Press releases
Measuring a Single Molecule Without Disturbing Its State
2026-09-05
Researchers at the University of Innsbruck, in collaboration with Dr Marcin Gronowski and Professor Michał Tomza from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, have published a paper in Nature describing an innovative method for studying individual molecular ions. They demonstrated that the absorption of a single photon by a single polyatomic CaOH⁺ ion can be detected using precise quantum techniques.| More
Single Photons from Two-Dimensional ZnPS₃ – An Important Step for Quantum Technologies
2026-06-30
Scientists from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, in collaboration with teams from the National University of Singapore and Radboud University in Netherlands, have observed single photon emission from layered two-dimensional material ZnPS₃ . This discovery represents a crucial step toward establishing low dimensional materials as a versatile platform for quantum information science. The research findings were published in the prestigious journal “ACS Nano”.| More
Electrically tunable “super-lasers”
2026-06-19
Researchers demonstrate a new way to make spatially separated lasers synchronize and act as a single coherent light source – without extreme conditions or complex materials.
A team of physicists from the University of Southampton (UK), University of Warsaw (PL), Military University of Technology (PL), Institut Pascal, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS (FR), and CNR (IT) has developed a new class of tunable photonic devices in which multiple tiny laser beams spontaneously synchronize and behave as a unified, spatially extended, and coherent light source. Remarkably, this effect is achieved at room temperature using a simple system based on liquid crystals and organic dye molecules, opening new possibilities for low-cost and reconfigurable optical technologies.| More
Breakthrough in Nuclear Physics: First Precise Measurements of Tellurium-104 Decay
2026-06-09
An international team of scientists has directly observed, for the first time, the exceptionally rapid alpha decay of tellurium-104 (¹⁰⁴Te) and carried out key measurements of its lifetime and decay energy. The results were published in the prestigious journal "Nature". The team, coordinated by Prof. Robert Grzywacz, included researchers from the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), RIKEN, the University of Tokyo, the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, the National Centre for Nuclear Research, Universität zu Köln (Germany), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Researchers from our Faculty involved in the project included Dr. hab. Agnieszka Korgul, University Professor, Dr. hab. Chiara Mazzocchi, University Professor, and Aleksandra Skruch, MSc.| More
An excellent showing by the University of Warsaw Faculty of Physics team in the 18th edition of the International Physicists’ Tournament.
2026-06-02
The International Physicists’ Tournament is a prestigious international team competition for physics students. This year’s edition, held from 26 to 30 May 2026 at Oklahoma State University, brought together 20 teams from around the world. Poland was represented by a team from the Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw.
The team delivered a very strong performance, advancing to the semi-finals and placing 8th in the overall ranking. Members of the team also achieved individual distinctions: Adam Gocel received the award for the best presentation outside the main competition. At the same time, Paweł Ptaszek earned the highest score of the entire Tournament for his opposition to the solution of one of the competition problems.| Więcej
Laser tornado in a synthetic magnetic field
2026-03-27
Can light behave like a whirlwind? It turns out it can – and such “optical tornadoes” have now been created in an extremely small structure by scientists from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, the Military University of Technology, and the Institut Pascal CNRS at Université Clermont Auvergne. This discovery opens a new pathway for creating miniature light sources with complex structures, potentially enabling the development of simpler and more scalable photonic devices in the future, for applications such as optical communication and quantum technologies.| More
Light trapped in a layer thousands of times thinner than a sheet of paper
2026-03-19
Scientists from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, in collaboration with research groups from the Łódź University of Technology, the Warsaw University of Technology, and the Polish Academy of Sciences, have developed a structure that traps infrared light in a layer just 40 nanometers thick. To achieve this, they created a structure called a subwavelength grating using a special material – molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2). They published their results in the prestigious journal “ACS Nano”.| More
Alloy-engineered valleytronics
2026-02-20
Scientists from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, in collaboration with teams from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Central Florida, Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses, National University of Singapore, CNR-IFN, as well as research centers in the Czech Republic (University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague) and Japan (National Institute for Materials Science), have observed a new microscopic mechanism enabling precise control of the magneto-optical properties of excitons in alloys of two-dimensional semiconductors. This discovery opens up tangible prospects for technological applications in devices exploiting valleytronics. The research findings were published in the prestigious journal “Physical Review Letters”.| More
From Fullerenes to 2D Structures: A Unified Design Principle for Boron Nanostructures
2025-12-08
Dr. Nevill Gonzalez Szwacki from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw has developed a groundbreaking model that explains the diversity of boron nanostructures—from hollow molecular clusters to ultrathin 2D layers. His research, published in the prestigious “2D Materials”, shows that the key to the stability and electronic properties of these structures lies in the atomic coordination, the number of neighboring atoms. This discovery not only makes it possible to understand existing boron nanostructures, but also to predict and design new materials with desirable properties.| More
Rydberg-atom detector conquers a new spectral frontier
2025-12-06
A team from the Faculty of Physics and the Centre for Quantum Optical Technologies at the Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw has developed a new method for measuring elusive terahertz signals using a "quantum antenna." The authors of the work utilized a novel setup for radio wave detection with Rydberg atoms to not only detect but also precisely calibrate a so-called frequency comb in the terahertz band. This band was until recently a white spot in the electromagnetic spectrum, and the solution described in the prestigious journal Optica paves the way for ultrasensitive spectroscopy and a new generation of quantum sensors operating at room temperature.| More