Condensed-matter physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tungsten ditelluride is a semi-metallic two-dimensional material that has exhibited large magnetoresistance. Here, the authors use angle- and spin-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to investigate the band structure of this transition metal dichalcogenide and identify layer-dependent electronic behaviour.

    • Pranab Kumar Das
    • , D. Di Sante
    •  & R. J. Cava

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene grain boundaries and charge inhomogeneities limit its electronic properties. Here the authors combine scanning near-field optical microscopy with electrical read-out to image these defects at the nanoscale under an encapsulation layer, and show that charges build up along the edges of the flake.

    • Achim Woessner
    • , Pablo Alonso-González
    •  & Frank H. L. Koppens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    When interfaced with a current-carrying heavy metal, spin orbit effects can generate a torque on the magnetization of a ferromagnet, understood as a bulk effect. Here, the authors show evidence of an interfacial contribution to such spin orbit torque in O-doped W/CoFeB thin film systems.

    • Kai-Uwe Demasius
    • , Timothy Phung
    •  & Stuart S. P. Parkin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cu2OSeO3 possesses a helical spin structure which supports a rich phase diagram of magnetic states, including a lattice of particle-like skyrmions. Here, the authors use inelastic neutron scattering to elucidate the three-dimensional magnon spectrum and underlying spin Hamiltonian of Cu2OSeO3.

    • P. Y. Portnichenko
    • , J. Romhányi
    •  & D. S. Inosov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photo-induced charge separation in organic semiconductors usually occurs at interfaces between electron donors and acceptors. Here, the authors show using photoluminescence measurements that charge separation is intrinsic and directional in organic crystalline nanowires made of stacked monomers.

    • J. A. Labastide
    • , H. B. Thompson
    •  & M. D. Barnes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Excitons—bound electron-hole pairs—in two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides can exhibit a rich spectrum of excited states. Here, the authors use ultrafast mid-infrared spectroscopy to explore the dynamics of these so-called 1s-intraexcitonic transitions in monolayer molybdenum disulphide.

    • Soonyoung Cha
    • , Ji Ho Sung
    •  & Hyunyong Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional, self-assembled heteromolecular networks often lack functionality. Here the authors study the photoresponse of self-assembled heteromolecular networks, while controlling their positions and interfaces at an atomic level, suggesting bottom-up assembly of optoelectronics devices.

    • Sarah Wieghold
    • , Juan Li
    •  & Carlos-Andres Palma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anomalous conducting behavior of solids may reflect the presence of novel quantum states. Here, Zhang et al. report an increased conductivity in TaAs with a magnetic field applied along the direction of the current, which reveals an inherent property of the Weyl Fermion.

    • Cheng-Long Zhang
    • , Su-Yang Xu
    •  & Shuang Jia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The control of magnetic domains in antiferromagnets is limited by the lack of a net magnetic moment which may be manipulated by external stimuli. Here, the authors present an optical method for switching such domain states in MnF2based on azimuth-dependent absorption of linearly polarized light.

    • Takuya Higuchi
    •  & Makoto Kuwata-Gonokami

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In metals, electronic scattering from defects by the two-channel Kondo effect is expected to cause deviation from standard low temperature behaviour, however this effect has not been unambiguously shown. Here, the authors present evidence consistent with all transport signatures of the effect in ferromagnetic L10-MnAl films.

    • L. J. Zhu
    • , S. H. Nie
    •  & J. H. Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Crystalline materials are formed by the periodic order of atomic unit cells. Here, Pierangeli et al. report the formation of a ferrelectric super-crystal with micrometric unit cell from modulated nanoscale disorder in potassium-lithium-tantalate-niobate, which is potentially useful for engineering ordered states out of disorder.

    • D. Pierangeli
    • , M. Ferraro
    •  & E. DelRe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dirac semimetals are a three-dimensional analogue of graphene that can support massless Dirac fermions in their bulk and Fermi-arc surface states. Here, the authors observe Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in transport measurements on Cd3As2nanowires, revealing these exotic surface states.

    • Li-Xian Wang
    • , Cai-Zhen Li
    •  & Zhi-Min Liao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The precise control and manipulation of the states of a multi-level quantum system are fundamental for quantum information processing. Here, the authors demonstrate the robust adiabatic manipulation of the quantum states of a superconducting circuit via stimulated Raman adiabatic passage.

    • K. S. Kumar
    • , A. Vepsäläinen
    •  & G. S. Paraoanu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange interaction arises in magnetic systems with broken inversion symmetry and promotes chiral magnetic order which may be exploited in spintronic devices. Here, the authors demonstrate how such an interaction between magnetic atoms on a metallic surface may be tuned by their separation.

    • A. A. Khajetoorians
    • , M. Steinbrecher
    •  & R. Wiesendanger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Doping a topological insulator with magnetic impurities is expected to induce ferromagnetism and open a band gap in its surface states. Here, the authors study Mn-doped Bi2Se3, finding a mechanism for band gap opening in topologically-protected surface states which is not of magnetic origin.

    • J. Sánchez-Barriga
    • , A. Varykhalov
    •  & O. Rader

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The heavy fermion compound URu2Si2displays a hidden order phase and superconductivity at low temperatures. Here, the authors perform substitution studies—partially replacing silicon with phosphorus—and study the effects on hidden order and superconductivity.

    • A. Gallagher
    • , K.-W. Chen
    •  & R. E. Baumbach

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vapour deposition on polycrystalline films can lead to unexpectedly high and reversible compressive stress, the origin of which remains unclear. Here, the authors show, using thermodynamic arguments, that entropic effects in the extremely dilute adatom gas on the surface play a major role.

    • Amirmehdi Saedi
    •  & Marcel J. Rost

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A power grid is constrained by both its nonlinear physics and network structure, and violations of these constraints may lead to voltage collapse blackouts, which have been studied mostly numerically. Here the authors derive a closed-form condition to provide an analytic test for voltage collapse.

    • John W. Simpson-Porco
    • , Florian Dörfler
    •  & Francesco Bullo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    At very low temperature, particle-like objects such as atoms and material phase boundaries become less able to move due to thermally inactivity. Here, Kagawa et al. show that ferroelectric domain walls gain energy for creep motion due to quantum fluctuations at low temperature.

    • Fumitaka Kagawa
    • , Nao Minami
    •  & Yoshinori Tokura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Intermolecular interactions underpin an array of physical and chemical phenomena. Here, the authors probe the three dimensional potential between fullerene molecules in different orientations showing that the positional variation in the intermolecular binding energy is dominated repulsive interactions.

    • Adam Sweetman
    • , Mohammad A. Rashid
    •  & Philip Moriarty

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanostructured superconductors allow dissipationless electrical transport to be exploited in technologically relevant devices. Here, the authors follow how detrimental fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter evolve in Al atomic contacts as their width is controlled by electromigration.

    • Xavier D. A. Baumans
    • , Dorin Cerbu
    •  & Joris Van de Vondel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Semiconductor nanocrystals are potential nanoelectronic materials but often display nonuniform electric properties due to their anisotropic growths. Here, the authors report cross-sectional cathodoluminescence imaging of a single-crystalline ZnO nanowire to resolve its growth sectors with different carrier concentrations.

    • Kentaro Watanabe
    • , Takahiro Nagata
    •  & Yoshiaki Nakamura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional materials provide possible platforms to map exotic phenomena from particle physics to condensed matter physics. Here, the authors predict doping dependent electronic behaviour in MoxW1−xTe2, in resemblance of a phenomenon which is believed to exist only in particle physics.

    • Tay-Rong Chang
    • , Su-Yang Xu
    •  & M. Zahid Hasan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The controlled orientation of block copolymers promises to deliver high resolution patterning for implementation in future nanoscale technologies. Here, the authors use the electric field from charged electrets to induce extremely localised perpendicularly oriented microdomains in polymer thin films.

    • Mei-Ling Wu
    • , Dong Wang
    •  & Li-Jun Wan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Control of conductivity and optical properties via atomic structure changes is of technological importance in information storage. Here, Li et al.show that electrostatic gating has the potential to drive structural semiconductor-to-semimetal phase transitions in some monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides.

    • Yao Li
    • , Karel-Alexander N. Duerloo
    •  & Evan J. Reed

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Flowing granular materials exhibit fluid-like features, but not all of them can be described by extending fluid mechanics. Here, the authors show vortex flow in a granular layer sheared between coaxial cylinders, and attribute it to the effect that the material moves away from the sheared region.

    • K. P. Krishnaraj
    •  & Prabhu R. Nott

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Colloidal systems can form bulk phases such as liquid and crystals, but they also exhibit interesting behaviours that have no atomic analogues. Here, by dispersing solid polymer microspheres in a nematic liquid crystal, Senyuk et al. demonstrate spontaneous formation of hexadecapolar nematic colloids.

    • Bohdan Senyuk
    • , Owen Puls
    •  & Ivan I. Smalyukh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The spin and valley degrees of freedom are coupled in two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides. Here, the authors use high magnetic fields to optically measure the valley Zeeman effect and diamagnetic exciton shift in tungsten disulphide and molybdenum disulphide, and determine the exciton binding energies.

    • Andreas V. Stier
    • , Kathleen M. McCreary
    •  & Scott A. Crooker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-propelled colloids can be used as cargo carriers, but it is challenging to control their motion without external fields. Here, Simmchen et al. use submicron patterns on a solid substrate to effectively confine the motion of the chemically active Janus microswimmers along the edges of the patterns.

    • Juliane Simmchen
    • , Jaideep Katuri
    •  & Samuel Sánchez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metallic glasses can be softened to different shapes whilst maintaining mechanical properties, and the related thermoplastic processing requires a heating source and an applied force. Here, the authors show an effective thermoplastic approach by a coupling between electric pulses and a magnetic field.

    • Georg Kaltenboeck
    • , Marios D. Demetriou
    •  & William L. Johnson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthesis of single-crystal complex-oxide films directly on silicon is difficult due to differing interfacial chemistry. Here, the authors demonstrate room-temperature integration of single-crystal lead zirconate titanate on to silicon to act as a gate insulator in a field-effect transistor.

    • Saidur Rahman Bakaul
    • , Claudy Rayan Serrao
    •  & Sayeef Salahuddin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferrimagnets possess multiple spin sub-lattices resulting in a complex magnon band structure and subtle spin transport across interfaces. Here, the authors show how the spin Seebeck effect, the thermal generation of pure spin current, may be an effective tool to study these magnetic excitations.

    • Stephan Geprägs
    • , Andreas Kehlberger
    •  & Mathias Kläui

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In cuprates, superconductivity exists in a narrow window at high electron doping concentration with strong antiferromagnetic correlations. Here, the authors demonstrate superconductivity with no effect of antiferromagnetic order in a cuprate for a wide electron doping range following a protect anneal process.

    • M. Horio
    • , T. Adachi
    •  & A. Fujimori

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In magnetic materials, geometry-defined competing interactions between spins combined with quantum fluctuations can present the possibility of quantum liquid states which do not order even as 0K is approached. Here, the authors present an analogue built from electric dipoles on a triangular lattice.

    • Shi-Peng Shen
    • , Jia-Chuan Wu
    •  & Young Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional crystallography focuses on structurally-ordered systems, where interesting physics or novel material functions emerge. Here, Overy et al. propose an approach of designing functional materials with strongly correlated disorder, which can couple with phonons to affect lattice dynamics.

    • Alistair R. Overy
    • , Andrew B. Cairns
    •  & Andrew L. Goodwin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic stability of holmium atoms on a platinum(111) surface has recently been reported, raising prospects for atomic-scale spintronics, however contradictory results have since emerged. Here, Steinbrecher et al.find evidence for an invisibility of the holmium spin to scanning tunnelling spectroscopy techniques which challenges recent results.

    • M. Steinbrecher
    • , A. Sonntag
    •  & A. A. Khajetoorians

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The potential of organic molecular devices are limited by our inability to uniformly arrange them as thin films on metals, especially over imperfect surfaces. Here, the authors demonstrate the growth of a self-organized molecular carpet, which can extend over steps and terraces while retaining regularity.

    • Ju-Hyung Kim
    • , Jean-Charles Ribierre
    •  & Yousoo Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferroelastic switching in thin films is typically restricted by constraints from the substrate or occurs around twin-like domains. Here, the authors show reversible and non-volatile ferroelastic switching avoiding substrate constraints in layered-perovskite Bi_2WO_6 epitaxial films.

    • Chuanshou Wang
    • , Xiaoxing Ke
    •  & Jinxing Zhang

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