A crystal structure that combines a semiconductor and superconductor is a tantalizing prospect to create energy-efficient computers, or quantum computers, which leverage the unique quantum mechanical properties of superconductors. Superconductors carry current with little to no energy loss, while semiconductors offer the control and versatility that has made them an essential feature of transistor technology. The challenge is how to combine the two states and make sure you get the best of both electrical worlds – and can still isolate them. A collaboration between researchers from Cornell and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland grew a thin film, only a few atomic layers in thickness, of the one of the oldest known superconductors, niobium nitride, on top of gallium nitride, a semiconductor that in recent decades has become a vital component in optical and power electronics. For the first time, the researchers have successfully measured the electronic properties of the junction between the two materials, a crucial step toward creating hybrid superconductor-semiconductor quantum devices.

Marika Nell, Ph.D. ’20, began her civil and environmental engineering doctoral program to discover technical solutions to environmental problems and follow an academic career track. But upon diving into dissertation research, she envisioned a different career – one in which she could directly impact energy and environmental policy.

From the very beginning around 20 years ago, “Cornell dots” – silica-encased fluorescent nanoparticles, developed in the lab of Ulrich Wiesner, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Engineering – were seen as having great potential as biological markers. C Dots were also touted as having possible applications in displays, optical computing, sensors and microarrays such as DNA chips. The technology has been refined and improved since its unveiling in 2005. C Dots have been used to create the world’s smallest laser and, in collaboration with researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) in New York City, have shown the diagnostic ability to find tumors; a new version – Cornell Prime Dots, or C’Dots, synthesized in water – was armed with nano-sized antibody fragments, and in separate studies actually induced, without attaching a drug, a form of cell death in tumors. Now C’Dots, proven safe and effective in three previous diagnostic human clinical trials, have just begun their first therapeutic trial, having been further developed by Elucida Oncology, Inc., a New Jersey-based biotechnology company co-founded by Wiesner.

Three professors in the Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences have been elected fellows of the American Physical Society (APS): Kyle Shen, Kin Fai Mak and Lawrence Gibbons. The APS Fellowship Program recognizes members who have made exceptional contributions to the physics enterprise in physics research, important applications of physics, leadership in or service to physics, or significant contributions to physics education. APS fellowship is limited to no more than 0.5% of all APS members in a given year. 

Young researchers applauded for exceptional work on crystal growth, bulk metallic glasses, memristive devices AIP Publishing is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 APL Materials Excellence in Research Award, who were selected for their work on crystal growth, bulk metallic glasses, and memristive devices. As a distinction for young researchers, the award is given to authors who publish exceptional science in the journal and are under 40 years of age.

For his work developing new, more efficient ways of manipulating the magnetization in magnetic materials, F.R. Newman Professor of Physics Daniel C. Ralph has been awarded the 2022 James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials by the American Physical Society (APS). The McGroddy Prize recognizes outstanding work in the science and application of new materials, including the discovery of new materials, the observation of new phenomena in known materials, and theoretical and experimental work which contributes to the understanding of such phenomena.

Sometimes it’s good to be a little bad. Cornell researchers found a counterintuitive way of improving 3D-printed metal alloys. By deliberately introducing more defects into the printing process, followed by a post-processing treatment that uses high temperature and high pressure to change the material’s microstructure, they turned the defects into assets, resulting in a stronger, more ductile metal product. The technique could potentially be applied to any 3D-printed metal alloy and could be particularly effective for manufacturing products for biomedical and aerospace industries.

November 2021: Research led by KIC Graduate Fellow Jenniffer Bustillos has demonstrated a new technique to improve the strength and ductility of 3D printed metal alloys. By deliberately adding more defects during printing and then harnessing the energy of those defects as they were removed with hot isostatic processing, the research team improved the structure of the material.

Special honors for two outstanding female scientists: Jie Shan, professor of Applied and Engineering Physics and Physics at Cornell University (USA), and Prineha Narang, assistant professor of Computational Materials Science at Harvard University (USA), will be awarded the Mildred Dresselhaus Prize 2021 within the Mildred Dresselhaus Guest Professorship Program of the Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI). The Program includes an extended research stay at the Cluster of Excellence "CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter" as well as prize money of € 20,000 for the senior prize and €10,000 for the junior prize.

Superconductivity remains one of the fastest evolving topics in modern physics. Recent research has shown the promise of interfacial and hybrid superconductors—artificially engineered systems in which superconductivity emerges from interactions between dissimilar materials. To synthesize, detect, and investigate this emerging class of superconductors, Kyle Shen, physics, is combining molecular beam epitaxy and other advanced materials synthesis technologies with a suite of in situ tools including angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and in-vacuum electrical resistivity measurements. Shen is the James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences; director of the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics and a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow.