Condensed-matter physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors study conductance replicas emerging under microwave irradiation in the tunnelling spectrum of Josephson junctions in InAs/Al heterostructures, focusing on distinguishing the signatures of Floquet-Andreev states (FASs) from those of photon-assisted tunneling (PAT). They establish that PAT largely dominates the response to microwave radiation in their device.

    • Daniel Z. Haxell
    • , Marco Coraiola
    •  & Fabrizio Nichele

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic impurities on superconductors lead to bound states within the superconducting gap, so called Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) states. Here, the authors study tunneling from a vanadium STM tip to a V(100) surface and show that YSR states can be excited at very low temperature by applying a microwave signal.

    • Janis Siebrecht
    • , Haonan Huang
    •  & Christian R. Ast

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors study Andreev bound states (ABSs) in 3-terminal InAs/Al Josephson-junction devices. They find signatures of hybridization between two ABSs, with band structure tunable by electric currents that generate magnetic fluxes threading superconducting loops in the device.

    • Marco Coraiola
    • , Daniel Z. Haxell
    •  & Fabrizio Nichele

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors report two anomalies in the specific heat of (Ba,K)Fe2As2, providing thermodynamic confirmation of the separation of superconducting Tc and the onset of time-reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB). Further, they argue that the TRSB is associated with a four-fermion condensate induced by phase fluctuations.

    • Ilya Shipulin
    • , Nadia Stegani
    •  & Vadim Grinenko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) hosts flat electronic bands allowing for a rich variety of correlated electronic states. Here, using a scanning single electron transistor, Yu et al find thermodynamically gapped ground states in MATBG at several filling factors, with spin-skyrmion charge excitations.

    • Jiachen Yu
    • , Benjamin A. Foutty
    •  & Benjamin E. Feldman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nuclear spins in solid-state systems present a promising platform for quantum information applications. Here the authors report evidence of the long-predicted entangled dark nuclear spin state via optical polarization of localized hole spins coupled to the nuclear bath in a lead halide perovskite semiconductor.

    • E. Kirstein
    • , D. S. Smirnov
    •  & M. Bayer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Zig-Zag graphene nanoribbons have edge states that are predicted to be spin-polarized, however, measurement of these spin-polarized states has proved elusive. Here, Brede et al overcome this challenge by growing graphene nanoribbons on ferromagnetic GdAu2, allowing for the direct observation of the spin-polarized edge states.

    • Jens Brede
    • , Nestor Merino-Díez
    •  & David Serrate

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A rational design of deep eutectic solvents (DESs) is hindered because fundamental DES components, such as choline chloride (ChCl), decompose before melting. Here authors determine the melting properties of ChCl, unveiling ionic plastic crystals as a platform for DESs that meet modern sustainability, health, and safety requirements.

    • Adriaan van den Bruinhorst
    • , Jocasta Avila
    •  & Margarida Costa Gomes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recently topological phases have been generalized to amorphous materials, but demonstrations have been limited to non-interacting particles. Cassella et al. show the emergence of chiral amorphous quantum spin liquid in an exactly soluble model by extending the Kitaev honeycomb model to random lattices.

    • G. Cassella
    • , P. d’Ornellas
    •  & J. Knolle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The recently discovered charge density wave in ScV6Sn6 kagome metal is under intense debate. By using a combination of experimental and theoretical techniques, the authors point to the role of flat phonon mode softening and momentum-dependent electron-phonon coupling in the formation of the charge density wave.

    • A. Korshunov
    • , H. Hu
    •  & S. Blanco-Canosa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors experimentally discover a class of higher-order Weyl semimetal phase in a three-dimensional photonic crystal, exhibiting the concurrence of the surface and hinge Fermi arcs from the nonzero Chern number and the nontrivial generalized real Chern number, respectively, coined a real higher-order Weyl photonic crystals.

    • Yuang Pan
    • , Chaoxi Cui
    •  & Yihao Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tunneling spectroscopy is widely used to examine the subgap spectra in semiconductor/superconductor nanostructures. Here, the authors develop an alternative type of tunnel probe for InSb-Al hybrid nanowires, enabling study of the spatial extension of Andreev bound states.

    • Vukan Levajac
    • , Ji-Yin Wang
    •  & Leo P. Kouwenhoven

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Control of spins down to the atomic scale is a major goal for spin-based information processing. Here, Kot et al. demonstrate electric control over the spin-resonance transitions of a single TiH molecule placed on a surface of MgO by exploiting the electric field between the scanning tunnelling microscopy tip and the sample.

    • Piotr Kot
    • , Maneesha Ismail
    •  & Christian R. Ast

  • 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

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Weyl semimetals exhibit a rich variety of transport phenomena, but it usually takes low temperatures and a strong magnetic field to realize them. Here, Quirk et al. show that when the ferromagnetic Weyl semimetal Co2MnGa is polished to micron thicknesses, it develops a remarkable resistance anisotropy that has opposite directions on opposing crystal faces. They show that this unusual transport property, which is robust at room temperature and in a strong magnetic field, may be generated by distinct conducting states on the surfaces of these thin crystals.

    • Nicholas P. Quirk
    • , Guangming Cheng
    •  & N. P. Ong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional voltage control of magnetism relies on making direct electrical contacts to target samples. Here, wireless converse magnetoelectric actuation through bipolar electrochemistry is reported in magnetoionic transition metal nitride films.

    • Zheng Ma
    • , Laura Fuentes-Rodriguez
    •  & Jordi Sort

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this work, authors demonstrate a fast and versatile microprinting technique to produce high-performance and customizable piezoelectric elements by employing a conductive spiny disc to electrostatically trigger instability to the liquid-air interface of the ink.

    • Xuemu Li
    • , Zhuomin Zhang
    •  & Zhengbao Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors propose an implementation of Floquet non-Abelian topological insulators in a 1D three-band system with parity-time symmetry. Furthermore, they demonstrate that the bulk-edge correspondence is multifold and follows the multiplication rule of a quaternion group.

    • Tianyu Li
    •  & Haiping Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Arranging nanomagnets into a two-dimensional lattice provides access to a rich landscape of magnetic behaviours. Control of the interactions between the nanomagnets after fabrication is a challenge. Here, Yun et al demonstrate all-electrical control of magnetic couplings in a two-dimensional array of nanomagnets using ionic gating.

    • Chao Yun
    • , Zhongyu Liang
    •  & Zhaochu Luo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Half-Heusler alloys containing rare earth ions have attracted interest due to combination of band-inversion and magnetism. Ueda et al study less studied trivial semiconductor HoAuSn, and show that it undergoes a magnetic field induced transition to a Weyl semimetal state, with a large reduction in the resistance.

    • Kentaro Ueda
    • , Tonghua Yu
    •  & Yoshinori Tokura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A critical step to enable practical structural superlubricity (SSL) applications is to enable high throughput to both fabrication and performance evaluation. Here, the authors demonstrate an automated system for efficient and multiple SSL materials transfer and tribological measurement.

    • Li Chen
    • , Cong Lin
    •  & Ming Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Homochirality, a key feature of life, has unknown origins. Magnetic mineral surfaces can act as chiral agents, but are only weakly magnetized by nature. Here, the authors report the uniform magnetization of magnetite by an RNA precursor that spreads across the surface like an avalanche.

    • S. Furkan Ozturk
    • , Deb Kumar Bhowmick
    •  & Dimitar D. Sasselov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    2D materials with Kagome lattices have attracted significant interest due to their exotic electronic properties. Here, the authors report the synthesis and characterization of a 2D MoTe2 phase characterized by a colouring-triangular lattice (a Kagome variant), showing evidence of Dirac-like and flat electronic bands.

    • Le Lei
    • , Jiaqi Dai
    •  & Wei Ji

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The metal-insulator transition in VO2 is concomitant with the structural transition, making purely electrical control challenging. Here the authors use a modulation-doped heterostructure to demonstrate modulation of the transition temperature with doping, without introducing structural changes.

    • Debasish Mondal
    • , Smruti Rekha Mahapatra
    •  & Naga Phani B. Aetukuri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ζ-N2 phase is key for comprehending the pressure-driven molecular to polymeric shift in nitrogen. Here, the authors resolved the crystal structure of ζ-N2 and identified a gradual delocalization of its electronic density under pressure, culminating in the initiation of nitrogen’s polymerization.

    • Dominique Laniel
    • , Florian Trybel
    •  & Natalia Dubrovinskaia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Kagome lattice consists of equilateral triangles occupying each edge of a hexagon, resembling a star with six-fold rotation symmetry. Here, using scanning tunnelling microscopy, Zhang et al observe the breaking of this six-fold rotation symmetry in the Kagome lattice plane of the planar antiferromagnet, FeSn.

    • Huimin Zhang
    • , Basu Dev Oli
    •  & Lian Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interplay between magnetism and charge density wave in the kagome magnet FeGe is under debate. By using elastic and inelastic X-ray scattering, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and first principles calculations, Miao et al. propose that the charge density wave is stabilized by spin-phonon coupling.

    • H. Miao
    • , T. T. Zhang
    •  & H. N. Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ca3Ru2O7 is a layered ruthenate, which undergoes a spin-reorientation transition where the spins rotate 90 degrees between two anti-ferromagnetic states. Despite extensive study, the driver of this transition has proved elusive. Here, using neutron and resonant x-ray scattering, Dashwood et al. show that this transition is driven by lattice strain.

    • C. D. Dashwood
    • , A. H. Walker
    •  & D. F. McMorrow

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent experiments have shown the formation of ferroelectric domains in twisted van der Waals bilayers. Here, the authors report near-field infrared nano-imaging and nano-photocurrent measurements to investigate ferroelectricity in minimally twisted WSe2 by visualizing the plasmonic and photo-thermoelectric response of an adjacent graphene monolayer.

    • Shuai Zhang
    • , Yang Liu
    •  & D. N. Basov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The non-Hermitian skin effect, or localization of eigenstates at the boundary of a non-Hermitian system, has been intensively studied. Chu et al. observe a large and wide edge supercurrent in the Dirac semimetal Cd3As2-based Josephson junctions, which is consistent with the non-Hermitian skin effect.

    • Chun-Guang Chu
    • , Jing-Jing Chen
    •  & Zhi-Min Liao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Physical realizations of time crystals, non-equilibrium many-body systems with broken time-translation symmetry, typically require periodic driving. Here the authors demonstrate a time crystal without external periodic drive in a collection of erbium atoms under a continuous laser excitation.

    • Yu-Hui Chen
    •  & Xiangdong Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    GeTe is a ferroelectric semiconductor with broken inversion symmetry, which leads to a large spin-orbit interaction. When doped with small amounts of manganese, it becomes magnetoelectric. Here, Krempasky et al show that the ferrimagnetic ordering of Mn-doped GeTe can be switched with unusually small currents under specific resonant conditions, orders of magnitude smaller than typical for spin-orbit torque based switching.

    • Juraj Krempaský
    • , Gunther Springholz
    •  & J. Hugo Dil

  • Article
    | Open Access

    By combining graphene with transition metal dichalcogenides, such as WSe2, it is possible to induce a large spin-orbit interaction in the graphene layer. Here, Rao et al study the spin-orbit coupling in graphene/WSe2 heterostructures using the ballistic transport based technique, known transverse magnetic focusing.

    • Qing Rao
    • , Wun-Hao Kang
    •  & Dong-Keun Ki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A magnetic crystal hosts both magnons, the quanta of spin waves, and phonons, the quanta of lattice vibrations. In some materials with strong coupling between spins and lattices, a magnon-polaron can form. Here, using neutron scattering on a multiferroic, Fe2Mo3O8, Bao et al. observe magnon-polaron, and show that it is topologically non-trivial.

    • Song Bao
    • , Zhao-Long Gu
    •  & Jinsheng Wen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phase transitions in charge density wave materials could be useful for memory and electronic device applications. Here, the authors correlate the temperature-driven transitions in the electrical and optical properties of H-TaS2/1T-TaS2 heterostructures to the number of endotaxial metallic H-TaS2 monolayers.

    • Samra Husremović
    • , Berit H. Goodge
    •  & D. Kwabena Bediako

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Néel spin-orbit torques can occur in antiferromagnets with broken inversion symmetry, such as Mn2Au, and have garnered significant interest recently, as they allow for the electrical control of the antiferromagnetic ordering. Here, Behovits et al. apply intense terahertz electric fields to Mn2Au and observe the deflection of the Néel vector on ultrafast time scales due to Néel spin-orbit torques.

    • Y. Behovits
    • , A. L. Chekhov
    •  & T. Kampfrath

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Near-ambient superconductivity and pressure-driven color changes were recently reported in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride. Here, the authors synthesize LuH2±xNy and do not confirm the superconductivity. In addition, they find that the color changes likely stem from pressure-induced electron redistribution of nitrogen and vacancies.

    • Xiangzhuo Xing
    • , Chao Wang
    •  & Xiaobing Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Moire bilayers support quantum spin Hall (QSH) and quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) states, but a unified explanation is missing. Mai et al. show that by including interactions in typical models, the QSH state shifts from 1/2 to 1/4 filling and gives way to the QAH state at low temperature.

    • Peizhi Mai
    • , Jinchao Zhao
    •  & Philip W. Phillips

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The understanding of quantum effects in electronic crystallization is limited. Murase et al. report spatio-temporal dynamics in an organic material, with distinct nucleation and growth signatures, demonstrating larger growth rates than in the classical case due to quantum nature of electrons.

    • Hideaki Murase
    • , Shunto Arai
    •  & Kazushi Kanoda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Radiolysis is known for damaging crystals. Here, using STEM, researchers observed radiolysis-driven bond-breakage, atomic movements, & crystal restructuring in rutile TiO2, and proposed a “2-step rolling” model of building blocks. These results open possibilities for constructive use of radiolysis.

    • Silu Guo
    • , Hwanhui Yun
    •  & K. Andre Mkhoyan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exciton-polaritons are hybrid light matter quasi-particles, which can occur in systems exhibiting strong light-matter coupling. Here, Wang et al study exciton-polaritons in the van der Waals antiferromagnetic material, CrSBr, coupled to a Tamm plasmon microcavity and find the exciton-polaritons are sensitive to and can be tuned by the magnetic order of CrSBr.

    • Tingting Wang
    • , Dingyang Zhang
    •  & Wenjing Liu

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