Volume 16 Issue 5, May 2021

Sharing protocols with the end-users may allow their flexible implementation to produce nanotechnology solutions for global health challenges that better cater for local needs.

Localized zero-energy fermionic states can bind to topological defects such as two-dimensional vortices, which can be realized in the bulk of artificial acoustic and optical lattices.

Near-field optical microscopy reveals unique nanoscale domain structures of Moiré patterns in minimally twisted bilayer graphene via the photothermoelectric effect.

This Perspective aims to place nanoplastics in the context of global plastic pollution by assessing its sources and risks, and by assessing commonalities nanoplastics may share with other nanosized objects in environmental systems.

This Perspective examines how the characteristics of nanoplastic impact environmental fate, potential effects on biota and human health, sampling and analysis in a different way from either microplastic or engineered nanomaterials.

This Review highlights the technological challenges linked to the application of nanophotonics for light detection and ranging (LiDAR).

Dielectric patterning allows tunable anisotropy in high-mobility one-dimensional graphene electrostatic superlattices.

The resonance of highly doping lanthanide ions in NaYF₄ nanocrystals enhances the permittivity and polarizability of nanocrystals, leading to enhanced optical trapping forces by orders of magnitude, bypassing the trapping requirement of refractive index mismatch.

Tumour relapse after resection undermines the efficacy of surgical treatment for glioblastoma multiforme. Here the authors present a hydrogel that can be injected in the tumour cavity after resection and that promotes antitumour immunity, reducing postoperative cancer growth in animal models.

X-ray diffraction and Rietveld refinement analysis confirm the presence of LiH in the solid–electrolyte interphase of lithium metal anodes.

Similar to optical waves, electrons can also interfere, but they require high-quality devices with minimal scattering for an experimental observation of this effect. An interferometer based on a single sheet of graphene provides an alternative to the more standard semiconductor devices and may in future enable access to exotic quantum effects, such as anyon braiding.

Interferometers can probe the wave-nature and exchange statistics of indistinguishable particles. Quantum Hall interferometers from graphite-encapsulated graphene heterostructures now enable the observation of the Aharonov–Bohm effect and of robust fractional quantum Hall states.

On-chip, long-distance entanglement of spin qubits in semiconductors could enable connectivity of quantum core units for networked quantum computing. The moving trapping potential of a surface acoustic wave can subsequently displace two entangled spins while preserving entanglement over a separation of 6 μm.

Topological insulators possess edge states protected from disorder and can be realized in real materials as well as in synthetic materials based on optical, acoustic or mechanical characteristics. In addition to the spin, the orbital degree of freedom now provides an extra handle for manipulating topological phases.

The realization of atomically flat vertical 2D perovskite heterojunctions offers a novel materials platform that reveals the mechanism of anionic diffusion in 2D perovskites.

A defect-engineering strategy exploiting dithiolated molecules enables the formation of covalently interconnected networks based on solution-processed transition metal disulfides, leading to devices with enhanced electrical performance and improved characteristics.

A three-dimensional continuous rotation electron diffraction method allows atomistic characterization of the chemistry of curved layered cathode materials.