Techniques and instrumentation articles within Nature Physics

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  • Measure for Measure |

    A nuclear clock could outperform atomic clocks, but its development has turned out to be a formidable task, writes Marianna Safronova.

    • Marianna Safronova

  • Measure for Measure |

    Jay Hendricks tells about ongoing work to change the realization and dissemination of the pascal, which will lead to the elimination of mercury-barometer pressure standards.

    • Jay Hendricks

  • Measure for Measure |

    The arrival of a new type of timekeeper heralds the end of the second as we know it, as Helen Margolis explains.

    • Helen Margolis

  • Letter |

    A scanning tunnelling microscopy study of an intercalated iron selenide-based superconductor reveals a sign change in its superconducting gap function, providing indirect evidence for the origin of the pairing mechanism in this system.

    • Zengyi Du
    • , Xiong Yang
    •  & Hai-Hu Wen

  • Measure for Measure |

    High-precision laboratory experiments with neutrons and atoms are converging to a verdict on 'chameleon fields' as a possible explanation of dark energy, explains Tobias Jenke.

    • Tobias Jenke

  • Measure for Measure |

    Assigning dimensions to physical quantities is not just for practicality. Steven T. Bramwell reflects on the deeper physical connotations of it all.

    • Steven T. Bramwell

  • Measure for Measure |

    The path to consistent cgs magnetic units has been long and winding, as is the process of universally adopting SI units. Andreas Trabesinger peeks into the history of the field.

    • Andreas Trabesinger

  • Letter |

    Ultrahigh-resolution resonant inelastic X-ray scattering shows how dispersive charge density wave excitations influence the charge and lattice degrees of freedom in a high-Tc cuprate, pointing to a connection to the mysterious pseudogap state.

    • L. Chaix
    • , G. Ghiringhelli
    •  & W.-S. Lee

  • News & Views |

    Standard rheology tells us how a cell responds to deformation. But ramping up the frequency reveals more about its internal dynamics and morphology, mapping a route to improved drug treatments — and possible insight into the malignancy of cancers.

    • Klaus Kroy

  • Letter |

    Microrheology of cells suggests that the dynamics of single filaments in the cytoskeleton dominate at high frequencies. This response can be used to detect differences between cell types and states — including benign and malignant cancer cells.

    • Annafrancesca Rigato
    • , Atsushi Miyagi
    •  & Felix Rico

  • Measure for Measure |

    Temperature measurement standards rely on highly reproducible states of matter — including eutectic points, as Jonathan Pearce explains.

    • Jonathan Pearce

  • Measure for Measure |

    Every now and then, an extra second is added to an earthly year — a cause for trouble and debate, as Felicitas Arias has been witnessing.

    • Felicitas Arias

  • Measure for Measure |

    The most precise measurements of the atomic masses of the proton and the electron make use of Penning traps, and for the latter, a hydrogen-like ion, as Edmund Myers explains.

    • Edmund G. Myers

  • Letter |

    Using a technique inspired by Ramsey spectroscopy it is now possible to coherently control free electrons in an electron microscope.

    • Katharina E. Echternkamp
    • , Armin Feist
    •  & Claus Ropers

  • Measure for Measure |

    Michel Van Camp and Olivier de Viron are attracted to the fluctuations in the Earth's gravitational pull.

    • Michel Van Camp
    •  & Olivier de Viron

  • News & Views |

    Chiral symmetry breaking is imaged in graphene which, through a mechanism analogous to mass generation in quantum electrodynamics, could provide a means for making it semiconducting.

    • Christopher Mudry

  • News & Views |

    Rashba spin–orbit coupling has already provided fertile physics and applications in spintronics but real-space imaging shows how the strength of this interaction varies on the nanoscale.

    • Junsaku Nitta

  • Letter |

    A system in equilibrium takes a finite time to relax to a new equilibrium following a sudden change of a control parameter—impeding progress in device miniaturization. Now, a strategy succeeds in reducing this time for an open classical system.

    • Ignacio A. Martínez
    • , Artyom Petrosyan
    •  & Sergio Ciliberto

  • Measure for Measure |

    Enrico Massa and Giovanni Mana expound on the substance of the Avogadro constant.

    • Enrico Massa
    •  & Giovanni Mana

  • News & Views |

    A frequency comb technique used in NMR spectroscopy reveals the dynamics of the nuclear spin bath in self-assembled quantum dots.

    • Jeroen Elzerman
    •  & Mark Buitelaar

  • Letter |

    Overlaying two transparent phase masks in a light beam results in a far-field achromatic intensity pattern. This effect lies at the basis of a polychromatic far-field interferometer for use in X-ray phase-contrast imaging without absorption gratings.

    • Houxun Miao
    • , Alireza Panna
    •  & Han Wen

  • Article |

    Defects affect materials’ properties. A method is now presented for studying dynamic processes during the growth of thin films — specifically, the evolution of defects — based on the coherent mixing of bulk and surface X-ray scattering signals.

    • Jeffrey G. Ulbrandt
    • , Meliha G. Rainville
    •  & Randall L. Headrick

  • Measure for Measure |

    François Piquemal tells the story of the ampere, which bridges mechanical and electromagnetic units.

    • François Piquemal

  • Letter |

    Coherent valley exciton dynamics are directly probed in a monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide, providing access to the valley coherence time and decoherence mechanisms — crucial for developing methods for manipulating the valley pseudospin.

    • Kai Hao
    • , Galan Moody
    •  & Xiaoqin Li

  • Measure for Measure |

    Despite intensified efforts, measurements of the gravitational constant continue to fail to converge, as Terry Quinn explains.

    • Terry Quinn

  • Editorial |

    With a dedicated monthly column, Nature Physics draws attention to metrology. And a set of Commentaries in this issue focuses on various aspects of thermometry.

  • Commentary |

    The redefinition of several physical base units planned for 2018 requires precise knowledge of the values of certain fundamental physical constants. Scientists are working hard to meet the deadlines for realizing the ultimate International System of Units.

    • Joachim Fischer
    •  & Joachim Ullrich

  • Commentary |

    In the quest for ever-lower temperatures, making new discoveries and overcoming technical challenges go hand in hand — and push the limits of thermometry standardization.

    • Juha Tuoriniemi

  • Commentary |

    The past 25 years have seen tremendous progress in thermometry across the moderate temperature range of 1 K to 1,235 K. Various primary thermometers, based on a wide range of different physics, have uncovered errors in the International Temperature Scale of 1990, and set the stage for the planned redefinition of the kelvin.

    • Michael R. Moldover
    • , Weston L. Tew
    •  & Howard W. Yoon

  • News & Views |

    A new measurement from the LHCb experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider impinges on a puzzle that has been troubling physicists for decades — namely the breaking of the symmetry between matter and antimatter.

    • Robert Kowalewski

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The accurate determination of quark mixing parameters is essential for the understanding of the Standard Model. The LHCb collaboration now reports the coupling strength of the b quark to the u quark through the measurement of a baryonic decay mode.

    • R. Aaij
    • , B. Adeva
    •  & L. Zhong

  • Article |

    Reducing the signal-to-noise ratio is a never-ending challenge for many types of experiments. Now, improved ratios are reported for nuclear magnetic resonance set-ups combining an external high-Q resonator and a low-Q input coil.

    • Martin Suefke
    • , Alexander Liebisch
    •  & Stephan Appelt

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