Focus 26 January 2021

Condensed matter

The aim of this page is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the area of condensed-matter physics at Nature Communications. We cover a wide variety of topics; from the most fundamental aspects of many-body phenomena and exotic matter to experimental investigations with an applied and engineering emphasis.

Featured articles

How heat propagates in liquid ³He

³He behaves like a Fermi liquid but only at very low temperatures. Here the authors re-examine thermal transport data, arguing that the breakdown of the Fermi liquid occurs when the scattering time falls below the Planckian time and suggesting that heat is partially carried by a collective hydrodynamic sound mode.
- Kamran Behnia
- Kostya Trachenko
ArticleOpen Access27 Feb 2024 Nature Communications
Finite-momentum Cooper pairing in proximitized altermagnets

An altermagnet has highly anisotropic spin splitting but zero net magnetization. Here, S.-B. Zhang et al. theoretically study the behavior of s-wave superconductor/altermagnet hybrid structures, finding that Cooper pairs in the proximitized altermagnet have an anisotropic non-zero momentum.
- Song-Bo Zhang
- Lun-Hui Hu
- Titus Neupert
ArticleOpen Access27 Feb 2024 Nature Communications
Two-component nematic superconductivity in 4Hb-TaS₂

I. Silber et al. discover a two-fold symmetry of the superconducting upper critical field in hexagonal 4Hb-TaS₂ just below T_c, a clear signature of nematic, two-component superconductivity. They further suggest a theoretical model that reconciles the nematic superconductivity with the previously-observed time-reversal-symmetry-breaking in this material.
- I. Silber
- S. Mathimalar
- Y. Dagan
ArticleOpen Access27 Jan 2024 Nature Communications
Supercurrent mediated by helical edge modes in bilayer graphene

P. Rout et al. study Josephson junctions where the weak link is WSe2-encapsulated bilayer graphene, which features helical edge modes. They argue that the supercurrent channels along opposite edges of the weak link are coupled by a circulating helical mode.
- Prasanna Rout
- Nikos Papadopoulos
- Srijit Goswami
ArticleOpen Access29 Jan 2024 Nature Communications
Tunable quantum interferometer for correlated moiré electrons

Gate-defined superconducting moiré devices offer high tunability for probing the nature of superconducting and correlated insulating states. Here, the authors report the Little–Parks and Aharonov–Bohm effects in a single gate-defined magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene device.
- Shuichi Iwakiri
- Alexandra Mestre-Torà
- Klaus Ensslin
ArticleOpen Access9 Jan 2024 Nature Communications
Thermal Hall effects due to topological spin fluctuations in YMnO₃

The thermal Hall effect has been reported in several materials, but it is not expected in triangular lattice systems due to chirality cancellation. Kim et al. report the thermal Hall effect attributed to topological spin fluctuations in the supposedly paramagnetic phase of YMnO₃ with a trimerized triangular lattice.
- Ha-Leem Kim
- Takuma Saito
- Je-Geun Park
ArticleOpen Access4 Jan 2024 Nature Communications
Hyperbolic exciton polaritons in a van der Waals magnet

Hyperbolic exciton polaritons (HEPs) are anisotropic light-matter excitations with promising applications, but their steady-state observation is challenging. Here, the authors report experimental evidence of HEPs in a van der Waals magnet, CrSBr, via cryogenic infrared near-field microscopy.
- Francesco L. Ruta
- Shuai Zhang
- D. N. Basov
ArticleOpen Access13 Dec 2023 Nature Communications
Observation of an exotic insulator to insulator transition upon electron doping the Mott insulator CeMnAsO

Doping a Mott insulator can lead to novel electronic states. Wildman et al. observe a novel quantum insulating state in electron-doped Mott insulator CeMnAsO and propose a tentative interpretation in terms of many-body localization, which has not been observed in a solid-state material.
- E. J. Wildman
- G. B. Lawrence
- A. C. Mclaughlin
ArticleOpen Access3 Nov 2023 Nature Communications
Anomalous excitonic phase diagram in band-gap-tuned Ta₂Ni(Se,S)₅

The presence of excitonic instability and its relationship with a structural transition in Ta₂NiSe₅ has been debated. Chen et al. map out the electronic bands and lattice distortion across the semimetal-to-semiconductor transition with sulfur doping, revealing the crucial role of electron-phonon coupling.
- Cheng Chen
- Weichen Tang
- Yu He
ArticleOpen Access18 Nov 2023 Nature Communications
Calorimetric evidence for two phase transitions in Ba_1−xK_xFe₂As₂ with fermion pairing and quadrupling states

The authors report two anomalies in the specific heat of (Ba,K)Fe₂As₂, providing thermodynamic confirmation of the separation of superconducting T_c and the onset of time-reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB). Further, they argue that the TRSB is associated with a four-fermion condensate induced by phase fluctuations.
- Ilya Shipulin
- Nadia Stegani
- Vadim Grinenko
ArticleOpen Access23 Oct 2023 Nature Communications
Phase-engineering the Andreev band structure of a three-terminal Josephson junction

The authors study Andreev bound states (ABSs) in 3-terminal InAs/Al Josephson-junction devices. They find signatures of hybridization between two ABSs, with band structure tunable by electric currents that generate magnetic fluxes threading superconducting loops in the device.
- Marco Coraiola
- Daniel Z. Haxell
- Fabrizio Nichele
ArticleOpen Access25 Oct 2023 Nature Communications
Reentrance of interface superconductivity in a high-T_c cuprate heterostructure

The authors study interface superconductivity in over-doped La_2-xSr_xCuO₄/La₂CuO₄ heterostructures. As x increases, the superconductivity is killed at x = 0.8 but fully recovers at x = 1.0, a “re-entrant” superconductivity.
- J. Y. Shen
- C. Y. Shi
- J. Wu
ArticleOpen Access10 Nov 2023 Nature Communications
Emergent ferromagnetism with superconductivity in Fe(Te,Se) van der Waals Josephson junctions

The authors study Josephson junctions where the superconductors are Fe(Te,Se) flakes and the weak link is just a 0.36 nm van-der-Waals gap between the two stacked flakes. They report global device-level transport signatures of interfacial ferromagnetism.
- Gang Qiu
- Hung-Yu Yang
- Kang L. Wang
ArticleOpen Access23 Oct 2023 Nature Communications
Quantized resistance revealed at the criticality of the quantum anomalous Hall phase transitions

Magnetization reversal in magnetic topological insulators drives quantum phase transitions between quantum anomalous Hall, axion insulator, and normal insulator states. Using novel analysis protocol, the authors investigate critical behaviours of these transitions and establish their electronic origin.
- Peng Deng
- Peng Zhang
- Kang L. Wang
ArticleOpen Access9 Sep 2023 Nature Communications
Screening the Coulomb interaction leads to a prethermal regime in two-dimensional bad conductors

Many-body localization is observed in synthetic systems, but experiments on real materials with Coulomb interactions are vital for insights in higher dimensions. Stanley et al. report a prethermal regime in the dynamics of a 2D disordered electron system in Si MOSFETs and explore the effects of interaction range.
- L. J. Stanley
- Ping V. Lin
- Dragana Popović
ArticleOpen Access2 Nov 2023 Nature Communications
Unveiling the double-peak structure of quantum oscillations in the specific heat

Quantum oscillations serve as an important probe of electronic structure of quantum materials. Yang et al. study quantum oscillations in the electronic specific heat of natural graphite, unveiling a double-peak structure absent in commonly used theory, and show its utility in determining the Landé g-factors.
- Zhuo Yang
- Benoît Fauqué
- Yoshimitsu Kohama
ArticleOpen Access8 Nov 2023 Nature Communications
Emergence of Weyl fermions by ferrimagnetism in a noncentrosymmetric magnetic Weyl semimetal

A Weyl semimetal formally requires either broken time reversal symmetry or inversion symmetry. One class of Weyl semimetals-the crystal family of NdAlSi-exhibits both. Here, Li et al perform angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements on NdAlSi, and observe the formation of an additional Weyl fermion as the material becomes ferrimagnetic.
- Cong Li
- Jianfeng Zhang
- Oscar Tjernberg
ArticleOpen Access8 Nov 2023 Nature Communications
Identifying topological corner states in two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks

Two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks (2D MOFs) are ideal platforms to realize exotic theoretical lattice models. Here, the authors experimentally realize second-order topological corner states in the 2D MOF Ni₃(HITP)₂, which features a star-lattice configuration.
- Tianyi Hu
- Weiliang Zhong
- Z. F. Wang
ArticleOpen Access4 Nov 2023 Nature Communications
Spin skyrmion gaps as signatures of strong-coupling insulators in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene

Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) hosts flat electronic bands allowing for a rich variety of correlated electronic states. Here, using a scanning single electron transistor, Yu et al find thermodynamically gapped ground states in MATBG at several filling factors, with spin-skyrmion charge excitations.
- Jiachen Yu
- Benjamin A. Foutty
- Benjamin E. Feldman
ArticleOpen Access21 Oct 2023 Nature Communications
Visualizing moiré ferroelectricity via plasmons and nano-photocurrent in graphene/twisted-WSe₂ structures

Recent experiments have shown the formation of ferroelectric domains in twisted van der Waals bilayers. Here, the authors report near-field infrared nano-imaging and nano-photocurrent measurements to investigate ferroelectricity in minimally twisted WSe₂ by visualizing the plasmonic and photo-thermoelectric response of an adjacent graphene monolayer.
- Shuai Zhang
- Yang Liu
- D. N. Basov
ArticleOpen Access4 Oct 2023 Nature Communications
Electronic Janus lattice and kagome-like bands in coloring-triangular MoTe₂ monolayers

2D materials with Kagome lattices have attracted significant interest due to their exotic electronic properties. Here, the authors report the synthesis and characterization of a 2D MoTe₂ phase characterized by a colouring-triangular lattice (a Kagome variant), showing evidence of Dirac-like and flat electronic bands.
- Le Lei
- Jiaqi Dai
- Wei Ji
ArticleOpen Access9 Oct 2023 Nature Communications
An anisotropic van der Waals dielectric for symmetry engineering in functionalized heterointerfaces

Here, the authors demonstrate that a layered anisotropic dielectric material, SiP₂, can break the rotational symmetry of 2D MoS₂, leading to linearly polarized photoluminescence emission and conductance anisotropy ratios up to 1000 in gated SiP₂/MoS₂ heterostructures.
- Zeya Li
- Junwei Huang
- Hongtao Yuan
ArticleOpen Access9 Sep 2023 Nature Communications
Search for ambient superconductivity in the Lu-N-H system

Superconductivity was recently reported experimentally in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride with T_c = 294 K at a pressure of 1 GPa. Here, via theoretical calculations, the authors find no structures capable of supporting conventional superconductivity in the Lu-N-H system at ambient pressure.
- Pedro P. Ferreira
- Lewis J. Conway
- Lilia Boeri
ArticleOpen Access4 Sep 2023 Nature Communications
Jamming and unusual charge density fluctuations of strange metals

Recent experiments on the dynamical charge response of strange metals reveal unusual features such as momentum-independent continuum of excitations and unconventional plasmon decay. Here the authors present a phenomenological theory based on the analogy to classical fluids near a jamming-like transition.
- Stephen J. Thornton
- Danilo B. Liarte
- Debanjan Chowdhury
ArticleOpen Access3 Jul 2023 Nature Communications
Reconciling scaling of the optical conductivity of cuprate superconductors with Planckian resistivity and specific heat

A long-standing puzzle in the quantum critical behavior of cuprate superconductors has been the observed sub-linear power-law dependence of optical conductivity. Here, the authors present measurements of the optical spectra and resistivity of La_2−xSr_xCuO₄, and develop a theoretical framework that yields a unified description of the optical spectra, resistivity and specific heat.
- Bastien Michon
- Christophe Berthod
- Antoine Georges
ArticleOpen Access26 May 2023 Nature Communications
Single-electron charge transfer into putative Majorana and trivial modes in individual vortices

Majorana bound states are an elusive but promising platform for future topological quantum computation. Here, the authors use local shot noise spectroscopy to determine the nature of charge transfer into zero-energy bound states in superconducting vortices and rule out the presence of impurity states.
- Jian-Feng Ge
- Koen M. Bastiaans
- Milan P. Allan
ArticleOpen Access8 Jun 2023 Nature Communications
Observation of bulk quadrupole in topological heat transport

Topological transport in thermal diffusion is governed by physical principles that are distinct from those encountered in solid-state or photonic topological systems. Here, the authors demonstrate an experimental strategy for engineering topological thermal phases with bulk, edge and corner modes.
- Guoqiang Xu
- Xue Zhou
- Cheng-Wei Qiu
ArticleOpen Access5 Jun 2023 Nature Communications
Traces of electron-phonon coupling in one-dimensional cuprates

Recent photo-emission experiments reported a strong nearest-neighbour attraction in a 1D cuprate, possibly originating from long-range electron-phonon coupling. By using state-of-the-art numerical methods, the authors show that a Hubbard model with extended electron-phonon terms reproduces experimental features.
- Ta Tang
- Brian Moritz
- Thomas P. Devereaux
ArticleOpen Access30 May 2023 Nature Communications
Unconventional correlated insulator in CrOCl-interfaced Bernal bilayer graphene

Here, the authors report evidence of unconventional correlated insulating states in bilayer graphene/CrOCl heterostructures over wide doping ranges and demonstrate their application for the realization of low-temperature logic inverters.
- Kaining Yang
- Xiang Gao
- Zheng Han
ArticleOpen Access14 Apr 2023 Nature Communications
Probing the topologically trivial nature of end states in antiferromagnetic atomic chains on superconductors

Spin chains on superconductors have been studied as a possible venue for zero-energy Majorana bound states at the ends of the chain. Here, the authors observe localized end states in antiferromagnetic chains, but rule out a Majorana origin of these states by perturbing them with local defects.
- Lucas Schneider
- Philip Beck
- Roland Wiesendanger
ArticleOpen Access12 May 2023 Nature Communications
Symmetry-broken Josephson junctions and superconducting diodes in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene

Correlated electronic states in moiré matter are of great fundamental and technological interest. Here, the authors demonstrate a Josephson junction in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene with a correlated insulator weak link, showing magnetism and programmable superconducting diode behaviour.
- J. Díez-Mérida
- A. Díez-Carlón
- Dmitri K. Efetov
ArticleOpen Access26 Apr 2023 Nature Communications
Spectroscopic visualization and phase manipulation of chiral charge density waves in 1T-TaS₂

Two-dimensional charge density waves in layered semiconductors may exhibit chirality. Here, the authors utilize thermal annealing to reversibly switch the in-plane chirality of charge density waves in 1T-TaS₂ and demonstrate a vertical chirality-locking effect between the van der Waals-stacked layers.
- Yan Zhao
- Zhengwei Nie
- Jin Zhang
ArticleOpen Access19 Apr 2023 Nature Communications
Time-reversal even charge hall effect from twisted interface coupling

A linear Hall response in isolated systems with time reversal symmetry is forbidden by Onsager relations. Here the authors show that this restriction is lifted by interlayer hopping in twisted bilayers, leading to a linear charge Hall effect under time reversal symmetry.
- Dawei Zhai
- Cong Chen
- Wang Yao
ArticleOpen Access7 Apr 2023 Nature Communications
Polar meron-antimeron networks in strained and twisted bilayers

Sliding and twisting of van der Waals layers can produce fascinating physical phenomena. Here, authors show that moiré polar domains in bilayer hBN give rise to a topologically non-trivial winding of the polarization field, forming networks of merons and antimerons.
- Daniel Bennett
- Gaurav Chaudhary
- Philippe Ghosez
ArticleOpen Access24 Mar 2023 Nature Communications
Anomalous magnetoresistance by breaking ice rule in Bi₂Ir₂O₇/Dy₂Ti₂O₇ heterostructure

Spin ice compounds are typically insulating and introducing carriers can destroy the spin ice state, making integration into electronic devices problematic. Here the authors report a transport response to an ice-rule-breaking transition in a heterostructure of a pyrochlore spin ice and a nonmagnetic metal.
- Han Zhang
- Chengkun Xing
- Jian Liu
ArticleOpen Access14 Mar 2023 Nature Communications
Twisted bilayer zigzag-graphene nanoribbon junctions with tunable edge states

Twisted 2D materials have recently emerged as a controllable quantum simulator platform. Here, the authors apply the same approach to tune the edge states of zigzag graphene nanoribbons, showing a unique degree of freedom represented by the lateral stacking offset of the 1D nanostructures.
- Dongfei Wang
- De-Liang Bao
- Hong-Jun Gao
ArticleOpen Access23 Feb 2023 Nature Communications
Creation of chiral interface channels for quantized transport in magnetic topological insulator multilayer heterostructures

Quantum anomalous Hall junctions show great promise for advancing next-generation electronic circuits. Here, the authors demonstrate a scalable method for synthesizing heterostructures of magnetic topological insulators with regions of distinct Chern numbers and characterize the chiral interface modes that emerge at the interface.
- Yi-Fan Zhao
- Ruoxi Zhang
- Cui-Zu Chang
ArticleOpen Access11 Feb 2023 Nature Communications
Breakdown of the scaling relation of anomalous Hall effect in Kondo lattice ferromagnet USbTe

Kondo systems offer a rich platform to study the interplay between strong correlations and topology. Here the authors observe a large anomalous Hall conductivity in a Kondo ferromagnet USbTe, which they attribute to the Berry curvature originating from flat bands induced by the Kondo hybridization.
- Hasan Siddiquee
- Christopher Broyles
- Sheng Ran
ArticleOpen Access1 Feb 2023 Nature Communications
Atomic fluctuations lifting the energy degeneracy in Si/SiGe quantum dots

Spin qubits in Si/SiGe quantum dots suffer from variability in the valley splitting which will hinder device scalability. Here, by using 3D atomic characterization, the authors explain this variability by random Si and Ge atomic fluctuations and propose a strategy to statistically enhance the valley splitting
- Brian Paquelet Wuetz
- Merritt P. Losert
- Giordano Scappucci
ArticleOpen Access13 Dec 2022 Nature Communications
SiGe quantum wells with oscillating Ge concentrations for quantum dot qubits

Quantum-dot spin qubits in Si/SiGe quantum wells require a large and uniform valley splitting for robust operation and scalability. Here the authors introduce and characterize a new heterostructure with periodic oscillations of Ge atoms in the quantum well, which could enhance the valley splitting.
- Thomas McJunkin
- Benjamin Harpt
- M. A. Eriksson
ArticleOpen Access15 Dec 2022 Nature Communications
Room-temperature valley transistors for low-power neuromorphic computing

Valleytronic devices employ the electronic valley degree of freedom to realize potential low-power electronic applications. Here, the authors utilize a topological semiconductor to engineer valley polarization transistors with long lifetimes and demonstrate low-power neuromorphic functionality at room temperature.
- Jiewei Chen
- Yue Zhou
- Yang Chai
ArticleOpen Access15 Dec 2022 Nature Communications
Emergent many-body composite excitations of interacting spin-1/2 trimers

It was recently predicted that, in addition to well-known spinon excitations, a 1D spin-trimer chain with periodic exchange couplings hosts novel composite excitations. Bera et al. experimentally demonstrate and characterize such excitations, termed doublons and quartons, in a spin-trimer compound Na₂Cu₃Ge₄O₁₂.
- Anup Kumar Bera
- S. M. Yusuf
- Sergei A. Zvyagin
ArticleOpen Access12 Nov 2022 Nature Communications
Spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking in twisted double bilayer graphene

Twisted double bilayer graphene (tDBG) comprises two Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene sheets with a twist between them. Here, the authors report a strong anomalous Hall effect in the correlated-metal regime of tDBG, indicating time reversal symmetry breaking from orbital ferromagnetism, likely associated with valley polarization.
- Manabendra Kuiri
- Christopher Coleman
- Joshua Folk
ArticleOpen Access29 Oct 2022 Nature Communications
Melting of generalized Wigner crystals in transition metal dichalcogenide heterobilayer Moiré systems

Recent experiments on a WSe₂/WS₂ hetero-bilayer detected incompressible charge ordered states considered to be generalized Wigner crystals. Here, by performing Monte Carlo simulations of a triangular moiré lattice, the authors study the phases which emerge on melting such charge-ordered states in partially filled moiré bands, finding two distinct nematic states and a hexagonal domain wall state.
- Michael Matty
- Eun-Ah Kim
ArticleOpen Access19 Nov 2022 Nature Communications
Programmable ferroelectric bionic vision hardware with selective attention for high-precision image classification

Selective attention is an efficient processing strategy to allocate computational resources for pivotal optical information. Here, the authors propose a bionic vision hardware to emulate the behavior, showing a potential in image classification.
- Rengjian Yu
- Lihua He
- Huipeng Chen
ArticleOpen Access17 Nov 2022 Nature Communications
Generating intense electric fields in 2D materials by dual ionic gating

The application of electric fields >1 V/nm in solid state devices could provide access to unexplored phenomena, but it is currently difficult to implement. Here, the authors develop a double-sided ionic liquid gating technique to generate electric fields as large as 4 V/nm across few-layer WSe₂, leading to field-induced semiconductor-to-metal transitions.
- Benjamin I. Weintrub
- Yu-Ling Hsieh
- Kirill I. Bolotin
ArticleOpen Access3 Nov 2022 Nature Communications
Emergent anisotropy in the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov state

The famous Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin– Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state is a spatially-modulated superconducting state with a predicted spatial anisotropy, but this anisotropy has never been experimentally verified. Here, the authors present ultrasound evidence for anisotropy of the sound velocity in the FFLO state of a 2D organic superconductor.
- Shusaku Imajo
- Toshihiro Nomura
- Koichi Kindo
ArticleOpen Access3 Oct 2022 Nature Communications
Breakdown of bulk-projected isotropy in surface electronic states of topological Kondo insulator SmB₆(001)

Previous work exploring the robustness of topological surface states to perturbations has mostly focused on surfaces with the same atomic structure as the bulk. Here the authors demonstrate the effect of surface reconstruction on the topological surfaces on the (100) surface of SmB6.
- Yoshiyuki Ohtsubo
- Toru Nakaya
- Shin-Ichi Kimura
ArticleOpen Access23 Sep 2022 Nature Communications
Ultra-strong spin–orbit coupling and topological moiré engineering in twisted ZrS₂ bilayers

Studies of twisted bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides have so far focused only on those containing group-VI metals. Here, the authors predict that twisted bilayers of ZrS₂, with the group-IV metal Zr, form an emergent moiré Kagome lattice with a uniquely strong spin-orbit coupling, leading to quantum-anomalous-Hall and fractional-Chern-insulating states.
- Martin Claassen
- Lede Xian
- Angel Rubio
ArticleOpen Access22 Aug 2022 Nature Communications

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