Volume 13 Issue 2, February 2018

Interdisciplinarity highlights the uniqueness of nanoscience.

Removing nuclear spins by means of isotopically purified silicon, and introducing magnetic field gradients by means of microfabricated ferromagnets yields electron spin qubits with enhanced fidelity and fast electrical control.

Tunnel junctions fabricated over a large area provide a platform for efficient generation and utilization of hot carriers.

Under specific conditions, molecular monolayers dissipate power more than they heat up at one end of a molecular junction, validating theoretical predictions of Peltier cooling.

Electrical control over quantum confinement opens a new avenue for spatial manipulation of charge carriers and bound excited states for quantum opto-electronics.

Quantum control on an isotopically enriched Si spin qubit is demonstrated with ultrahigh gate fidelities and long coherence times —  even in the presence of sizeable charge noise.

The spin accumulation in graphene can be enhanced by a thermal gradient as a result of a thermoelectric spin voltage owing to an effective spin-dependent Seebeck coefficient.

A large triboelectric direct current can be generated via the nanoscale sliding friction of a conductive-AFM tip on a MoS₂ thin film.

The rectification ratio of a molecular junction made of a self-assembled monolayer of di-nuclear ruthenium-complex molecules can be varied by more than three orders of magnitude by controlling relative humidity.

A calorimetry technique with picowatt sensitivity enables the experimental observation of cooling in molecular junctions.

Formation of a homogeneous two-dimensional electron gas in transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures allows for efficient electrical control of charge carriers and excitons.

Indentation in bilayer epitaxial graphene induces its reversible transformation into a diamond-like structure with stiffness and hardness comparable to diamond.

Self-assembled few-layer organic films based on paraffinic tripodal triptycene provide an efficient surface functionalization strategy for high-performance organic electronic devices.

A comprehensive study of excitonic processes in Ag-doped CdSe nanocrystals shows the conversion of nonmagnetic Ag⁺ dopants into paramagnetic Ag²⁺.

Mapping a moiré pattern in a lateral lattice-mismatched WSe₂–MoS₂ heterojunction enables determination of the full strain tensor and the study of strain-induced electronic properties.

Chemical reactions in nanoscale gaps can be controlled by hot electrons generated by voltage-induced tunnelling.

Two hydrogelators form a dual network of orthogonal nanofibres that can be externally addressed independently to activate two different functions.

Ronit Satchi-Fainaro reflects on decision making in science and in life.