Professor Halzen, Solo Winner of Physics Prize

They were honored for their discovery of light-responsive ion channels and their advancement of optogenetics. This technology helps understand the mechanisms of memory, emotion, and behavior by controlling neural cell activity with light.

Early organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) had the limitation that a significant portion of energy was lost as heat rather than converted into light.

Stephen Forrest and Marc Thompson developed a technique to induce phosphorescence using luminescent molecules containing heavy metals like iridium. This technology maximized OLED efficiency by converting energy that would otherwise be lost as heat into light, and it is widely applied to red and green pixels.

This technology involves designing molecular structures so that energy in a non-emissive state can absorb small thermal energy from the molecular environment and return to a fluorescent state, meaning it is activated by heat and fluoresces with a delay.

She proposed the idea that if the same atom cannot perform both the role of a magnet and a battery, different atoms could be designed to share these roles.

This multiferroic technology can be applied to the development of next-generation memory that can store information with low power, but maintaining performance during repeated operations and ensuring compatibility with semiconductor processes remain challenges.

While Spaldin's theory explained the principle of multiferroic coexistence, Ramesh and Tokura contributed to experimentally proving it, drawing attention to the Nobel Committee's choice.

The researchers incorporated chromium atoms into a topological insulator, a material where current flows only along the surface or edges, not through the bulk, thereby imparting magnetism to the material itself. This created pathways where electrons move in one direction within the material without an external magnetic field, achieving the quantum anomalous Hall effect.

The quantum Hall effect has already led to two Nobel Prizes in Physics in 1985 and 1998, and topological material theory received the Nobel Prize in 2016.

Previous quantum Hall effect research required extremely low temperatures and strong external magnetic fields.

The SwitchCON research team's achievement of implementing the same phenomenon without an external magnetic field makes it crucial whether the Nobel Committee will recognize this as a new achievement distinct from previous research.

In 2009, Clarivate identified John Pendry, David Smith, and Sheldon Schultz as strong Nobel Prize candidates in the field of metamaterial research.

However, Sheldon Schultz passed away in 2017 and is therefore ineligible for the Nobel Prize according to its regulations.

Professor MacDonald's research involves twisting two layers of graphene at a specific angle to achieve superconductivity, a hope for the award stemming from personal connections and a student-mentor relationship.

The host predicted that the field of metamaterials research would win the Nobel Prize in Physics just before the 2026 announcement.

Professor Halzen was recognized for his discovery of high-energy neutrinos in astrophysics.

Contrary to initial expectations, the decision for a single recipient rather than a joint award garnered significant attention.

From the 1980s, Professor Francis Halzen conceived and led the idea of installing neutrino detectors in the Antarctic ice.

As the head of the IceCube Observatory, he oversaw its construction and research, achieving the remarkable feat of first discovering and announcing high-energy neutrinos from space in 2013.

This research has made significant contributions to unraveling the mysteries of the universe through neutrinos.

Earlier research, such as by Kamiokande, primarily observed low-energy neutrinos emitted from the sun or supernovae.

However, IceCube research focuses on detecting ultra-high-energy neutrinos generated in cosmic accelerator systems, making its research topic and nature distinct.

IceCube has presented new observation methods connecting particle physics and astronomy, profoundly impacting the scientific community.

This marks the first solo award for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 34 years, since 1992.

Two important scientific events are scheduled for tomorrow. The Nuriho launch is expected around 12:23 PM, with live coverage starting at 11:30 AM.

Additionally, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry announcement is scheduled for tomorrow evening at 6:15 PM, which is expected to attract significant viewer interest.