Applied physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sublattice symmetry has long been synonymous with chiral symmetry when it comes to topological classification. Here, the authors challenge this notion by systematically investigating sublattice symmetry and revealing its spatial nature with a precise description in terms of symmetry algebra and representation.

    • Rong Xiao
    •  & Y. X. Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ising machines have been usually applied to predefined combinatorial problems due to their distinct physical properties. The authors introduce an approach that utilizes equilibrium propagation for the training of Ising machines and achieves high accuracy performance on classification tasks.

    • Jérémie Laydevant
    • , Danijela Marković
    •  & Julie Grollier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetostatic wave filters have a wide working frequency range, small size and high Q-factor, however, they are hampered by the need for a large external electromagnet to provide a bias magnetic field. Here, Du et al demonstrate an extremely small and low power external magnetic bias assembly with zero static power consumption, removing the need for bulky and energy intensive electromagnets.

    • Xingyu Du
    • , Mohamad Hossein Idjadi
    •  & Roy H. Olsson III

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pulse tube refrigerators are a critical enabling technology for many disciplines that require low temperatures, including quantum computing. Here, the authors show that dynamically optimizing the acoustic parameters of the refrigerator can improve conventional cooldown speeds up to 3.5 times.

    • Ryan Snodgrass
    • , Vincent Kotsubo
    •  & Joel Ullom

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors integrate optical and acoustic manipulation techniques to generate localized Lamb fields that emulate arbitrary laser patterns and demonstrate programmable nanoparticle patterning over a centimeter-scale area.

    • Ruoqin Zhang
    • , Xichuan Zhao
    •  & Feng Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving a wide angular response in single layer acoustic metalenses is challenging. By leveraging perfect acoustic symmetry conversion, the authors realize an aberration free metalens with a wide field-of-hearing, up to 140 degrees.

    • Dongwoo Lee
    • , Beomseok Oh
    •  & Junsuk Rho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current desalination technologies are energy intensive and suffer from membrane degradation and fouling. Here, authors propose and explore the potential of thermodiffusion as a means of membrane-free, single-phase thermal desalination. A pathway towards a feasible thermodiffusive desalination is provided.

    • Shuqi Xu
    • , Alice J. Hutchinson
    •  & Juan F. Torres

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-contrast ultrasonic imaging holds significant importance in biomedical and engineering applications. Here, the authors present a compact spatial differentiator tailored for underwater isotropic edge-enhanced imaging, facilitating the realization of high-contrast ultrasonic imaging.

    • Yurou Jia
    • , Suying Zhang
    •  & Xiaojun Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In contrast to the commonly studied optical frequency combs, here, the authors demonstrate a radio frequency system able to wirelessly and passively generate frequency combs as a battery-free solution for far-field ranging of unmanned vehicles in GPS-denied settings.

    • Hussein M. E. Hussein
    • , Seunghwi Kim
    •  & Cristian Cassella

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vortex string, hypothetical topological defects in cosmology, are predicted to support massless chiral modes. The authors successfully mimicked vortex-string physics in a metamaterial system and experimentally observed the chiral modes within it.

    • Jingwen Ma
    • , Ding Jia
    •  & Xiang Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Artificial magnetic fields have been meticulously engineered in a 3D acoustic crystal, facilitating the creation of 3D flat bands through Landau quantization of quasiparticles arising from nodal-ring band degeneracies.

    • Zheyu Cheng
    • , Yi-Jun Guan
    •  & Baile Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The delivery of therapeutic payloads and living vectors to tumors remains a clinical challenge. Here the authors explore a spatially targeted control strategy applying torque density to magnetotactic bacteria, demonstrating feasibility in vitro and in vivo.

    • Nima Mirkhani
    • , Michael G. Christiansen
    •  & Simone Schuerle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors propose an isotropic three-dimensional metamaterial with nonreciprocal magnetoelectric resonant responses at visible and mid-infrared frequencies. The proposed metamaterials do not require external magnetization.

    • Shadi Safaei Jazi
    • , Ihar Faniayeu
    •  & Viktar Asadchy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors introduce a method for non-destructive testing based on circularly polarized ultrasound in solids, enabled by metamaterials, allows for detecting internal defects regardless of their orientation. This innovation will redefine ultrasonic non-destructive examination.

    • Jeseung Lee
    • , Minwoo “Joshua” Kweun
    •  & Yoon Young Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Indoor sound fields are disordered due to reflections and multiple scattering, which scrambles acoustic communication. Here, based on tunable metasurfaces and communication theories, the authors demonstrate multi-channel, multi-spectral, cross-talk-free acoustic communication in a room.

    • Hongkuan Zhang
    • , Qiyuan Wang
    •  & Guancong Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Controlling spin direction is the key for spintronic devices as it induces efficient and field-free switching. Herein, the authors propose using lattice vibrations in acoustic devices to replace the charge motion in conventional spintronic devices to realize the rotation of spin direction, that is, acoustic spin rotation. Acoustic spin rotation offers higher efficiency than spin rotation in conventional charge-current based spintronic devices.

    • Yang Cao
    • , Hao Ding
    •  & Dezheng Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In existing soft robotic sensing strategies, additional components and design changes are often required to sense the environment. Zou et al. introduce a retrofit self-sensing strategy for soft pneumatic actuators, utilizing internal pressure variations arising from interactions.

    • Shibo Zou
    • , Sergio Picella
    •  & Johannes T. B. Overvelde

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transport of rodlike particles in macromolecular networks is relevant to various biological processes and technological applications, where thin rods have been mainly in focus. Here the authors investigate diffusion dynamics of thick rods in confinement media of macromolecular networks, and uncover dependence of translational diffusion upon rod length.

    • Xuanyu Zhang
    • , Xiaobin Dai
    •  & Li-Tang Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Under strong surface or geometric constraints, achiral nematic liquid crystals can form chiral structures. Using pressure driven flow, Zhang et al. show a pathway to mirror symmetry breaking that does not require such constraints and that occurs in nematic lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals.

    • Qing Zhang
    • , Weiqiang Wang
    •  & Irmgard Bischofberger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this work, authors demonstrate a low-force and energy-efficient elastocaloric air cooling approach based on coil-bending of NiTi ribbons/wires. The device achieves continuous cold outlet airflow with a temperature drop of 10.6 K and a specific cooling power of 2.5 W g−1 at a low specific driving force of 26 N g−1.

    • Xueshi Li
    • , Peng Hua
    •  & Qingping Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors report a controllable third-order cusp singularity in the phase-tracked closed-loop oscillation of two coupled mechanical modes. This finding addresses the challenge of constructing and controlling higher-order singularities.

    • Xin Zhou
    • , Xingjing Ren
    •  & Hui Jing

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Breakthrough ultrasonic imaging captures objects behind barriers. Leveraging Fabry-Perot resonance with a unique resonance-tailoring panel, our method allows imaging through high-impedance barriers helping to revolutionise underwater and brain imaging.

    • Chung Il Park
    • , Seungah Choe
    •  & Yoon Young Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scintillators are widely used for radiation detection and require proper calibration in such applications. Here the authors discuss a Bayesian inference and machine learning method in combination with the Compton-edge probing that can describe the non-proportional scintillation response of inorganic scintillators.

    • David Breitenmoser
    • , Francesco Cerutti
    •  & Sabine Mayer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Airy-Talbot effect is experimentally demonstrated for spoof surface acoustic waves in a structured metasurface. Owing to its self-imaging and self-healing properties, the authors achieve robust multipath transmission of nonperiodic signals.

    • Hao-xiang Li
    • , Jing-jing Liu
    •  & Johan Christensen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The record-breaking ozone holes of recent years contribute to a steady decline of mid-spring ozone in the Antarctic, contrary to signs of early-spring recovery. Changes in descending air at the core of the ozone hole might be the driver.

    • Hannah E. Kessenich
    • , Annika Seppälä
    •  & Craig J. Rodger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultrasound is a flexible and powerful medical tool. Yet, brain imaging has remained elusive so far for ultrasound due to the blurring induced by the skull. Here, a 3D non-invasive approach is proposed to make the skull digitally transparent and image brain tissues at unprecedented resolution.

    • Flavien Bureau
    • , Justine Robin
    •  & Alexandre Aubry

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Some systems can exhibit topologically non-trivial characteristics only when specific coordinate transformations are applied. Here, the authors report on a family of metamaterials whose topological properties are unveiled in higher order coordinates (such as strain) and predicts that topological edge states can exist for diverse boundary conditions.

    • Florian Allein
    • , Adamantios Anastasiadis
    •  & Georgios Theocharis

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    Adopting standardized and reliable methodologies to accurately measure particle removal efficiency when developing fibrous materials for controlling airborne contamination is crucial. Here, the authors recommend best practices for experimental assessments and reporting to ensure a reliable evaluation of new airborne particle filtration media and technologies.

    • Paolo Tronville
    • , Vincenzo Gentile
    •  & Jesus Marval

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The researchers report a class of silica-nanoparticle-decorated bacteria-cellulose ultrasonic metasurfaces that feature excellent stability in water and mechanical processability. They demonstrate it as holographic meta-lens and 3D imaging meta-lens.

    • Zong-Lin Li
    • , Kun Chen
    •  & Xue-Feng Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Animals use dexterous locomotion to hunt for food or flee from danger. Inspired by this strategy, Wang et al. design a soft robot, containing dielectric elastomer artificial muscles and reconfigurable chiral feet, which enables spontaneous change in movement direction in a controlled and reversible way.

    • Dong Wang
    • , Baowen Zhao
    •  & Guoying Gu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Experiments show how confined microbubbles in a viscous gel can be controllably moved by means of an acoustic field. Ensembles of such microbubbles can be made to self-assemble into a train-like arrangement, which can trap, transport and release microparticles.

    • Jakub Janiak
    • , Yuyang Li
    •  & Daniel Ahmed

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent theoretical works reveal that the topologically nontrivial exceptional points can guarantee the geometry-dependent skin effect, but it remains to be confirmed by experiments. Here the authors realize a reciprocal non-Hermitian phononic crystal with exceptional points, and observe the geometry-dependent skin effect.

    • Qiuyan Zhou
    • , Jien Wu
    •  & Zhengyou Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Implanted bioelectronic devices have proven useful for health sensing and therapy, while the interconnection of distributed implants remains challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate direct implant-to-implant wireless networking at the scale of the human body using metamaterial textiles.

    • Xi Tian
    • , Qihang Zeng
    •  & John S. Ho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Unwanted vapor backflow and chaotic two-phase flow patterns can hinder thermal transport performance in their respective systems. Here, the authors revisit the classic Tesla valve design and demonstrate a Tesla valve-based thermal regulator with capillary structures that can suppress vapor backflow and achieve directional two-phase flow.

    • Wenming Li
    • , Siyan Yang
    •  & Zuankai Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Marangoni swimmers have high relative speed, considering the body length and absence of a mechanical system but the fabricating is complex. Song et al. transform simple pen strokes into dynamic, programmable robots that can ‘swim’ with striking versatility.

    • Seo Woo Song
    • , Sumin Lee
    •  & Jiyun Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Absorption, transmission and reflection are three processes characterizing optical devices. Absorption allows for signal conversion and transmission is important for signal transfer, however, reflection is frequently detrimental to device performance. Here, Qian et al demonstrate a magnonic device with controllable absorption and transmission while maintain zero reflection.

    • Jie Qian
    • , C. H. Meng
    •  & C. -M. Hu

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