Applied physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Wire array metamaterials can be used to beat the fundamental diffraction limit of light, but most demonstrations have been limited to microwaves and very short propagation lengths. Tuniz et al. scale these metamaterial fibres up to the terahertz region over longer distances and show focussing down to λ/28.

    • Alessandro Tuniz
    • , Korbinian J. Kaltenecker
    •  & Boris T. Kuhlmey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the role of defects on semiconductor carrier transport should help improve their performance in devices. Using photoluminescence techniques, Alberi et al. image the carrier diffusion in polycrystalline CdTe and find that long-range transport is mediated by the distribution of defect states.

    • K. Alberi
    • , B. Fluegel
    •  & A. Mascarenhas

  • Article |

    To reach terabit density in random access memory devices, the select switching and storage components need to be improved. Here, the authors fabricate a fully stackable switching device based on chalcogenides, which reaches an exceptional performance following reactive nitrogen and nitrogen plasma treatments.

    • Myoung-Jae Lee
    • , Dongsoo Lee
    •  & In-Kyeong Yoo

  • Article |

    Transport of particles in the presence of disorder is of interest for applications in electronics as well as photonics. Here the authors show theoretically and experimentally that based on dissipation alone, transport of light undergoes a change from ballistic to diffusive transport even in the absence of disorder.

    • T. Eichelkraut
    • , R. Heilmann
    •  & A. Szameit

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Beating the standard measurement limits is a goal of metrology, as it would allow for more precise estimation of physical quantities. Borrowing concepts from NOON-state quantum metrology, this work presents a single-photon scheme to measure rotation angles of light with super-resolution precision.

    • Vincenzo D'Ambrosio
    • , Nicolò Spagnolo
    •  & Fabio Sciarrino

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electronic spins in Si are potentially useful in the development of solid-state quantum devices, but its degenerate valley states limits this potential. Zhang et al.use a genetic algorithm to identify a Ge/Si-multilayer-clad Si quantum structure whose valley splitting is increased by an order of magnitude.

    • Lijun Zhang
    • , Jun-Wei Luo
    •  & Alex Zunger

  • Article |

    The origin of the two-dimensional electron liquid between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 has been a matter of debate. The authors’ investigation of stoichiometry reveals that only Al-rich LaAlO3leads to electron liquid formation, which points to the much discussed polar catastrophe mechanism as its origin.

    • M. P. Warusawithana
    • , C. Richter
    •  & D. G. Schlom

  • Article |

    The use of antiferromagnetic materials in spintronic devices has been proposed as an attractive alternative to ferromagnets, but only a few suitable materials are known. Here, the authors synthesize a new antiferromagnet (AFM)—tetragonal epitaxial CuMnAs—and show that it is ideal for spintronic applications.

    • P. Wadley
    • , V. Novák
    •  & T. Jungwirth

  • Article |

    Indium tin oxide, the predominant material used as transparent electrodes in organic LEDs, is expensive and brittle. Ning Li and colleagues form transparent electrodes using single-layer graphene to construct organic LEDs with unprecedented performance that are suitable for both displays and lighting.

    • Ning Li
    • , Satoshi Oida
    •  & Tze-Chiang Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most new device concepts for random-access memory are based on inorganic spin filters, which need a permanent magnet to operate. Here, the authors exploit the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect in an organic spin filter to construct a novel type of memory device, which works without a permanent magnet.

    • Oren Ben Dor
    • , Shira Yochelis
    •  & Yossi Paltiel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The incorporation of electronic circuits into various plastic products and devices is limited by the brittle nature of silicon wafers. Here, Sun et al.demonstrate flexible and high-performance all-carbon-based transistor circuits that can be thermo-moulded into various shapes.

    • Dong-Ming Sun
    • , Marina Y. Timmermans
    •  & Yutaka Ohno

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Realistic quantum computers require a high degree of qubit control and must also be resilient to noise. Using dynamical decoupling control techniques, Liuet al.implement a self-protected controlled-NOT gate for electron and nuclear spins that retains a high final state fidelity.

    • Gang-Qin Liu
    • , Hoi Chun Po
    •  & Xin-Yu Pan

  • Article |

    Understanding the accumulation of photogenerated charges in photovoltaics is crucial to developing more efficient structures. Kim et al.use impedence spectroscopy to observe charge accumulation in thin lead halide perovskite solar cells, finding a high density of states that differs from other types of cells.

    • Hui-Seon Kim
    • , Ivan Mora-Sero
    •  & Juan Bisquert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although organic transistors have many advantages, they are not typically known for their high performance. Khodagholy et al. report the fabrication of organic electrochemical transistors that combine high transconductance with mechanical flexibility, and are attractive for biosensor applications.

    • Dion Khodagholy
    • , Jonathan Rivnay
    •  & George G. Malliaras

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exploiting photon–phonon coupling in nanoscale silicon waveguides could enable a host of powerful features in photonic devices. Using a hybrid photonic–phononic waveguide structure, Shin et al. show stimulated Brillouin scattering nonlinearities and gain, which offers new on-chip signal-processing abilities.

    • Heedeuk Shin
    • , Wenjun Qiu
    •  & Peter T. Rakich

  • Article |

    By patterning graphene with sub-wavelength features to introduce plasmonic modes, its optical properties can be tailored. Freitag et al. show how tunable plasmons in graphene nanoribbons can be exploited to form polarization-sensitive graphene photodetectors in the mid-infrared spectral region.

    • Marcus Freitag
    • , Tony Low
    •  & Phaedon Avouris

  • Article |

    Ultrafast lasers are important in many fields of science, but they typically have high power consumption. Here Eigenwillig et al.realize picosecond laser pulses directly from a semiconductor-based laser. Due to the low repetition rate, high-energy pulses are generated at low average power.

    • Christoph M. Eigenwillig
    • , Wolfgang Wieser
    •  & Robert Huber

  • Article |

    A promising route towards molecular devices is the self-assembly of atoms or molecules on a surface. Here, Gruznev et al. show that the synthesis of unique geometries of C60molecules on gold–indium-covered crystalline silicon is governed by moiré interference.

    • D.V. Gruznev
    • , A.V. Matetskiy
    •  & Y.L. Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    For the development and application of quantum technologies, devices capable of implementing more than two-photon processes are vital. Towards this aim, Spagnolo et al.build a three-port beam splitter and demonstrate mutual interference between the three photons.

    • Nicolò Spagnolo
    • , Chiara Vitelli
    •  & Roberto Osellame

  • Article |

    Detecting the magnetic spins of a small number of atoms is important for applications such as magnetic resonance imaging. Here, Steinert et al.demonstrate that nitrogen-vacancy defect centres in diamond allow spin detection at room temperature at length scales smaller than human cells.

    • S. Steinert
    • , F. Ziem
    •  & J. Wrachtrup

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Faraday isolators prevent back reflection of light through photonic systems, and are widespread at optical frequencies. Shalaby et al. show that the permanent magnet SrFe12O19can be used to generate a broadband rotation with low dispersion, and build an isolator suitable for short terahertz pulses.

    • Mostafa Shalaby
    • , Marco Peccianti
    •  & Roberto Morandotti

  • Article |

    The use of III-V semiconductor nanowires can overcome the need for lattice matching in multi-junction solar cells, which restricts the choice of materials and their bandgaps. This work demonstrates efficient solar cells with GaAsP single nanowires with tunable bandgap and grown on low-cost Si substrates.

    • Jeppe V. Holm
    • , Henrik I. Jørgensen
    •  & Martin Aagesen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Arrays of III–V semiconductor nanopillars are promising photovoltaic materials due to their favourable optical properties, however, they show low power conversion efficiencies. Mariani et al. fabricate a GaAs nanopillar solar cell achieving an efficiency of 6.63% owing to surface passivation.

    • Giacomo Mariani
    • , Adam C. Scofield
    •  & Diana L. Huffaker

  • Article |

    Single layers of group-VI transition metal dichalcogenides have emerged as direct bandgap semiconductors in the two-dimensional limit. The authors show that monolayer molybdenum diselenide is an ideal system enabling electrostatic tunability of charging effects in neutral and charged electron-hole pairs, so-called excitons.

    • Jason S. Ross
    • , Sanfeng Wu
    •  & Xiaodong Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tandem solar cell structures combine high- and low-bandgap materials, allowing a broader spectral absorption of solar radiation. The authors report the synthesis of a high performance low-bandgap polymer which enables fabrication of a tandem solar cell with a certified power conversion efficiency of 10.6%.

    • Jingbi You
    • , Letian Dou
    •  & Yang Yang

  • Article |

    Atomic force microscopy provides surface topography images with atomic resolution, but a quantitative measurement of the force while imaging has been missing. Now, Platzet al. present a method based on modulating the cantilever oscillation amplitude to rapidly measure the interaction between tip and surface.

    • Daniel Platz
    • , Daniel Forchheimer
    •  & David B. Haviland

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although foldable structures have found a widespread use in daily life, for example as popup tents, their mathematical properties have been difficult to describe. Mouthuyet al. here present an analytical model that reproduces quantitatively the shape and buckling behaviour of foldable items.

    • Pierre-Olivier Mouthuy
    • , Michael Coulombier
    •  & Alain M. Jonas

  • Article |

    Electronic paper technology is used in displays of portable electronic devices for its low-power consumption; however, it suffers from a sub-optimal reflectance. Hagedon et al.fabricate an electrofluidic film that allows video-rate switching and magazine-quality reflectance in electronic paper.

    • M. Hagedon
    • , S. Yang
    •  & J. Heikenfeld

  • Article |

    Bursting of electrified drops is a fundamental physical process and important for diverse technical applications. Wanget al. find that bursting of electrified drops in polymers is sensitive to the shape of the drops, which in turn is determined by the polymer's elasticity

    • Qiming Wang
    • , Zhigang Suo
    •  & Xuanhe Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A signature of the Dirac-like physics of charge carriers in graphene is the occurrence of an anomalous Hall effect, resulting in a quantization of the Landau levels. Guoet al. observe Landau levels of Dirac fermions in potassium-intercalated graphite arising in the absence of an applied magnetic field.

    • Donghui Guo
    • , Takahiro Kondo
    •  & Junji Nakamura

  • Article |

    Frequency comb synthesizers are important for metrology, but they have been difficult to use as frequency rulers in the terahertz region due to their low power. Consolinoet al. phase-lock a quantum cascade laser to a free-space-propagating terahertz comb, demonstrating that they can overcome this limitation.

    • L. Consolino
    • , A. Taschin
    •  & P. De Natale

  • Article |

    One of the obstacles to improving the efficiency of organic photovoltaic solar cells is the recombination of polaron pairs at the interface between donor and acceptor molecules. By doping cells with galvinoxyl radicals, Zhanget al. demonstrate a mechanism that overcomes this problem via a spin-flip process.

    • Ye Zhang
    • , Tek P. Basel
    •  & Z. Valy Vardeny

  • Article |

    Metallic nanoantennas can be used to enhance and tailor the photoluminescence effects in small-scale devices. Huanget al.design combined nanoantenna electrodes for quantum well nanoscale light-emitting diodes, to both inject charge and control the electroluminescence properties.

    • Kevin C.Y. Huang
    • , Min-Kyo Seo
    •  & Mark L. Brongersma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Along with its electronic characteristics, the spin properties of graphene have recently received increasing attention in the context of spintronic applications. Using microwave radiation, Maniet al. identify resistively detected spin resonance in monolayer and trilayer graphene sheets and extract the value for the Landé g-factor.

    • Ramesh G. Mani
    • , John Hankinson
    •  & Walter A. de Heer

  • Article |

    The ability to manipulate single charges is a key requisite for novel nanoelectronic devices. Allenet al. show how to electrostatically confine electrons in suspended bilayer graphene quantum dots by local control of the graphene band structure.

    • M. T. Allen
    • , J. Martin
    •  & A. Yacoby

  • Article |

    Scanning probe microscopy and related techniques rely on the availability of very sharp tips. Here, a sharpening technique based on field-directed sputtering is demonstrated, resulting in ultrasharp metallic tips for use in scanning tunnelling microscopy as well as atomic-scale lithographic experiments.

    • S.W. Schmucker
    • , N. Kumar
    •  & J.W. Lyding

  • Article |

    Methods to study the structure of complex networks often rely on case-sensitive parameters that have limited applications. In this study, a new method—link salience—is used to classify network elements based on a consensus estimate of all nodes, finding generic topological features in many empirical networks.

    • Daniel Grady
    • , Christian Thiemann
    •  & Dirk Brockmann

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