The subject of the present work is discovery and in-depth characterization of a new class of functional materials. Tuning of the bond polarity and orbital occupation with a goal of establishing balance between localization and delocalization of electrons - ...
We study elastic ribbons subject to large, tensile pre-stress confined to a central region within the cross-section. These ribbons can buckle spontaneously to form helical shapes, featuring regions of alternating chirality (phases) that are separated by so ...
In the third study, the order-disorder phase transition of single-crystal C60 is studied using time-resolved electron microscopy. Solid C60 undergoes a first-order phase transition upon heating to 260 K. This is a structural transition from the low-tempera ...
Recent advancements in miniature devices with higher computational capabilities and ultralow power consumption have accelerated the development of wearable sensors, actuators, and energy harvesters everywhere. The ultimate aim of such a technological revol ...
Near-infrared luminescent materials have recently received considerable attention for a large number of applications, including in solid-state lighting, as bioimaging agents, as photovoltaic cells, and in the telecommunication industry. By adding diverse e ...
We investigate the nature of the phase transitions in the quantum Ashkin-Teller chain in the presence of chiral perturbations. We locate the Lifshitz line separating a region of direct chiral transitions from the region where the transition is through an i ...
Lignin hydrogenolysis is a key step in the sustainable production of renewable bio-based chemicals and fuels. Heterogeneous metal catalysts have led to high yields but they rapidly deactivate, notably due to nanoparticle sintering and carbonaceous deposit ...
The formation of elemental trigonal tellurium (t-Te) on tellurite glass surfaces exposed to femtosecond laser pulses is discussed. Specifically, the underlying elemental crystallization phenomenon is investigated by altering laser parameters in common tell ...
Heterogeneous ice nucleation impacts the hydrological cycle and climate through affecting cloud microphysical state and radiative properties. Despite decades of research, a quantitative description and understanding of heterogeneous ice nucleation remains ...
Snowfall is an essential component of the hydrological cycle, as it is involved in most precipitation on Earth, either directly as snow falling to the ground or indirectly as rain melted from snow. At the same time, the ice phase of clouds and precipitatio ...
The hunt for exotic quantum phase transitions described by emergent fractionalized de-grees of freedom coupled to gauge fields requires a precise determination of the fixed point structure from the field theoretical side, and an extreme sensitivity to weak ...