Browse Articles

Cell-sized liposomes encapsulating native macromolecular polymers can be built using molecular robotics to produce motions similar to living cells. The paper shows that encapsulating high concentration of actin into liposomes results in their deformation.

Plasma Raman amplifiers have been proposed as a mean to increase laser intensity beyond what is currently possible with solid state devices. The paper presents a counterintuitive geometry for a Raman amplifier that allows to optimize the Raman amplification of a seed pulse in a plasma.

Understanding the magnetic properties of molecules at the atomic level is a crucial aspect in the growing area of organic spintronics. This study brings further insight into the mechanisms of electron-spin interactions by investigating an iron-based organic molecule deposited on gold substrates.

In order to develop the next generation of semiconductor devices it is important to better understand the fundamental physics of materials other than silicon. The authors develop a theoretical approach to describe the charge transport properties of polymer-based semiconductors by focusing on features related to their crystallographic properties.

Since the Renaissance, the Reiner Gamma formation was identified as a peculiar lunar feature. By combining magnetic field topology based on satellite observations with a full-kinetic plasma model, the authors successfully reproduced the shape of the surface albedo pattern beneath the magnetic anomaly.

The study provides new insight into the light-matter interactions of organic based perovskites. The authors do so by investigating the hybrid perovskite methylammonium lead iodide, which is considered a benchmark material for solar cells with high power conversion efficiency.

Photoemission from nanostructures has raised considerable interest in recent years. The authors propose a low-budget scheme for multiphoton photemission with a continuous-wave laser that may inspire design of accessible nanoscale coherent electron sources.

A first-principles description of electronic states in cuprate high-temperature superconductors has remained a longstanding challenge in the field. The authors show how the equilibrium crystal structure as well as the key ground-state electronic and magnetic properties of lanthanum cuprate superconductor as an exemplar correlated material can be obtained accurately by applying an advanced functional within the framework of the density functional theory.

Dimension is an important resource in quantum information theory. By exploiting the weak measurement technique, the paper presents a three-observer dimension witness protocol which can be applied, among other protocols, in semi device-independent quantum information theory.

In a world in constant need of electricity, energy harvesting techniques from the ambient environment can provide in-situ power generation. The authors demonstrate and design a system to efficiently extract energy from an external source at an exponentially increasing rate.

Intermediate band photovoltaics have the potential to increase traditional solar cell efficiencies by placing an intermediate band energy level between the valence and conduction bands, but they suffer from short carrier lifetimes because of Shockley-Read Hall recombination. The Quantum Ratchet device, whose concept was proposed theoretically as a way to increase the intermediate band life time, is realised here with a semiconductor nanostructure.

The paper reports a theoretical investigation of the paramagnetic states of monolayer FeSe. The authors use first-principles spin-spiral calculations to show that spin fluctuations around the checkerboard states explain the paradox between angle-resolved photoemission experiments and density-functional theory.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Communications Physics. Our ambition is to provide a venue for physicists, regardless of their specialised topic, to publish and access high-quality research that stimulates new thinking in the field.

Topological insulators insulate in the bulk but exhibit conducting edge states. The study introduces a colloidal analogue of topological insulators and experimentally demonstrates the occurrence of edge states that allow for the transport of colloids along both the edges and the corners of the underlying magnetic lattice.

Phase change alloys are used as components for optical data storage like DVD and Blue-Ray disks but many of their conductive properties are only known phenomenologically. This paper reports detailed band structure mapping of the prototype alloy GST-225 using photoemission spectroscopy, and the observation of a Dirac-like surface state above the Fermi level.

Multifractality is ubiquitous in classical systems but rare in quantum ones. Here the authors present observations demonstrating that universal conductance fluctuations in high-mobility single-layer graphene field-effect transistors are multifractal and may arise from Anderson-localization.

Magnetism plays a key role in data storage devices. This paper reports on the experimental observation of spin-orbit torque-driven oscillatory switching due to field-like torque and finds that the magnetization can be switched back through using appropriate pulse duration.

Current photoacoustic reporter gene imaging techniques require multiwavelength excitation and complex computational methods. The study presents a simple experimental alternative using a photoswitchable reporter protein and dualwavelength signal acquisition that is applicable to a wide range of in vivo photoacoustic imaging systems.