Applied physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Fluidic energy conversion has been proposed as a renewable energy solution, but its conversion efficiency is low to date. Xie et al. improve the efficiency to 48% in a microfluidic electrostatic generator, which converts the kinetic energy of high-speed charged droplets to electricity.

    • Yanbo Xie
    • , Diederik Bos
    •  & Jan C. T. Eijkel

  • Article |

    The nature of interfacial reconstructions at polar interfaces between transition metal oxides is known to be complex and difficult to characterize. Here, the authors quantify the atomic-scale charge distribution for manganite–titanate interfaces, spanning the manganite metal–insulator transition.

    • Julia A. Mundy
    • , Yasuyuki Hikita
    •  & Lena F. Kourkoutis

  • Article |

    A memristor is the missing fourth circuit element that remembers its bias history. The storage in established devices today occurs by binary switching between ON and OFF states due to filamentary or interfacial mechanisms. Here, Aoki et al.show an analogue-type, homogeneous switching memristor system based on gallium oxide.

    • Yoshitaka Aoki
    • , Carsten Wiemann
    •  & Manfred Martin

  • Article |

    In contrast to real atoms, Bose–Einstein condensation of quasi-particles does not require low temperature, but is obtained via external pumping. Here, the authors show an unexpected transitional dynamics of a Bose–Einstein condensate of magnons due to a nonlinear evaporative supercooling mechanism.

    • Alexander A. Serga
    • , Vasil S. Tiberkevich
    •  & Burkard Hillebrands

  • Article |

    Femtosecond laser pulses can induce ultrafast changes to the magnetization in magnetic materials. Here, the authors show that the ultrafast demagnetization in ferrimagnets is driven by the transfer of angular momenta between two coupled sublattices whilst the total angular momentum remains constant.

    • N. Bergeard
    • , V. López-Flores
    •  & C. Boeglin

  • Article |

    One central goal of small object manipulation is the contact-free trapping of single biomolecules or nanoparticles longer than seconds. Kim et al.develop a geometry-induced electrostatic trap using scannable nanopipettes, which is capable of manipulating nanoparticles and lipid vesicles in solutions.

    • Ji Tae Kim
    • , Susann Spindler
    •  & Vahid Sandoghdar

  • Article |

    The topological Hall effect arises in magnetic materials with non-trivial spin arrangements and it has been suggested that they occur in non-cubic antiferromagnets. Here, the authors observe contributions to the anomalous Hall effect in the antiferromagnet Mn5Si3, which might be of topological origin.

    • Christoph Sürgers
    • , Gerda Fischer
    •  & Hilbert v. Löhneysen

  • Article |

    Efficiently harvesting energy from ambient motion is important for realising cost-effective and clean electrical energy. Here, the authors report a planar-structured rotary triboelectric generator with 24% efficiency for obtaining power from light wind, body movement and water flow.

    • Guang Zhu
    • , Jun Chen
    •  & Zhong Lin Wang

  • Article |

    Unidirectional acoustic devices only permit the flow of energy one way, but most implementations are large compared to acoustic frequencies. Popa and Cummer use a metamaterial approach to build such devices that are only a tenth of a wavelength thick but retain high acoustic isolation.

    • Bogdan-Ioan Popa
    •  & Steven A. Cummer

  • Article |

    It is a challenge to visualize phase conversion in batteries. Here Lin et al.report a grid-in-a-coin cell approach to directly probe three-dimensional morphology and charge state distribution of electrode materials, and reveal the dominance of a heterogeneous phase conversion mechanism.

    • Feng Lin
    • , Dennis Nordlund
    •  & Huolin L. Xin

  • Article |

    Conventional Josephson junctions have a dominant first harmonic in the current-phase relation. Here, the authors use a ferromagnetic insulator to create a spin-filter Josephson junction and show that the second harmonic is dominant, pointing to unconventional cooper pair transport.

    • Avradeep Pal
    • , Z.H. Barber
    •  & M.G. Blamire

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical control of nuclear spin polarization in semiconductor quantum dots is promising for applications in NMR imaging. Sallen et al.report efficient dynamic nuclear polarization at zero magnetic field in strain-free gallium arsenide quantum dots with Knight fields dominating the nuclear quadrupole effects.

    • G. Sallen
    • , S. Kunz
    •  & B. Urbaszek

  • Article |

    Quantum annealing is a quantum computational approach exploiting ground-state dynamics of a system to find optimal solutions. Pudenz et al.present an error correction scheme for quantum annealing and show that it provides improved performance on a quantum annealer with up to 344 superconducting flux qubits.

    • Kristen L. Pudenz
    • , Tameem Albash
    •  & Daniel A. Lidar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electromagnetic radiation detectors based on superconducting resonators have a range of potential uses from astronomy to quantum computing. De Visser et al.demonstrate a superconductor detector with unprecedented sensitivity limited only by fluctuations in the electron system of the superconductor.

    • P. J. de Visser
    • , J. J. A. Baselmans
    •  & T. M. Klapwijk

  • Article |

    Flexible electronics hold great promise for wearable biomedical sensors. Here, the authors report a pressure sensor composed of gold nanowire-impregnated tissue paper, sandwiched between polydimethylsiloxane sheets, and demonstrate that the design is appropriate for large-area flexible electronics.

    • Shu Gong
    • , Willem Schwalb
    •  & Wenlong Cheng

  • Article |

    Graphene transistors are attractive for many applications but making integrated circuits without degrading their characteristics is proving challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate a radio frequency integrated receiver using a graphene-last approach compatible with conventional processing methods.

    • Shu-Jen Han
    • , Alberto Valdes Garcia
    •  & Wilfried Haensch

  • Article |

    Flexible batteries with good mechanical properties are highly desirable. Here Song et al.use the origami concept, an art of paper folding, to construct a lithium-ion battery, and demonstrate excellent battery stretchability as well as electrochemical performance.

    • Zeming Song
    • , Teng Ma
    •  & Hanqing Jiang

  • Article |

    Despite their high thermal conductivities, the large thermal interface resistance between carbon nanotubes and other components limits their practical applications. Here, the authors show that covalently bonded bridging molecules can significantly enhance the thermal transport across these interfaces.

    • Sumanjeet Kaur
    • , Nachiket Raravikar
    •  & D. Frank Ogletree

  • Article |

    Characterizing quantum states is vital for quantum information or metrology tasks, but it remains challenging. Here, by a combination of weak and strong measurements, the authors directly measure the probability amplitudes of a pure state in the orbital angular momentum basis with dimensionality of 27.

    • Mehul Malik
    • , Mohammad Mirhosseini
    •  & Robert W. Boyd

  • Article |

    Spin–orbit-driven effects are of great interest for spintronic applications but the underlying mechanisms are challenging to probe. Here, the authors develop a sensitive spin–orbit torque magnetometer to quantify the interface and bulk contributions to the spin–orbit torques in magnetic bilayers.

    • Xin Fan
    • , Halise Celik
    •  & John Q. Xiao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In ferroelectrics, the domain walls can have different properties than the domains themselves. Here, Wei et al.show that certain domain walls in antiferroelectric materials are ferroelectric, which makes them interesting candidates for new non-volatile memory concepts.

    • Xian-Kui Wei
    • , Alexander K. Tagantsev
    •  & Nava Setter

  • Article |

    Electron spins in quantum dots are a promising platform for quantum information technologies. Using a double quantum dot system with three electrons, Shi et al. show that certain pulse sequences allow for fast rotations to all possible states, improving the performance compared with the two electron case.

    • Zhan Shi
    • , C. B. Simmons
    •  & M. A. Eriksson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nuclear magnetic resonance is vital for analysis and diagnostics but suffers from insensitivity as only a small fraction of all NMR-active nuclei are spin-polarized and contribute to the signal. Here Hövener et al. describe an effect that replenishes nuclear spin polarization continuously for a considerably enhanced performance at low field.

    • Jan-Bernd Hövener
    • , Niels Schwaderlapp
    •  & Dominik von Elverfeldt

  • Article |

    Although the performance of sensitized TiO2 solar cells has increased considerably over recent years, Leijtens et al. show that they are susceptible to a light-driven instability that degrades their performance over time. They go on to show that this instability can be overcome in mesoporous TiO2-free devices.

    • Tomas Leijtens
    • , Giles E. Eperon
    •  & Henry J. Snaith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Practical implementations of quantum communication need to securely deliver information over long distances without line-of-sight. Towards this goal, Cuevas et al.use an actively stabilized interferometer to close the geometry loophole for a Bell inequality violation over 1 km of optical fibre.

    • A. Cuevas
    • , G. Carvacho
    •  & G.B. Xavier

  • Article |

    The existence of liquid–liquid transition is one hypothesis used to explain the anomalous properties of liquid water at low temperatures. Murata and Tanaka demonstrate that both this transition and the melting of ice can be controlled solely by water activity in 14 aqueous organic solutions.

    • Ken-ichiro Murata
    •  & Hajime Tanaka

  • Article |

    Shape-memory materials hold great potential for actuators and aims to improve them focus on increasing the maximum strain that they exhibit in response to a stimulus. Here the authors demonstrate a large shape-memory effect in bismuth ferrite, observing a maximum strain of up to 14%.

    • Jinxing Zhang
    • , Xiaoxing Ke
    •  & Ramamoorthy Ramesh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Holographic techniques allow for the construction of 3D images by controlling the wave front of light beams. Huang et al.develop ultrathin plasmonic metasurfaces to provide 3D optical holographic image reconstruction in the visible and near-infrared regions for circularly polarized light.

    • Lingling Huang
    • , Xianzhong Chen
    •  & Shuang Zhang

  • Article |

    Holographic techniques provide phase and amplitude information for images of objects, but normally the hologram thickness is comparable to the light wavelength used. Ni et al.present ultra-thin plasmonic holograms that control amplitude and phase in the visible region and are just 30 nm thick.

    • Xingjie Ni
    • , Alexander V. Kildishev
    •  & Vladimir M. Shalaev

  • Article |

    Spin valves with organic semiconductors sandwiched between two ferromagnetic layers can have similar performance as their inorganic counterparts. Here, the authors fabricate bathocuproine spin valves with good air stability and show that the transport takes place through the organic layer.

    • Xiangnan Sun
    • , Marco Gobbi
    •  & Luis E Hueso

  • Article |

    The noise in a stochastic differential equation can be interpreted by Itô or by Stratonovich calculus, and which one to use has been a subject of discussion in statistical physics. Pesce et al.show that the underlying dynamics induce a shift from Stratonovic to Itô calculus in a noisy electrical circuit.

    • Giuseppe Pesce
    • , Austin McDaniel
    •  & Giovanni Volpe

  • Article |

    Spin–torque oscillators have potential as nanosized microwave signal generators, but presently they are limited by their small output power. Here, the authors develop a cheap lithographic method to fabricate spin–torque oscillators, which can be mutually synchronized to overcome the output-power limitation.

    • S. Sani
    • , J. Persson
    •  & J. Åkerman

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