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Members of the Condensed Matter Physics Department dr. Jože Luzar, assist. prof. Stanislav Vrtnik, dr. Primož Koželj, dr. Andreja Jelen, dr. Magdalena Wencka, Darja Gačnik, Peter Mihor, prof. Janez Dolinšek and the member of the Center of Excellence in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology dr. Bojan Ambrožič, together with the colleagues from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the Ljubljana University, National Institute of Chemistry and the Slovak University of Technology in Trnava, Slovakia, have discovered the first »supersilent« high-entropy alloys for alternating-current applications. The ferromagnetic high-entropy materials AlCoFeNiCux (x = 2.0–3.0) show a combination of magnetic softness and vanishing magnetostriction and do not vibrate mechanically in an alternating magnetic field. Consequently, they do not emit annoying sound waves, known e.g. as the »humming« noise of an electrical grid transformer. The materials are suitable for the fabrication of supersilent (inaudible to a human ear) transformers, magnetocaloric coolers and other humming electromagnetic machinery based on periodic magnetization and demagnetization of the components. The authors have published the results in a paper Zero-magnetostriction magnetically soft high-entropy alloys in the AlCoFeNiCux (x = 2.0–3.0) system for supersilent applications, which has appeared recently in the journal Advanced Materials Interface.

On 4 October 2022, the Prizes of Dr. Uroš Seljak Prizes for the best scientific publications by students were awarded for the first time at the University of Ljubljana. The prizes were awarded by the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, donor Dr. Uroš Seljak, University of Ljubljana and the American-Slovenian Educational Foundation (ASEF). The Prizes of Dr. Uroš Seljak are intended to encourage and support scientific publications by female and male students in the Bachelor and Masters levels in the Republic of Slovenia, and to promote mentoring of students. Among the recipients of the prize are our young researchers Katja Gosar and Aljaž Kavčič. Katja Gosar received the prize for her scientific publication in the field of quantum devices, and Aljaž Kavčič for his scientific publication in the field of biointegrated photonics. Their mentors, Dr. Peter Jeglič, Head of the Cold Atoms Laboratory, and Dr. Matjaž Humar, Head of the Biointegrated Photonics Laboratory, were awarded a plaquette for mentorship.

On October 26, 2022, the “Jožef Stefan” Institute and the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, awarded the fourth Blinc Award for research and professional work in the field of physics. Asst. Prof. Matjaž Humar, associate of the Department of Condensed Matter Physics F5, was awarded the Blinc Award for physicists at the beginning of their career. The prestigious award is a recognition of his work in the introduction of pioneering methods of sensorics and biomarkers based on microlasers and laser microresonators in soft and biocompatible materials.

His acquired knowledge and untiring perseverance cleared the way for the establishment of the first laboratory in Slovenia for bio-integrated photonics at the Department of Condensed Matter Physics F5 at the “Jožef Stefan” Institute 7 years ago.

The “whispering gallery mode” method of micro-resonator sensor, which he developed with co-authors, enables localization at the level of individual cells with sensors of various parameters such as temperature, pH and refractive index. The method represents a versatile and perspective tool for deep tissue imaging.

Asst. Prof. Matjaž Humar is the first author of eight articles in high-ranking international journals such as Nature Photonics, Nature Communications, Physical Review Letters and Advanced Materials.

Prof. dr. Slobodan Žumer was awarded the de Gennes Award at the International Liquid Crystal Conference 2022, which took place from July 24 to July 29 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal. This is the highest recognition awarded by the International Liquid Crystal Society (ILCS). Professor Žumer is an exceptional theoretician, pedagogue, co-worker, mentor and former ILCS president whose contributions were extremely important for the impressive development of the field of liquid crystal research. The ILCS Board of Directors based their decision on his exceptional scientific achievements, his key role in establishing new research fields from confined liquid crystals to topological liquid matter, his successful mentoring of several doctoral students, his extensive international collaboration and his contributions to the ILCS activities both as a regional representative, a member of the Board of Directors and as former president of the ILCS. Congratulations!

Andrej Zorko from the Department of Condensed Matter Physic is the recipient of the 2022 Science Impact Award for his work on quantum spin liquids. This award is given annually by the Science and Technology Facilities Council from the United Kingdom to celebrate the scientific impact of the research conducted at the ISIS, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory large-scale user facility in the last five years. This is a world-leading research centre than supports more than 2000 researchers applying neutron scattering and muon spectroscopy to various fields of natural sciences. Andrej Zorko led an international research group and was awarded for their discovery of the first realization of a quantum spin liquid on a triangular spin lattice with dominant Ising antiferromagnetic exchange interactions, which has recently been published in Nature Materials. These results revealed that the family of rare-earth heptatantalates represents a novel framework for quantum spin liquids.