Volume 18 Issue 8, August 2019

Quantitative atomic-scale images of electric potentials at surfaces have now been obtained with a non-contact atomic force microscope by functionalizing the tip as a quantum dot sensor.

Granular aluminium — a superconductor with high kinetic inductance — has been used to create a superinductor for a fluxonium superconducting qubit.

Thousands of electron diffraction patterns, collected stepwise by scanning transmission electron microscopy, are synchronized and mined to provide unprecedented maps of the nanostructure of ordered domains in organic electronics films.

Highly stable and active Pt–Sn sub-nanometre clusters are located in sinusoidal zeolite channels, leading to improved and more stable propane dehydrogenation catalysts.

With their ability to give rise to many different cell types, stem cells have long been a target of scientists who seek to achieve control over their differentiation. New evidence suggests that stem cells influence their own fates through protein deposition and physical remodelling of their microenvironment.

Crystallized anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to inhibit fibrosis on the surface of a number of devices over a long-term period following implantation in rodents and non-human primates.

This Review discusses recent developments in the area of non-Hermitian physics, and more specifically the special case of non-Hermitian optical systems with parity–time symmetry.

The droplet epitaxy technique has emerged as an alternative to the most commonly used Stranski–Krastanov for fabricating semiconductor nanostructures. This Review discusses the important aspects of droplet epitaxy quantum dots, from the growth mechanism to device application.

High-resolution spectroscopy supports the presence of Majorana bound states in an iron-based topological superconductor.

A fluxonium qubit is constructed out of granular aluminium, revealing its potential for superconducting quantum technologies.

Kirigami metamaterials show significant terahertz circular dichroism and are adopted as tunable optical elements in the terahertz region.

The instability of sulfide ions during water oxidation prevents simultaneous evolution of hydrogen and oxygen. An oxysulfide semiconductor photocatalyst, Y₂Ti₂O₅S₂, is shown to evolve H₂ and O₂ via a water-splitting reaction under visible-light irradiation.

A model is established to quantitatively predict hydrogen energetics and molecule formation in nanovoids of bcc metals, clarifying the trapping and bubbling mechanisms for understanding hydrogen-induced damage.

Non-orthogonal magnetization switching is related to the shear strain associated with ferroelectric domains, with implications for magnetoelectric devices.

Low-dimensional tin-halide perovskites exhibit strong temperature dependence of luminescence decay time that translates into high sensitivity over a wide range of temperatures and as such can be used in high-resolution remote thermography.

Scanning quantum dot microscopy, based on the use of a single molecule attached to the tip of the cantilever of an atomic force microscope, is shown to provide quantitative maps of surface potential distribution with atomic resolution.

Scanning electron nanobeam diffraction is used to monitor the morphology of organic thin films with nanometre resolution, revealing information on the arrangement of crystalline domains useful for structure–property relationship understanding.

Subnanometre Pt clusters show high catalytic activity, but can sinter and so reduce reactivity. Here, authors localize Pt clusters in one zeolite channel, preventing sintering and allowing highly stable and selective catalytic propane dehydrogenation.

Mechanically switchable materials made of supercooled fluids embedded in a polymer matrix reversibly shift between soft and hard solid states upon stimulation.

The extracellular matrix surrounding cells plays a significant role in their behaviour. The spreading, mechanosensing and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells are shown to be dependent on the early deposition and remodelling of local nascent proteins within degradable and viscoelastic hydrogels.

Foreign body response can result in failure of biomaterials in vivo. Solvent-free crystals containing anti-fibrotic drugs now show the potential for long-term inhibition of fibrosis on a number of implantable devices in rodents and non-human primates.

Donata Iandolo and Gonçalo Silva on the need for an open discussion on mental health in academia.