Research articles

When electronic band structures undergo a topological phase transition, a non-trivial Berry curvature emerges, but its experimental detection is challenging. Here, scaling relations in the nonlinear magneto-electric transport are used to reveal a topological phase transition in ZrTe₅ under magnetic fields.

Cavity polariton condensates are promising for room temperature quantum technologies, but realizing polaritonic qubit states remains challenging. Here, polarization superposition of polariton states and laser-induced polarization switching are observed in a perovskite microcavity at room temperature, suggesting a coupling between orthogonally polarized states that could enable polaritonic qubits.

Materials with a chiral crystal structure are of great interest due to potentially non-trivial structure-property relations. Here, electron microscopy and crystallographic analysis, supported by quantum chemical calculations, shed light on the conversion of the crystal structure of CoSi accompanying a change in handedness.

The epitaxial growth of large-scale single-crystalline 2D materials requires precise control over crystallographic orientation and morphology during the initial stages of nucleation. Here, noncontact atomic force microscopy and density functional theory provide atomic-scale mechanistic insights into the nucleation of hexagonal boron nitride on Ir(111).

Representing crystal structures is crucial for enabling the inverse design of materials with desired properties via machine learning. Here, the authors propose a versatile crystal structure representation based on continuous fields rather than grid-based discretization, overcoming the tradeoff between spatial resolution and computational complexity.

Machine learning models can predict the formation energy of compounds with high accuracy and efficiency. Here, the authors develop a deep convolutional network for high-throughput materials screening based on visual image representations of crystals instead of conventional graph structures, providing an alternative state-of-the-art approach that benefits from the most recent advances in image recognition architectures.

Tuning the effective g-factor of semiconductors by a perpendicular electric field is essential for designing controllable spin-based devices such as qubits and spin field-effect transistors. Here, a wide-range g-factor tunability by external electric field is demonstrated in a high-mobility 2D hole heterostructure.

Kagome metals are remarkably interesting due to the strong interplay of topology, magnetism, van-Hove singularities, correlated flat bands, and structural degrees of freedom. Here, the driving mechanism and dynamics of the charge density wave phase in ScV6Sn6 are investigated by experimental and theoretical techniques, revealing a predominant role of phonons in its stabilization.

A superlattice structure in Eu-doped GaN is known to improve the power output of red LEDs, though the mechanism behind this needs to be further established. Here, terahertz emission spectroscopy is used to understand the role played by potential barriers and carrier confinement in determining power output.

The layered charge density wave system 1T-TaS₂ hosts a series of interesting correlation-induced electronic phases, but the nature of its insulating state is still under debate. Here, theoretical calculations and microscopy measurements reveal the role of stacking and interlayer coupling in the formation of different bandgap types, addressing previous discrepancies.

There is an ongoing need for new anticounterfeiting technologies. Here, the combined effects of capillary and Marangoni flow create randomly oriented MoS_x clusters on a surface, which are used as anticounterfeiting tags.

Engineering the dynamics of excitons is a promising approach for advanced optoelectronic devices. Here, exciton formation dynamics at an Si/SiO₂ interface are studied for different temperatures and injection levels by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy.

As recently proposed, the kagome metal CsV₃Sb₅ could host spontaneous orbital-currents due to Chern Fermi pockets, but these are challenging to detect. Here, a large g-factor enhancement in magnetic breakdown orbits, determined via quantum oscillations, provides a visible manifestation of Berry-curvature-induced large orbital moments.

Hafnia ferroelectrics hold exciting technological potential, but the variety of phases and unconventional properties found in these materials make them extremely challenging to describe theoretically. Here, an approach based on an original reference phase provides a unifying picture to understand the multiple low-energy polymorphs of hafnia.

Stimuli-responsive elastic metamaterials enable a high degree of tunability of resonance-based features. Here, a magnetically programmable metamaterial based on magnetorheological elastomers is designed and fabricated, demonstrating robust local resonance bandgap control.

The nematic sol-gel transition microstructure of swelling clays is not well understood. Here, the microstructure of a smectite clay suspension is probed with ultra-small angle neutron/X-ray scattering, uncovering the structural order of these nematic gels.

Copper sulfidation in the rubber/brass interface of tires during aging is still not well understood. Here, the 3D spatial location and chemical states of copper species in a rubber/brass composite are visualized and tracked by 3D X-ray spectroimaging with data-driven machine learning analysis.

Quantification of large topological motifs is important for understanding chemical linkages between structural ordering and macroscopic behaviors. Here, two quantitative analysis methods based on rings are proposed to reveal information on orders and linkages in crystalline and amorphous materials.

The thermal and mechanical properties of inverse vulcanized polymers are currently underdeveloped. Here, a series of terpolymers copolymerized from two distinct organic comonomers and elemental sulfur yield polymers with a wide range of glass transition temperatures and show good mechanical properties.

Achieving close contact between organic and inorganic components in nanostructures is critical for performance. Here, the interfacial interaction in titanium oxide-based organic-inorganic nanoheterojunctions is promoted by host-guest interactions, which are obtained through chiral recognition.