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Luka Pirker and Maja Remškar from the Department of Condensed Matter Physics F5 and colleagues from the University of Regensburg (Germany) published a paper in the journal Advanced Materials with the title Non-Destructive Low-Temperature Contacts to MoS2 Nanoribbon and Nanotube Quantum Dots.

Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) has inspired scientists for more than a decade with its extraordinary properties. Among others, it also has unique electrical properties, which makes it interesting for a wide range of electronic applications, from

transistors and sensors to quantum computers.

In the published article, the researchers presented a new way of making electrical contacts using bismuth on MoS2 nanotubes and nanoribbons, which were synthesized at IJS. Good electrical contacts are an important step towards quantum technologies, as most measurements take place at extremely low temperatures (T < 100 mK). The new discovery will enable researchers to discover new material properties in the quantum regime in MoS2.

George Cordoyiannis, PhD from the Department of Condensed Matter Physics F5 and colleagues from Belgium and Denmark have published inPhysica Status Solidi A the review article QCM-D Study of the Formation of Solid-Supported Artificial Lipid Membranes: State-of-the-Art, Recent Advances, and Perspectives.

An overview of the lipid vesicle adsorption and rupture under different experimental conditions is given. The current understanding of the mechanisms relies on surface sensitive techniques, such as quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring and atomic force microscopy. We provide various examples how the vesicle adsorption and rupture are influenced by varying the lipid size and charge, the type of buffer and the adhesion strength of solid substrate.

In recent years, transitional metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have opened a new frontier in the area of field emission devices. Due to their layered structure and the presence of thin and sharp edges with high aspect ratios the local electric field is enhanced which plays an important role in filed emission.

L. Pirker, M. Remškar in B: Višić from the Department of Condensed Matter Physics F5 together with colleagues from OTH Regensburg (Germany) published an article in Advanced Functional Materials titled MoxWx–1S2 Nanotubes for Advanced Field Emission Application, where they report on the synthesis and characterization on mixed MoWS2 nanotubes. Single nanotube field emission devices were prepared and show promising results comparable with other TMDC devices.

The 1st COST NanoSpace Scientific Meeting took place at the Jožef Stefan Institute between 9th and 11th of February 2023. The project involves astrophysicists, chemists and material scientists. The main scientific challenges on which we will try to address are (i) What nanocarbon species are present in space and how can we identify them?, (ii) What are the chemical pathways that lead to their formation and destruction?, and (iii) What is the role of nanocarbon species in non-terrestrial environments? 70 researchers coming from more than 30 countries, including Japan and Canada, attended the meeting. The JSI members of the project are Polona Umek, PhD and Prof Denis Arčon, PhD.

George Cordoyiannis, PhD from the Department of Condensed Matter Physics F5 and colleagues from Belgium and UK have published in Physical Review E the article Phase transitions study of the liquid crystal DIO with a ferroelectric nematic, a nematic, and an intermediate phase and of mixtures with the ferroelectric nematic compound RM734 by adiabatic scanning calorimetry.

We have studied phase transitions in a series of mixtures of liquid crystals RM734 and DIO exhibiting new types of ferroelectric nematic phases. RM734 exhibits a nematic (N) and a ferroelectric nematic (NF) phase, whereas DIO has an intermediate phase (Nx) between N and NF. By means of high-resolution calorimetry, we have derived the precise phase diagram as a function of mixture composition, i.e., as a function of variable ferroelectric coupling. The phase diagram is consistent with ideal mixture behavior, provided that the total enthalpy values are used in the analysis. The critical behavior of Nx–NF phase transition exhibited by the mixtures shows a systematic trend of the critical exponent values from α = 0.88 ± 0.10 for DIO towards α = 0.50 ± 0.05 (tricritical) when increasing the concentration of RM734.