly enhanced by applying magnetic fields or utilizing magnetism.

MIT physicists coaxed superconductivity and more from quasicrystals. The work introduces a flexible platform for making the enigmatic materials that could jump-start interest in the field and allow new studies of exotic phenomena.

The National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) has achieved a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of 631% at room temperature, breaking the previous world record, which had stood for 15 years.

Carbon fiber-reinforced carbon (C/C) is a composite material made of carbon fiber reinforced in a matrix of glassy carbon or graphite. It is best known as the material used in hypersonic vehicles and space shuttle orbiters, which cruise at speeds greater than Mach 5. Since the 1970s, it has also been used in the brake system in Formula One racing cars. Even though C/C has excellent mechanical properties at high…