Volume 9 Issue 2, February 2014

The spin–orbit interaction can generate torques that act on the magnetization of a ferromagnet. Here we examine recent experimental insights into spin–orbit torques, which have generated competing explanations and differing opinions over their potential application in memory devices.

Since the 1960s, improvements in integrated circuit design and processing have generated exceptional growth in the semiconductor industry. With feature sizes approaching a few nanometres and 450-mm-wide wafers looming, nanoelectronics is now facing its defining years, says Christian Martin.

Nanophotonic structures can be used to engineer efficient solar thermophotovoltaic systems.

Supramolecular structures composed of inorganic nanoparticles and DNA strands can efficiently target tumours and then be disassembled for ease of elimination from the body.

Kinked nanowire transistors that can be manipulated in three dimensions can be used to record the intracellular electrical signals of targeted cells.

Magnetic vortices can be controllably transferred in an extended system by electrical means.

Electronic transport in a nanodevice can be made insensitive to local heating by driving the device into strong non-equilibrium conditions.

Coupling between optoelectronic states in a quantum dot and vibrations in a nanowire could lead to new techniques for laser cooling and control of mechanical motion.

Strong electron–phonon scattering in a quantum point contact that is driven into extreme non-equilibrium can lead to the formation of a protected subband for electrical conduction.

Coupling of the electronic states in a quantum dot and the vibrations in a nanowire can be achieved by using strain.

The transition from an indirect to direct bandgap in transition metal dichalcogenides has been observed in samples with thicknesses ranging from 8 to 1 monolayers by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.

The energy band offset can be estimated in core–shell nanowires using radial modulation doping.

Magnetic vortices can be nucleated and propagated in an extended film by tuning the attraction between them and the electrical nanocontacts deposited on the magnetic layer.

Nanophotonic surfaces are used to fabricate a 1 cm² solar thermophotovoltaic device that achieves an overall conversion efficiency of 3.2%.

The otherwise random rotations of a rylene-based molecule bound to a surface are biased by the polarization direction of light impinging on the molecule.

Bacillus spores can be used to assemble water-responsive materials with high energy densities and to create energy-harvesting devices that can generate electrical power from an evaporating body of water.

A nanowire-based probe for recording intracellular electrical signals can be manipulated in three dimensions to target specific cells or cell regions.

The DNA assembly of nanomaterials creates designer superstructures for increased efficiency in drug delivery and subsequent breakdown for ease of elimination to mitigate toxicity.