Reviews & Analysis

A mechanism for switching the chirality of molecules adsorbed on gold surfaces offers a thermally activated approach to growing two-dimensional crystals of a single enantiomer.

Electrochromic materials have been around for more than 30 years and have found some applications in niche areas. Now, thanks to new electrochromic materials and manufacturing procedures, electrochromism may become a household word.

An approach for transmitting ever-more information across silicon chips is to use optics. The demonstration of super-collimated propagation over centimetre lengthscales therefore creates exciting opportunites for optical interconnects.

Binary mixtures of nanoparticles of different size and composition can self-assemble in a bewildering variety of lattices. This defies expectations and shows promise for the modular self-assembly of nano-sized building blocks into three-dimensional devices.

The atomic-scale roughness of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers is crucial to their magnetic coupling, with important consequences for practical magnetic devices.

Knowing the temperature rise in shear bands with high spatial and temporal resolution is important for the development of materials with improved mechanical properties.

Computing with molecules as building blocks for circuits is an exciting concept. To make it a reality, we need to understand all effects: both within the molecule and at the interfaces between molecule and contacts.

Systems in optoelectronics, (bio)sensors and actuators rely on the integration of heterogeneous components. Such integration will be aided by a simple technique — based on soft adhesion to an elastomeric stamp — for transferring microscopic objects to a wide range of surfaces.

Electron microscopy reveals ordered layering imposed on liquid aluminium at the interface with a solid. A better understanding of this effect will have important consequences for applications ranging from fluid flow to casting.