Our scientists have discovered a method that enables efficient emission of photons from quantum superlattices in the red, green and ultraviolet wavelength ranges. This finding is crucial for potential applications in semiconductor light-emitting diodes, such as near-white electroluminescent LEDs.

A successful method has been discovered to obtain a coating of crystalline topological insulator (Pb,Sn)Te on GaAs nanowires. It overcomes the substantial problem of the significant mismatch between the crystal lattices of these materials, and allows new functionalities to be obtained: here a multiplication of the number of topological crystal insulator surfaces.

A thin metallic layer of zirconium nitride (ZrN) deposited on a substrate turns out to not only facilitate the formation of gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires, but also provides a low-resistance ohmic electrical contact to their bottom parts. This phenomenon enables efficient electrical control of GaN nanowire based light emitters, such as LEDs or lasers.

We are happy to announce that our colleague Bartłomiej Witkowski, by the decision of the President of the Republic of Poland of February 18, 2025, received the academic title of Professor of Natural Sciences in Physics.

  We are pleased to announce that our colleague prof. Ryszard Sobierajski has been elected Vice-chair of the European XFEL Council – the highest governing body of the European X-ray Free Electron Laser research facility in Hamburg, Germany. European XFEL is currently one of the most advanced X-ray FELs in operation. Congratulations!

  Professor Dietl joined the NCN Council in March 2023. At the inaugural meeting of the Council, which took place in its new composition on Friday, December 20, for the first time in Warsaw, at the seat of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Prof. Dietl was unanimously elected as its chairman. He is the seventh head of the NCN Council.

Our scientists have discovered that a coverage of GaN nanowires with an ultrathin oxide shells significantly increases intensity of GaN luminescence and prevents photodegradation of the nanowires exposed to an environment. That finding is important for future application of nanowires in semiconductor light emitters, as LEDs or lasers.

Our scientists have discovered that antimony triselenide spontaneously forms longitudinal high-quality crystal structures, nano-stripes, in the process of molecular beam growth. This quasi-one-dimensional van der Waals semiconductor may therefore become a material with potentially interesting applications for the construction of semiconductor neural networks, gas sensors and linearly polarized light...

We are pleased to announce that Professor Carmine Autieri, our colleague and MagTOP employee, has been awarded the Stefan Pieńkowski Scientific Prize in 2024 by the 3rd Division of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Natural Sciences). We sincerely congratulate the laureate and wish him continued fruitful work.

Nature's imperfections can sometimes unlock interesting and sought for properties. A team from IP PAS and MIT has found that structural point defects can serve as the origin of unusual photoluminescence in the visible range.