News
EPJ B Highlight - From stained glass to novel optical effect
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- Published on 13 January 2015
Physicists investigate hybrid nanostructures made of semiconductor and metal components, yielding novel electronic and optical characteristics when exposed to light
Coloured stained-glass windows in churches typically contain metallic nanoparticles. They illustrate how light interacts with matter in a specific way at nanoscales. Depending on the material, different types of excitations arise within the inner structure of the material. By combining two different nanostructures, physicists expect the best electronic and optical response from each material. A team of Austrian scientists has just produced a model describing the optical properties of a matchstick-shaped hybrid nanoparticle, made of a cadmium sulphide semiconductor rod attached to a metallic gold cap. The results have been published in EPJ B by physicist Jakob Ebner and colleagues from the Karl Franzens University in Graz. Similar light-matter interactions have been observed in related systems, such as graphene. Better understanding such interactions could ultimately help in enhancing the sensitivity of chemical or biological detectors, as well as in increasing the efficiency of solar cells.
EPJB Highlight - Picosecond-range control over information processing
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- Published on 12 January 2015
Optical manipulation is key to reaching the necessary speed to control the furtive underlying physical mechanism used in quantum information processing
Quantum computing will, one day, bring quicker information processing. One of the keys to such speed is being able to control the short-lived physical phenomenon holding quantum information, also known as quantum bits (qubits). A new study presents a novel optical manipulation technique to control one possible kind of qubit—represented, in this case, by polarised electron spins—exposed to an ultra-short pulsed laser in the picosecond-range. Jorge Budagosky and Alberto Castro from the University of Zaragoza, Spain, have tested this novel optics approach using a quantum dot—nanoscopic artificial structures with a small number of electrons—in a study published in EPJ B.
EPJ E Highlight - Optical manipulation of particles of all shapes and sizes
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- Published on 12 January 2015
A new study of how particles may respond to the mechanical effects of light helps improve optical manipulation and remote sensing of non-spherical particles.
Manipulation of small objects by light has gained in popularity in the past few years. Now, scientists have performed the first systematic analysis of the behaviour of ellipsoidal particles manipulated by laser beams. The work shows that such particles are constantly moving in and out of the reach of an optical beam, creating oscillations. These findings by a team of researchers from the University of Bordeaux, France, have just been published in EPJ E. This work could help understand the unusual behaviour of rod-like particles manipulated by optical tweezers. Ultimately, the theoretical part of this work could contribute numerical models of how complicated shapes and large sizes scatter laser light. Numerous applications exist in fluid engineering and remote sensing methods.
Virginie SERIN and Luis VINA new Co-Editors-in-Chief of EPJ Applied Physics
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- Published on 12 January 2015
EPJAP is pleased to announce the appointment of Prof. Virginie Serin and Prof. Luis Viña as the journal’s new co-Editors-in-Chief. They will form an interdisciplinary leadership team for the journal.
Prof Virginie Serin and Prof Luis Viña’s terms begin on January 1, 2015. They are replacing Bernard Drévillon, who had served as Editor-in-Chief since the beginning of 2003. The new team will do its best to continue to build on the great work that their predecessor Bernard Drévillon has achieved during his term to further increase the global reach of the Journal, and to promote and encourage the recent progresses in the field of Applied Physics.
EPJ D North American Regional Editor
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- Published on 08 January 2015
New Editors-in-Chief for EPJ D
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- Published on 08 January 2015
December 31st, 2014 marked the end of the terms of appointment of two of the Editors-in-Chief for EPJD, Professor Kurt Becker (New York University, USA) and Professor Nigel Mason (Open University, UK). Profs Becker and Mason have served as Editors-in-Chief since 2009, representing the fields of plasma physics and atomic and molecular physics respectively. Under their leadership the journal has seen substantial growth and development across a broad range of topical areas, with special issues published in diverse fields including microplasmas, electron-positron collision physics, cluster physics and radiation biodamage. The publishers would like to express their sincere appreciation to Kurt and Nigel for their service to the journal and the wider community as Editors-in-Chief over the past five years.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of their successors, starting from 1st January 2015.
EPJ D Colloquium - Quantum optics with quantum dots
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- Published on 22 December 2014
The aim of quantum information research is to harness the distinctive features of quantum physics, especially superposition and entanglement, to enhance the functionality and power of information and communication technologies. It has been a thriving interdisciplinary field of research for the last thirty years, extending from the fundamental investigation of quantum phenomena to the experimental implementation of disruptive quantum-enabled technologies.
EPJE: Francesco Sciortino joins the EPJE board as Editor in Chief
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- Published on 19 December 2014
Author contribution statement
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- Published on 15 December 2014
Authors submitting to the EPJ Open journals EPJ DS, EPJ TI, EPJ QT and EPJ NBP are asked to give details of how each author contributed to the work reported in the publication, and their statement becomes visible at the end of the paper. This practice is relatively new in physics journals. As the size and internationality of scientific collaborations has grown, the number of co-authors on each paper has increased. In many cases the conventions about authors listing developed in certain fields or countries are often insufficient and in some cases collide with each other. On the other hand, academics face mounting pressure to be more transparent about their work and to provide quantitative metrics of their contribution to science and society, beyond the number of citations to their papers. A further important consideration is ethics. Inclusion of authors who have not participated in the work reported is unethical, as is the exclusion of names who have actually given a contribution. Such disputes over authorship do arise, accompanied by unwieldy arguments, which journal editors find difficult to resolve. The request for a statement detailing each author’s contribution is meant to heighten awareness of all these issues when submitting a paper. From now on EPJ B, D and E will start requesting an author contribution statement for multi-authored papers.
EPJ B Highlight - Winner and losers of the EU funding challenge
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- Published on 10 December 2014
Successfully attracting EU funding could depend on the nature of the research consortium
The European Union has a well-oiled funding mechanism in the form of grants given to research consortia. These are essentially made up of collaborating academic and industry-based research organisations. Understanding which type of consortium work receives funding could help future applicants. And it could also bring further transparency on how public funds are spent. Now, Maria Tsouchnika and Panos Argyrakis from the University of Thessaloniki, Greece, have brought valuable insights into the structure of research consortia that are most likely to attract EU funding, in a paper published in EPJ B.
