Featured
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Kerr-induced synchronization of a cavity soliton to an optical reference
The passive and electronics-free Kerr-induced synchronization of optical-frequency combs could be used in their control and stabilization and to simplify optical clock systems.
- Grégory Moille
- , Jordan Stone
- & Kartik Srinivasan
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News & Views |
Self-assembling structures close the gap to trap light
An innovative method uses the intrinsic attractive force between silicon surfaces that are separated by a tiny gap to engineer structures that can confine light — offering an ideal set-up for manipulating single photons.
- Takashi Asano
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Article
| Open AccessSelf-assembled photonic cavities with atomic-scale confinement
Silicon photonic nanocavities based on surface forces and conventional lithography and etching are developed, demonstrating pioneering technology that integrates atomic dimensions with the scalability of planar semiconductors.
- Ali Nawaz Babar
- , Thor August Schimmell Weis
- & Søren Stobbe
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Technology Feature |
Wearable biosensor measures fertility hormones in sweat
Ring-like device blends nanoelectronics and folded RNA to track hormone levels without the need for invasive blood tests.
- Amanda Heidt
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Article |
A stable atmospheric-pressure plasma for extreme-temperature synthesis
A plasma set-up consisting of a pair of carbon-fibre-tip-enhanced electrodes enables the generation of a uniform, ultra-high temperature and stable plasma (up to 8,000 K) at atmospheric pressure using a combination of vertically oriented long and short carbon fibres.
- Hua Xie
- , Ning Liu
- & Liangbing Hu
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Article |
Cascaded compression of size distribution of nanopores in monolayer graphene
Cascaded compression, in which nanopores are compressed by cycles of shrinkage and expansion, is described, leading tohigh-density nanopores in monolayer graphene with a narrow pore-size distribution, left skewness and ultrasmall tail deviation.
- Jiangtao Wang
- , Chi Cheng
- & Jing Kong
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Article
| Open AccessImaging quantum oscillations and millitesla pseudomagnetic fields in graphene
Imaging of quantum oscillations in Bernal-stacked trilayer graphene with dual gates enables high-precision reconstruction of the highly tunable bands and reveals naturally occurring pseudomagnetic fields as low as 1 mT corresponding to graphene twisting by 1 millidegree.
- Haibiao Zhou
- , Nadav Auerbach
- & Eli Zeldov
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Article
| Open AccessHopfion rings in a cubic chiral magnet
Transmission electron microscopy is used to observe three-dimensional topological solitons known as hopfions that in a chiral magnet are found to form rings around skyrmion strings, and a nucleation protocol for these rings is provided.
- Fengshan Zheng
- , Nikolai S. Kiselev
- & Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski
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Research Briefing |
Divide and conquer: exploiting entropy to grow nanoscale barrier materials
The full promise of materials structured at the nanoscale can be realized only if they can be manufactured more efficiently and at the sizes required for device integration. An innovative method takes advantage of thermodynamic and kinetic effects to control the growth of stacked 2D nanosheets that can be used for practical applications from the nanoscale to the macroscale.
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Ultralow-resistance electrochemical capacitor for integrable line filtering
A miniaturized narrow-channel in-plane electrochemical capacitor shows drastically reduced ionic resistances within both the electrode material and the electrolyte and an ultrahigh areal capacitance by downscaling the channel width with femtosecond-laser scribing.
- Yajie Hu
- , Mingmao Wu
- & Liangti Qu
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A superconducting nanowire single-photon camera with 400,000 pixels
The development of a 400,000-pixel superconducting nanowire single-photon detector array is described, improving the current state of the art by a factor of 400 and showing scalability well beyond the present demonstration.
- B. G. Oripov
- , D. S. Rampini
- & A. N. McCaughan
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News |
Meet the unsung scientists behind the Nobel for quantum dots
Nature speaks to those who worked alongside this year’s chemistry laureates to develop the award-winning nanocrystals.
- Neil Savage
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Article |
Orbital multiferroicity in pentalayer rhombohedral graphene
Orbital multiferroicity reported in pentalayer rhombohedral graphene features ferro-orbital-magnetism and ferro-valleytricity, both of which can be controlled by an electric field.
- Tonghang Han
- , Zhengguang Lu
- & Long Ju
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Article |
DNA-based programmable gate arrays for general-purpose DNA computing
Generic single-stranded oligonucleotides used as a uniform transmission signal can reliably integrate large-scale DNA integrated circuits with minimal leakage and high fidelity for general-purpose computing.
- Hui Lv
- , Nuli Xie
- & Chunhai Fan
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Phase-dependent growth of Pt on MoS2 for highly efficient H2 evolution
We report the production of MoS2 nanosheets with high phase purity, showing that the 2H-phase templates facilitate epitaxial growth of Pt nanoparticles, whereas the 1T�� phase supports single-atomically dispersed Pt atoms.
- Zhenyu Shi
- , Xiao Zhang
- & Hua Zhang
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News & Views |
Surface interaction propels molecule forwards
The interaction of a molecule with a specific surface has been shown to produce consistent unidirectional motion driven by voltage pulses. The mechanism can even facilitate the transport of molecular cargo.
- Leo Gross
- & Jascha Repp
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Stack growth of wafer-scale van der Waals superconductor heterostructures
Stacks of van der Waals superconductor heterostructures comprising many layers and several blocks of two-dimensional materials have been grown in a highly controllable manner at a wafer scale using a high-to-low temperature strategy.
- Zhenjia Zhou
- , Fuchen Hou
- & Libo Gao
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Article |
Adsorbate motors for unidirectional translation and transport
An adsorbate motor that moves unidirectionally on a copper surface is achieved by inducing intramolecular hydrogen transfer in a single molecule.
- Grant J. Simpson
- , Mats Persson
- & Leonhard Grill
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Article |
Visualizing interfacial collective reaction behaviour of Li–S batteries
In situ liquid-cell electrochemical transmission electron microscopy allows the direct visualization of the transformation of lithium polysulfides over electrode surfaces at the atomic scale, leading to a new energy-storage mechanism in lithium–sulfur batteries.
- Shiyuan Zhou
- , Jie Shi
- & Hong-Gang Liao
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News |
University mourns nanoscientist killed on UNC campus
Zijie Yan led a laboratory at the University of North Carolina that studied light–matter interactions on the nanometre scale.
- Mariana Lenharo
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Article
| Open AccessProton transport through nanoscale corrugations in two-dimensional crystals
A study using high-resolution scanning electrochemical cell microscopy attributes proton permeation through defect-free graphene and hexagonal boron nitride to transport across areas of the structure that are under strain.
- O. J. Wahab
- , E. Daviddi
- & P. R. Unwin
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Article
| Open AccessAn analog-AI chip for energy-efficient speech recognition and transcription
A low-power chip that runs AI models using analog rather than digital computation shows comparable accuracy on speech-recognition tasks but is more than 14 times as energy efficient.
- S. Ambrogio
- , P. Narayanan
- & G. W. Burr
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Perspective |
The future transistors
The challenges and opportunities for the design of field-effect transistors are discussed and a vision of future transistors and potential innovation opportunities is provided.
- Wei Cao
- , Huiming Bu
- & Kaustav Banerjee
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Research Highlight |
DNA origami provides a stout armour for cells
A double layer of twisted, folded DNA protects cells from mechanical forces while allowing them freedom to assemble.
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Research Briefing |
Liquid-based assembly accelerates production of microLED displays
MicroLED displays have advantages over commercially available technologies, but are difficult to put together efficiently. Agitating microLED chiplets and a substrate together in fluid causes them to self‑assemble quickly and with high yield.
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Research Briefing |
Nanoscale origami with DNA-wireframe paper
Origami — the art of making various shapes from a single piece of paper — has been realized at the nanoscale using DNA. Sheets of ‘DNA wireframe paper’ have been developed that, through folding along crease lines, can be transformed into a range of target shapes in response to external stimuli.
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Harnessing a paper-folding mechanism for reconfigurable DNA origami
A method is presented to harness the paper-folding mechanism of reconfigurable macroscale systems to create reconfigurable DNA origami structures, in anticipation that it will advance the development of complex molecular systems.
- Myoungseok Kim
- , Chanseok Lee
- & Do-Nyun Kim
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Article |
Observation of the orbital Hall effect in a light metal Ti
The orbital Hall effect is observed in the light metal titanium, confirming the orbital Hall effect and indicating that orbital angular momentum is an important degree of freedom in solids.
- Young-Gwan Choi
- , Daegeun Jo
- & Hyun-Woo Lee
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Research Briefing |
Nanoparticles containing diverse elements made using liquid metal
The synthesis of high-entropy alloy nanoparticles (HEA-NPs) — small particles each containing multiple principal metal elements — typically requires extreme conditions to ensure adequate mixing of constituents. Innovative experiments show that the liquid metal can act as a mixing reservoir to facilitate the synthesis of a diverse range of such nanoparticles in mild conditions.
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Liquid metal for high-entropy alloy nanoparticles synthesis
We discovered that liquid metal endowing negative mixing enthalpy with other elements could provide a stable thermodynamic condition and act as a desirable dynamic mixing reservoir, realizing the synthesis of high-entropy alloy nanoparticles.
- Guanghui Cao
- , Jingjing Liang
- & Lei Fu
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Characterization of just one atom using synchrotron X-rays
Using a specialized tip as a detector, the fingerprints of a single atom of iron and terbium are observed in synchrotron X-ray absorption spectra, allowing elemental and chemical characterization one atom at a time.
- Tolulope M. Ajayi
- , Nozomi Shirato
- & Saw-Wai Hla
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Indefinite and bidirectional near-infrared nanocrystal photoswitching
This study reports unlimited near-infrared photoswitching in inorganic avalanching nanoparticles via a discrete shift of threshold intensity mediated by internal defect-based colour centres.
- Changhwan Lee
- , Emma Z. Xu
- & P. James Schuck
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Article
| Open AccessÅngström-resolution fluorescence microscopy
The authors introduce a single-molecule DNA-barcoding method, resolution enhancement by sequential imaging, that improves the resolution of fluorescence microscopy down to the Ångström scale using off-the-shelf fluorescence microscopy hardware and reagents.
- Susanne C. M. Reinhardt
- , Luciano A. Masullo
- & Ralf Jungmann
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Orbital Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov state in an Ising superconductor
The discovery of an orbital Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov state in the multilayer Ising superconductor 2H-NbSe2, in which the translational and rotational symmetries are broken, enables the preparation of such states in other materials with broken inversion symmetries.
- Puhua Wan
- , Oleksandr Zheliuk
- & Jianting Ye
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Research Highlight |
Gut microbes ‘eat’ nanoparticles — leading to microbiome changes
Humans can accidentally ingest nanomaterials in consumer products, with unknown effects.
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News & Views |
Bright light coaxed from electrically driven quantum dots
Nanocrystals made from a semiconducting material have been shown to emit intense light when excited with an electric current. The technology could be used to build a type of laser that is more versatile than those in general use.
- Thilo Stöferle
- & Rainer F. Mahrt
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Article |
Constrained C2 adsorbate orientation enables CO-to-acetate electroreduction
A study using a copper-in-silver dilute alloy catalyst in a high-pressure gas flow reactor reports highly selective electrosynthesis of acetate from carbon monoxide.
- Jian Jin
- , Joshua Wicks
- & Yuanjie Pang
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Article
| Open AccessElectrically driven amplified spontaneous emission from colloidal quantum dots
Colloidal quantum dot devices demonstrating electrically pumped amplified spontaneous emission are described, showing strong, broadband optical gain and bright edge emission, opening the path to solution-processable laser diodes.
- Namyoung Ahn
- , Clément Livache
- & Victor I. Klimov
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Tunable electron–flexural phonon interaction in graphene heterostructures
Experimental observation and calculations show that broken reflection symmetry in graphene heterostructures allows tunable electron–flexural phonon coupling, providing a way to control quantum matter at the atomic scale.
- Mir Mohammad Sadeghi
- , Yajie Huang
- & Li Shi
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Article |
Many-body cavity quantum electrodynamics with driven inhomogeneous emitters
Under strong excitation, inhomogeneously broadened solid-state emitters coupled with high cooperativity to a cavity demonstrate collectively induced transparency and dissipative many-body dynamics, resulting from cavity–ion coupling.
- Mi Lei
- , Rikuto Fukumori
- & Andrei Faraon
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pH-dependent water permeability switching and its memory in MoS2 membranes
We demonstrate the memory effects and stimuli-regulated transport of molecules through an intelligent, phase-changing MoS2 membrane in response to external pH, a phenomenon unique to the 1T′ phase of MoS2.
- C. Y. Hu
- , A. Achari
- & R. R. Nair
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Article
| Open AccessTwo-dimensional ferroelectricity in a single-element bismuth monolayer
A single-element ferroelectric state is observed in a black phosphorus-like bismuth layer, in which the ordered charge transfer and the regular atom distortion between sublattices happen simultaneously and ferroelectric switching is further visualized experimentally.
- Jian Gou
- , Hua Bai
- & Andrew Thye Shen Wee
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2D fin field-effect transistors integrated with epitaxial high-k gate oxide
The epitaxial synthesis of high-density, vertically aligned arrays of two-dimensional (2D) fin-oxide heterostructures is described, enabling the fabrication of 2D fin field-effect transistors with high electron mobility and desirable low-power specifications.
- Congwei Tan
- , Mengshi Yu
- & Hailin Peng
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Article
| Open AccessQuantum-well states at the surface of a heavy-fermion superconductor
By using millikelvin scanning tunnelling microscopy to study atomically flat terraces on U-terminated surfaces of the heavy-fermion superconductor URu2Si2, the two-dimensional heavy fermions are shown to form quantum-well states on the surface.
- Edwin Herrera
- , Isabel Guillamón
- & Hermann Suderow
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Ballistic two-dimensional InSe transistors
A two-dimensional field-effect transistor made of indium selenide is shown to outperform state-of-the-art silicon-based transistors, operating at lower supply voltage and achieving record high transconductance and ballistic ratio.
- Jianfeng Jiang
- , Lin Xu
- & Lian-Mao Peng
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Where I Work |
I work in an ultra-clean room on ultra-small chips
Luis Fonseca leads research into micro-, nano- and photonic chip technologies that could kill cancer cells, protect the environment and facilitate space research.
- Patricia Maia Noronha
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News & Views |
Bow-tie particles boast a tunable twist
Particles that self-assemble from nanoribbons into bow-tie-shaped structures can be tailored to change the degree of their twist. A search for how best to quantify this twist homes in on a measure of how the bow ties respond to light.
- Bart Kahr
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Article |
Photonically active bowtie nanoassemblies with chirality continuum
Self-limited assembly of 'imperfect' chiral nanoparticles enables formation of bowtie-shaped microparticles with size monodispersity and continuously variable chirality to be used for printing photonically active metasurfaces.
- Prashant Kumar
- , Thi Vo
- & Nicholas A. Kotov
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Research Briefing |
Stretchy electronic devices assembled in a Lego-like way
In current stretchable electronic devices, connection points between modules are made using commercially available pastes and break easily under mechanical deformation. An innovative connection interface has been developed to enable robust stretchable devices to be reliably assembled in a Lego‑like manner by simply pressing the interfaces of two modules together without pastes.