Volume 22 Issue 2, February 2023

Soft actuators composed of a tough bioadhesive/elastomer shell encapsulating a stimuli-responsive metallic spring provide in situ mechanical stimulation of skeletal muscles to promote muscle tissue rehabilitation and prevent atrophy.

Angle-resolved photo-emission spectroscopy measurements demonstrate that different types of three-dimensional charge-order pattern are realized in distinct members of a newly discovered family of superconductors with underlying kagome lattices.

Two studies explore strongly correlated states of Bose–Fermi excitonic complexes realized in two distinct solid-state platforms, setting the stage for tabletop quantum simulators.

Nanomembranes of GaN grown by remote epitaxy form the basis of surface acoustic wave sensors in wireless electronic skins for health monitoring.

Encoding information redundantly in a three-spin-qubit silicon device together with a novel quantum gate can protect against common errors.

When BiFeO₃ layers are confined between TbScO₃ layers in an epitaxial superlattice, crystallographically orthogonal voltages can induce reversible, non-volatile switching between polar and antipolar states in BiFeO₃. This symmetry switch also leads to marked changes in the nonlinear optical response, piezoresponse and resistivity of the system.

Colloidal nanocrystals can form into periodic superlattices exhibiting collective vibrations from the correlated motion of the nanocrystals. This Perspective discusses such collective vibrations and their as-of-yet untapped potential applications for phononic crystals, acoustic metamaterials and optomechanical systems.

Both bosonic and fermionic collective states can emerge in two-dimensional semiconductor lattices, and mixing these species can further expand the landscape of quantum phases. Here, the authors report Bose–Fermi mixtures of neutral and charged excitons and the emergence of dual-density waves in an electrostatic lattice in a GaAs bilayer.

The realization of strongly correlated bosons in a solid-state lattice is challenging. Here, the authors trap interlayer excitons in an angle-aligned WS₂/bilayer WSe₂/WS₂ multilayer moiré lattice and observe correlated insulating states.

Molecular graphene nanoribbons hold promise for quantum experiments in single-electron transistors but require improvements in their debundling. Here, the authors demonstrate ultra-clean transport devices by enhancing nanoribbon solubility via bulky groups on the nanoribbon edges.

The authors use high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to determine the microscopic structure of three-dimensional charge order in AV₃Sb₅ (A = K, Rb, Cs) and its interplay with superconductivity.

The authors fabricate a fluxonium circuit using a granular aluminium nanoconstriction to replace the conventional superconductor–insulator–superconductor tunnel junction. Their characterization suggests that this approach will be a useful element in the superconducting qubit toolkit.

The authors present evidence suggesting that amorphous Bi₂Se₃ displays topological properties, signalling a new regime for the pursuit of topological matter.

Electric fields typically break symmetry when applied as a stimulus to materials. Here, by forming a superlattice of BiFeO₃ and TbScO₃, it is shown that an electric field can repeatedly stabilize mixed-phase polar and antipolar BiFeO₃.

The study of the inherent charge transport behaviour of 3D lead halide perovskite is challenging, owing to entanglement with ionic migration effects and dipolar disorder instabilities. Here, the authors circumvented both challenges and found that ion migration is much suppressed in mixed metal perovskite compositions relative to pure-Pb counterparts.

Delivering inherently stable lithium-ion batteries with electrodes that can reversibly insert and extract large quantities of Li⁺ with inherent stability during cycling are key. Lithium-excess vanadium oxides with a disordered rocksalt structure are now investigated as high-capacity and long-life cathodes.

High-Ni-content layered cathodes are promising for lithium-ion batteries, but investigating their delithiation-induced phase boundaries is challenging. Intralayer transition motifs at complex phase boundaries in these high-Ni electrodes are now resolved using deep-learning-aided super-resolution electron microscopy.

Silicon-based complementary metal-oxide semiconductors or negative differential resistance device circuits can emulate neural features, yet are complicated to fabricate and not biocompatible. Here, the authors report an ion-modulated antiambipolarity in mixed ion–electron conducting polymers demonstrating capability of sensing, spiking, emulating the most critical biological neural features, and stimulating biological nerves in vivo.

An implantable tissue adhesive soft actuator adheres to muscle, generating mechanical stimulation, and activates mechanosensing pathways for prevention of atrophy in disuse muscles.

Defects of a passive nematic liquid crystal made from actin filaments pattern the collective behaviour of active microtubules, creating macroscopic polar patterns and chiral loops.