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Optical knots are three-dimensional topologies made of singularities in phase or polarization, but the robustness of their topological structure under optical disturbances is still unexplored. The authors experimentally verify the robustness of optical knots to environmental disturbances, indicating them as a viable vector of information.
Using strain to control either magnetization dynamics or electrical properties is a method to create functional materials with energy efficient applications. Here, the authors show how the converse magneto-photostrictive effect can be used to engineer the static and dynamic magnetic properties of FeGa thin films supported on PMN-PZT substrates.
Bacteria often reside in complex environments characterized by extreme flow conditions. This study combines experiment and modeling to show how intense flow shear rates suppress bacterial locomotion and pushes them away from boundaries
Bloch oscillations (BOs) are developed to be a powerful tool for the detection of topological properties in lattice systems. Here, the authors propose topological BOs in a three-dimensional higher-order topological insulator model and demonstrate the dynamics of the wave-packet and certain higher-order edge states in this model using electronic circuits.
Thermal fluctuations play a fundamental role in determining the exotic phases in low-dimensional quantum materials. Here, utilizing the quantum magnetometry based on nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond, the thermally-activated escape of bistable magnetic states in a finite 2D ferromagnet is observed with giant tunability by temperature and magnetic field near the critical point.
Flexural oscillations of singly-clamped nanowires can be detected by interferometry for diameters above 50 nm, while below such diameter the detection becomes challenging. The authors detect force derivatives as small as 10-9 N/m at room temperature by measuring hybrid vibration modes originated by coupling a nanowire and a cantilever.
Extending the spectral range of on-chip tunable Raman laser is challenging due to the limited Raman frequency shifts and pump tuning bandwidth. The authors combine the dispersion engineering of thin film lithium niobate with cascaded Raman lasing to realize a widely tunable laser with 335-nm spectral extension and sub-milliwatt threshold.
Polarization, or a division into mutually hostile groups, is a common feature of social systems and is studied in terms of the structural balance of semicycles in signed networks. The authors propose a computationally efficient framework for multiscale analysis of structural balance based on semiwalk approximations applicable to any simple signed network.
While Majorana excitations are often considered to be a cornerstone for proposed quantum devices, their experimental detection has proven to be a significant challenge. Here, the authors theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that the Kitaev candidate material Ag3LiIr2O6 may support a Majorana-Fermi surface, which could potentially serve as a “smoking gun” for a quantum spin liquid ground state through the lens of specific heat data.
Higher-order topological phase appears as a pioneering topic, and together with the non-Hermiticity, brings broad attentions recently. The authors explore the interplay between the non-Hermiticity and hierarchical topological states in a non-reciprocal framework and show the flexible reconstruction of non-Hermitian higher-order topological states.
The emergence of large intrinsic anomalous Hall effect (AHE) is tied to the Berry curvature in magnetic topological semimetals, but other alternatives to achieve AHE are still desirable. The authors show that a half-topological semimetal state provides an alternative platform for driving AHE and exhibits a nearly isotropic negative magnetoresistance.
Driving a quantum material from trivial to non-trivial topological phase can be engineered, for instance, by an applied external field but understanding the physics of the transition can be complex. Here, the authors report a pressure-induced topological phase transition from a semiconductor to a Weyl semimetal phase in 2D Te, and investigate the underlying dynamics using a range of magneto-transport techniques.
The authors present a series of correlated insulating states of twisted bilayer graphene that is detected using an atomic force microscope tip. An additional experiment demonstrates the coupling of a mechanical oscillator to a quantum device.
The sign of switching currents in supercurrent diodes depends on their flow direction, however effective strategies to control it in single platforms with large efficiency are missing. The authors realise a supercurrent diode in superconducting weak links that is tunable both in amplitude and sign of switching current by an out of-plane magnetic field in a regime without magnetic screening.
Highly-directional hyperbolic surface plasmons are widely exploited in optoelectronic devices, but obtaining the same performance in simpler platforms over metahyperbolic surfaces has technological advantages for integration. The authors predict that RuOCl2 monolayers exhibit low-loss hyperbolic responses across the THz to UV spectral range.
The recent discovery of superconductivity in the nickelates provides another angle to investigate this phenomenon in the high-Tc cuprates and hopefully help solve the mechanism of their unconventional superconductivity. Here, the authors report an increase in Tc for Pr0.8Sr0.2NiO2 where strain from the underlying LSAT substrate plays a possible role, supporting simulations also reveal the contributing role Ni and O orbitals hybridisation play in the unconventional pairing.
Changes in the underlying dynamics of an observed system manifest as deformation in the underlying attractor in phase space. We propose a method to construct a discretised network representation of the attractor and demonstrate its applicability in identifying dynamical change points in various theoretical and real systems.
Coherent microwave-to-optical conversion is crucial for networking physically separated quantum devices. This paper demonstrates coherent conversion of microwaves to a wide, tuneable optical frequency range using room-temperature Rb atoms, supporting frequency division multiplexing and coherent frequency channel control.
This paper theoretically predicts near-unity efficiency in converting a guided mode to free space radiation via a deep-subwavelength metallic hole. This phenomenon is enabled by a topologically protected one-way waveguide mode, where reciprocity is broken through an external magnetic field at terahertz frequencies.
Non-orthogonal quantum states cannot be perfectly distinguished - a fact of central importance in quantum mechanics, from both a fundamental and practical viewpoint. The authors introduce an approach to this problem, using entangled measurements to distinguish quantum states better than what is possible with direct measurements.
