Techniques and instrumentation articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    X-ray Free Electron Lasers allow fast structure determination. Here, the authors push the temporal limit of atomic level structure determination to 25 fs, the length of a single pulse, paving the way to the study of fast, non-repeatable processes.

    • Gábor Bortel
    • , Miklós Tegze
    •  & Gyula Faigel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The evolution of Pd-based material during CO2 electroreduction requires further investigation. Here the authors use in-situ liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy and select area diffraction characterization techniques to visualize the morphological and phase structure evolution of the Pd/PdHx catalysts under CO2 electroreduction conditions.

    • Ahmed M. Abdellah
    • , Fatma Ismail
    •  & Drew Higgins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lightweight flexible piezoelectric polymers are demanded for various applications, but restricted by the low instinctively piezoelectric coefficient and complex poling process. Here, the authors develop a high performance lightweight, flexible self-poled piezoelectric polymer composite towards sustainable self-powered sensing and energy harvesting.

    • Zhao-Xia Huang
    • , Lan-Wei Li
    •  & Jin-Ping Qu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scanning tunnelling microscopy-based H desorption lithography is used for atomic-scale patterning of quantum devices in Si, but its time-consuming nature hinders scalability. Here the authors report H desorption from Si(001):H surface using extreme-UV light and explore implications for patterning.

    • Procopios Constantinou
    • , Taylor J. Z. Stock
    •  & Steven R. Schofield

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Process development for 3D printing of new metal alloys can be time-consuming and variability in the printing outcome makes it even more challenging. Here, authors demonstrate an in-situ method using high-speed imaging and deep learning to accelerate the process design for a more consistent quality.

    • David Guirguis
    • , Conrad Tucker
    •  & Jack Beuth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic resonance imaging is a useful clinical tool, but its widespread use is constrained by size, cost, and time. Here, the authors report the development of a magnetic resonance sensor for the clinical detection of muscle tissue, allowing for new point-of-care quantitative diagnostic measurements

    • Sydney E. Sherman
    • , Alexa S. Zammit
    •  & Michael J. Cima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Drones are an effective and flexible tool for safety assessment of aging infrastructure, especially in locations with challenging accessibility. Here, authors demonstrate a phase-based sampling moiré technique with a drone for measurement of millimeter-scale infrastructural displacement in bridges.

    • Shien Ri
    • , Jiaxing Ye
    •  & Norihiko Ogura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interaction of flexoelectric polarization arising from strain gradients with ferroelectricity impacts tribological properties and facilitates fine physical lithography without masks or chemicals, with potential applications in various fields.

    • Seongwoo Cho
    • , Iaroslav Gaponenko
    •  & Seungbum Hong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    By combining real and diffraction space data recorded in electron microscopes, ptychography retrieves specimen details with super-resolution. Here, the inverse problem is solved in the presence of thermal diffuse scattering and applied to measure ferroelectric displacements with picometer precision.

    • Benedikt Diederichs
    • , Ziria Herdegen
    •  & Knut Müller-Caspary

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Probing molecules in excited vibrational states requires precise methods to extract the spectroscopic parameters. Here the authors demonstrate optical-optical double-resonance spectroscopy of excited-bands of methane using single pass high power continuous wave pump and cavity-enhanced frequency comb probe.

    • Vinicius Silva de Oliveira
    • , Isak Silander
    •  & Aleksandra Foltynowicz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Processing of conventional infrared-transparent materials limits their applicability. The authors demonstrate 3D printing of thiol-ene optical components with mid- and long-wave infrared transparency with applications such as reaction temperature monitoring.

    • Piaoran Ye
    • , Zhihan Hong
    •  & Rongguang Liang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chemical identification of the building blocks of biopolymers often considerably relies on the presence of markers, extensive simulations, or is not possible at all. Here, the authors report a molecular probe-sensitisation approach addressing the identification of a specific amino acid within different peptides.

    • Xu Wu
    • , Bogdana Borca
    •  & Uta Schlickum

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A fundamental challenge for molecular electronics is the change in photophysical properties of molecules upon direct electrical contact. Here, the authors observe hot luminescence emitted by single-molecule chromophores that are electrically and mechanically self-decoupled by a tripodal scaffold.

    • Vibhuti Rai
    • , Nico Balzer
    •  & Michal Valášek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stress concentrations make the design of durable interfaces between hard and soft materials a challenging task. Here, the authors, inspired by nature, combine mechanical tests and simulations on multiple geometries to generate design guidelines that yield strong and tough soft-hard interfaces.

    • M. C. Saldívar
    • , E. Tay
    •  & A. A. Zadpoor

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The correlation between charged and antiphase states in BiFeO3 remain elusive. Here, the authors report a fabrication of in-plane charged antiphase boundaries in BiFeO3 thin films, revealing the atomic bonding configurations and atomically sharp 180° polarization reversal of such boundaries.

    • Xiangbin Cai
    • , Chao Chen
    •  & Deyang Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the pursuit of advancing laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology, researchers have successfully converged the realms of sound and light. Here, the authors unveil the synergistic potential of synchronized x-ray imaging and acoustics to illuminate hidden instabilities in LPBF process.

    • Milad Hamidi Nasab
    • , Giulio Masinelli
    •  & Roland E. Logé

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Grain boundary atomic structures of crystalline materials have long been believed to be commensurate with the crystal periodicity of the adjacent crystals. Here, the authors discover an incommensurate grain boundary structure based on direct observations and theoretical calculations.

    • Takehito Seki
    • , Toshihiro Futazuka
    •  & Naoya Shibata

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional spectroscopic techniques are not sufficiently selective to follow the dynamics of trapped carriers in working perovskite solar cells. Here, authors use infrared optical activation spectroscopy to observe real time evolution of trapped carriers and compare the behaviour of trapped holes.

    • Jiaxin Pan
    • , Ziming Chen
    •  & Artem A. Bakulin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transmission electron microscopy is essential for three-dimensional atomic structure determination, but solving complex heterogeneous structures containing light elements remains challenging. Here, authors solve a complex nanostructure using atomic resolution ptychographic electron tomography.

    • Philipp M. Pelz
    • , Sinéad M. Griffin
    •  & Colin Ophus

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Combining in situ nanoprobe techniques paves the way for gaining insights into structure-selectivity relations for electrocatalysts. Herein, the dynamic evolution of lattice strain in individual nanoparticles is directly visualized with nanoscale resolution in Cu-Ag tandem catalysts during the electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals.

    • Marvin L. Frisch
    • , Longfei Wu
    •  & Peter Strasser

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The visible evidence bridging atomic defects with catalytic properties has been scarcely explored. Using differential phase contrast technology, this work discloses the existence of a polarized electric field surrounding the antisite defects of a monolayer MoS2 material and its correlation to its electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution property.

    • Jie Xu
    • , Xiong-Xiong Xue
    •  & Jun Lu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scintillators are widely used for radiation detection and require proper calibration in such applications. Here the authors discuss a Bayesian inference and machine learning method in combination with the Compton-edge probing that can describe the non-proportional scintillation response of inorganic scintillators.

    • David Breitenmoser
    • , Francesco Cerutti
    •  & Sabine Mayer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here authors explore volume diffusion within crystalline solids at the atomic scale. They use high resolution microscopy techniques to provide insights into the movement of individual atoms within a crystal lattice, revealing the intricate dynamics of volume diffusion processes.

    • Peter Schweizer
    • , Amit Sharma
    •  & Xavier Maeder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrostrictors are materials that develop mechanical strain proportional to the square of the applied electric field. Here authors report. Zr-doped-Ceria as a new lead-free electrostrictive material with a similar electrostriction coefficient to the best electrostrictor material currently in use.

    • Maxim Varenik
    • , Boyuan Xu
    •  & Igor Lubomirsky

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phase transition dynamics are an important concern in the wide applications of metal halide perovskites. Here authors apply low-dose imaging technique to reveal the phase transition dynamics of CsPbI3 during in-situ heating process with atomic resolution.

    • Mengmeng Ma
    • , Xuliang Zhang
    •  & Boyuan Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Next-generation light sources and fast detectors enable unparalleled materials characterization, but increased data rates and compute needs preclude real-time analysis. Here, Babu et al. leverage high-performance computing and AI@Edge to achieve real-time, low-dose imaging on streaming data at 2 KHz.

    • Anakha V. Babu
    • , Tao Zhou
    •  & Mathew J. Cherukara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The large-scale production of crystalline porous materials remains a challenge. Here the authors report a general approach of high-pressure homogenization that can realize large-scale synthesis of crystalline porous materials under benign conditions.

    • Xiongli Liu
    • , An Wang
    •  & Shengqian Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solid-state materials synthesis relies on effective precursor design. Here, the authors introduce an algorithm that combines ab-initio computations with insights gained from experimental outcomes to efficiently optimize the selection of precursors.

    • Nathan J. Szymanski
    • , Pragnay Nevatia
    •  & Gerbrand Ceder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In lithium-metal batteries, it is vital to quantify electrolyte side reactions occurring at the metal anode surface. Here, the authors introduce an electrochemical technique, using a series of small-step lithium deposition followed by open circuit voltage analysis, to accurately measure these reactions.

    • Burak Aktekin
    • , Luise M. Riegger
    •  & Jürgen Janek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The traditional way of beating metals to improve their properties is not practical to 3D printed parts with intricate geometry. Here, the authors demonstrate how to program microstructural modifications of metals site-specifically during 3D printing to tune their properties.

    • Shubo Gao
    • , Zhi Li
    •  & Matteo Seita

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Supported CoOx catalysts display higher reactivities towards CO oxidation, yet, corresponding catalytically active phases are still unclear, especially under reaction conditions. Here, by means of in-situ APXPS and ResPES, the authors demonstrate that the topographic restructuring and chemical restructuring occur on these CoOx working catalysts, and also highlight the unique catalytic properties of Co3+ sites.

    • Hao Chen
    • , Lorenz J. Falling
    •  & Miquel Salmeron

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors investigate frequently observed variations in data between different electrochemical cells using in-situ electronic/electrochemical measurements, developing a vertical microcell strategy to eliminate the conductance issue and enhance measurement reproducibility.

    • Hang Xia
    • , Xiaoru Sang
    •  & Yongmin He

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