Imaging techniques articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Fluorescent organic nanoparticles are attractive alternatives to quantum dots for imaging applications. Here, the authors assemble dyes with bulky counterions inside polymer nanoparticles to achieve high fluorescence brightness, as well as a photoinducible and reversible on/off switching.

    • Andreas Reisch
    • , Pascal Didier
    •  & Andrey S. Klymchenko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Observing the movement of defects through a crystal lattice in real time presents significant difficulties. Here, the authors use an ultra-high vacuum and low-voltage scanning transmission microscope setup to observe the migration of a divacancy defect in real time through graphene.

    • Jani Kotakoski
    • , Clemens Mangler
    •  & Jannik C. Meyer

  • Article |

    Desorption kinetics cannot be simply described by the standard method, the temperature-programmed desorption. Here, Günther et al.use low-energy electron microscopy to image an adsorbate layer during desorption, and propose a model that quantitatively explains the complex desorption process.

    • S. Günther
    • , T. O. Menteş
    •  & J. Wintterlin

  • Article |

    Magnetic vortices could be utilized in high-frequency applications but greater understanding of the coupling dynamics is required. Here, the authors use in situLorentz microscopy to directly image the dynamics of strongly coupled vortices under resonant excitations.

    • J. F. Pulecio
    • , P. Warnicke
    •  & Y. Zhu

  • Article |

    Excitons are bound electron-hole pairs that mediate light absorption and emission in organic devices. Here, the authors use spatial, spectral and time-resolved imaging to visualize exciton transport in tetracene crystals and thin films, showing the role of disorder on the diffusion of excitons.

    • Gleb M. Akselrod
    • , Parag B. Deotare
    •  & Vladimir Bulović

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the role of defects on semiconductor carrier transport should help improve their performance in devices. Using photoluminescence techniques, Alberi et al. image the carrier diffusion in polycrystalline CdTe and find that long-range transport is mediated by the distribution of defect states.

    • K. Alberi
    • , B. Fluegel
    •  & A. Mascarenhas

  • Article |

    Determining the nanostructure within complex composites may lead to greater understanding of their properties. Here, the authors demonstrate the application of X-ray atomic pair distribution function computed tomography to resolve the physicochemical properties of palladium nanoparticles on an alumina catalyst.

    • Simon D. M. Jacques
    • , Marco Di Michiel
    •  & Simon J. L. Billinge

  • Article |

    Obtaining quantitative information on nanoscale magnetic structures is a challenge. Here, the authors apply scanning probe magnetometry based on a single nitrogen-vacancy defect in diamond to quantitatively map the stray magnetic field emitted by a vortex state in a ferromagnetic dot.

    • L. Rondin
    • , J. -P. Tetienne
    •  & V. Jacques

  • Article |

    The short-wavelength infrared spectral region is of interest for bio-imaging applications as biological tissue is transparent to such light. Here Naczynski et al. fabricate rare-earth-based nanomaterials and demonstrate multispectral, real-time short-wavelength infrared in-vivoimaging.

    • D. J. Naczynski
    • , M. C. Tan
    •  & P. V. Moghe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extreme pressure can induce significant changes in a material’s mechanical response, but characterizing the evolution of these changes as they take place is challenging. Yang et al. demonstrate the use of coherent X-ray diffraction imaging to follow changes in the three-dimensional shape and strain fields within gold particles under pressure.

    • Wenge Yang
    • , Xiaojing Huang
    •  & Ho-kwang Mao

  • Article |

    Detecting the magnetic spins of a small number of atoms is important for applications such as magnetic resonance imaging. Here, Steinert et al.demonstrate that nitrogen-vacancy defect centres in diamond allow spin detection at room temperature at length scales smaller than human cells.

    • S. Steinert
    • , F. Ziem
    •  & J. Wrachtrup

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multiplexed labelling of individual cells allows the direct observation of intracellular molecular composition, but is difficult to achieve with existing techniques. Here, self-assembled fluorescent nanoparticle probes and multicolour multicycle staining are used for the simultaneous evaluation of multiple biomolecules at subcellular resolution.

    • Pavel Zrazhevskiy
    •  & Xiaohu Gao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The emission properties of quantum dots make them ideal for probing plasmonic nanostructures, but their small size makes them difficult to manipulate. Ropp et al.use a microfluidic system to accurately place single quantum dots around silver nanowires to probe the local density of optical states.

    • Chad Ropp
    • , Zachary Cummins
    •  & Edo Waks

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-resolution characterisation techniques enable us to better understand the properties of nanoscale materials and devices. By combining electron microscopy and infrared nanoscopy, Stiegleret al.demonstrate a general approach to simultaneously probe the structural, chemical and electronic properties of a nanostructure.

    • J.M. Stiegler
    • , R. Tena-Zaera
    •  & R. Hillenbrand

  • Article |

    The torque contributions exerted by spin-polarized currents on magnetic structures are not fully understood due to the difficulty in discerning their relative weight. Pollardet al. propose a novel method to directly determine the value of the competing spin transfer torques by in-situLorentz microscopy.

    • S.D. Pollard
    • , L. Huang
    •  & Y. Zhu

  • Article |

    Lenses are restricted by diffraction to imaging features roughly the size of visible wavelengths. Wanget al. develop a white-light nanoscope that uses optically transparent spherical silica lenses to virtually image, in the far-field, features down to 50 nm resolution.

    • Zengbo Wang
    • , Wei Guo
    •  & Minghui Hong

  • Article |

    The imaging of magnetic domains in three-dimensional solids has been hampered by a lack of suitable methods. The authors show that Talbot-Lau neutron tomography is capable of visualizing the domain structure of an iron silicide bulk crystal.

    • I. Manke
    • , N. Kardjilov
    •  & J. Banhart

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