Engineers discover avalanches in nanoparticles for the first time

Marking another scientific marvel, scientists at Columbia University have discovered nanomaterials with unmatched photon avalanching. In the study which has been published in Nature, researchers have argued that their development could help in revolutionizing the field with its unparalleled extreme nonlinear optical behaviour and efficiency. “Nobody has seen avalanching behaviour like this in nanomaterials before,” said James Schuck, who is the lead author at the study.

Researchers describe avalanching as a process where even a small disturbance can cause colossal changes in the substance. While other particles have been observed avalanching, protons, owing to their small size, do not. Talking about the development, Schuck claimed that the ability of nanoparticles to avalanche and the sensitivity is transformative and could help in sensing chemical changes around the human body.

Formerly, most of photon nonlinear research has been carried out in elements of the Lanthanide (Ln) of the periodic table. However, none of them showed such avalanching behaviour like this new study. “The extreme nonlinearity in a single Avalanching Nanoparticles transforms a conventional confocal microscope into the newest super-resolution imaging system,” said Changhwan Lee, a researcher from the study.

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Liquid glass

This comes as researchers discovered a novel state of matter- liquid glass, with the structural elements unknown previously. The research was led by two professors from the University of Konstanz-Andreas Zumbusch, and Matthias Fuchs. They used model system involving suspensions of tailor-made ellipsoidal colloids for the purpose. While in materials transitioning from liquid to solid, molecules line up to form crystal patterns, in regular glass, the molecules are frozen before crystallisation occurs. However, in the recently uncovered-liquid glass, the molecules are able to move yet unable to rotate. The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). 

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Representative Image/Pixabey