News & Views

A van der Waals ferroelectric tunnel junction with asymmetric metal and graphene contacts exhibits a high resistance ratio between on and off states, and could be of value in the development of low-power computing.

Monolayers of boron nitride can be used to build high-performance radio-frequency switches that can operate at the frequencies required for 5G and the communication systems beyond it.

The development of recognition and translation technology for signed language requires an interdisciplinary approach that begins with deaf contributors.

Circuits capable of reconfigurable logic and neuromorphic functions can be created by exploiting the electronic tunability of two-dimensional tungsten diselenide homojunctions.

A flexible processing engine that is hardwired for machine learning can be used to create a smart electronic nose for odour classification.

Electro-optic transmitters with high bandwidth can be created by monolithically integrating bipolar CMOS electronics with plasmonics.

A fibre with liquid-metal core and soft outer shell can be woven into textiles and used to sense multiple compression and stretching events simultaneously.

Non-linear ferroelectric tunnel junctions could be used to create low-power in-memory computing systems.

An impedance measurement technique based on dielectric excitation in oxide semiconductors can provide a highly linear sensing signal over a wide range of gas concentrations.

A charge-programmed 3D printing method can create electronic devices that combine multiple materials into complex architectures.

Metal–semiconductor junctions formed between a transition metal ditelluride and monolayer molybdenum disulfide exhibit nearly ideal Schottky–Mott conditions.

A tetherless microelectronic system can be controlled by wireless power to direct locomotion and perform grasp and release tasks.

A reconfigurable metasurface based on integrated optoelectronic pixels can be programmed by visible light to implement different electromagnetic functions.

A metal halide perovskite diode can switch between emission and detection modes, offering over 21% external quantum efficiency for light emission and a sub-picowatt limit for light detection.

An inexpensive and compact short-range radar, which is capable of beam steering and operates at 330–500 GHz, can be used to detect heartbeat-induced chest motions through a person’s clothes.

An electric current can be used to switch the magnetization of an antiferromagnetic material that could be integrated with silicon technology.

High-resolution doping patterns can be reversibly written in van der Waals heterostructures using a combination of an electron beam and a back-gate voltage.

A strong driving force can deform skyrmions and modify their trajectories beyond theoretical limits.

Domain-wall velocities of 5.7 kilometres per second and switching times of less than a nanosecond have been observed in ferrimagnetic devices.

Gate dielectrics with an equivalent oxide thickness of only one nanometre can be grown on two-dimensional semiconductors with the help of a monolayer molecular crystal.