News & Blog

The avalanche effect: a new understanding of lithium ion movement in graphite

Researchers at the Cavendish Laboartory have used a new optical technique to show that in the early stages of charging lithium ions enter the graphite lattice in sudden, localised, intermittent...

10 August 2026

New insights into sodium-ion cathode material could help improve battery lifetime for large-scale energy storage

Researchers have uncovered new details about how a promising sodium-ion battery material changes while charging, offering a potential route to longer-lasting batteries for storing renewable energy. “Whilst there isn’t any...

20 May 2026

Tiny antennas to bring electrical power to the un-powerable nanoparticles

A new technique uses ‘molecular antennas’ to funnel electrical energy into insulating nanoparticles, creating a new class of ultra-pure near-infrared LEDs for medical diagnostics, optical communications, and sensing. “For applications...

19 November 2025

New organic molecule set to transform solar energy harvesting

In a discovery that bridges a century of physics, scientists have observed a phenomenon, once thought to be the domain of inorganic metal oxides, thriving within a glowing organic semiconductor...

1 October 2025

Carbon-based molecules open new pathways for quantum sensing

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Université Paris-Saclay have found a new kind of a molecular material, built bottom-up with carbon atoms, that can link electron spin and light...

29 July 2025

BRIGHTS future for quantum objects

Professor Sir Richard Friend is one of the leading researchers to win a European Research Council’s (ERC) award in its latest round of Advanced Grant competition. The funding, worth €2.5...

17 June 2025

Exciting moments on the edge

For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that phosphorene nanoribbons (PNRs) exhibit both magnetic and semiconducting properties at room temperature. The research, led by the University of Cambridge with international...

12 March 2025

Solving the doping problem: Enhancing performance in Organic Semiconductors

Cavendish physicists have discovered two new ways to improve organic semiconductors. They found a way to remove more electrons from the material than previously possible and used unexpected properties in...

2 August 2024