Electronic properties and materials articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Twisted moiré heterostructures offer a highly tunable solid-state platform for exploring fundamental condensed matter physics. Here, the authors use scanning tunnelling microscopy to investigate the local electronic structure of the gate-controlled quantum anomalous Hall insulator state in twisted monolayer–bilayer graphene.

    • Canxun Zhang
    • , Tiancong Zhu
    •  & Michael F. Crommie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the structure of the Kondo cloud formed by conduction electrons screening the impurity spin is a long-standing problem in many-body physics. Shim et al. propose the spatial and energy structure of the multichannel Kondo cloud, by studying quantum entanglement between the impurity and the channels.

    • Jeongmin Shim
    • , Donghoon Kim
    •  & H.-S. Sim

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    In this Comment, the authors discuss the current status, the challenges, and potential technological impact of exciton transport in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers, lateral and vertical heterostructures as well as moiré excitons in twisted TMD heterostacks.

    • Ermin Malic
    • , Raül Perea-Causin
    •  & Samuel Brem

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The charge density wave in Ta2NiSe7 cannot be easily explained by the Fermi surface nesting mechanism. Here, by using high-resolution ARPES, the authors reveal the absence of nesting at the primary vector q, but a backfolding at q and a possible nesting at 2q, suggesting a peculiar charge density wave state.

    • Matthew D. Watson
    • , Alex Louat
    •  & Gideok Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors theoretically predict a superconducting diode effect in chiral nanotubes when a magnetic field is applied along the axis of the tube, where the diode efficiency is controlled by nanotube diameter and chiral angle. They further predict a non-reciprocal paraconductivity slightly above the superconducting transition temperature.

    • James Jun He
    • , Yukio Tanaka
    •  & Naoto Nagaosa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Trivalent lanthanides are typically described using an ionic picture that leads to localized magnetic moments. Here authors show that the “textbook” description of lanthanides fails for Pr4+ ions where the hierarchy of single-ion energy scales can be tailored to explore correlated phenomena in quantum materials.

    • Arun Ramanathan
    • , Jensen Kaplan
    •  & Henry S. La Pierre

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent photo-emission experiments reported a strong nearest-neighbour attraction in a 1D cuprate, possibly originating from long-range electron-phonon coupling. By using state-of-the-art numerical methods, the authors show that a Hubbard model with extended electron-phonon terms reproduces experimental features.

    • Ta Tang
    • , Brian Moritz
    •  & Thomas P. Devereaux

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The quest to improve transparent conductors is a balance between increasing electrical conductivity and optical transparency. Here the authors demonstrate that both can be fulfilled by separating the optical and electrical conductivity directionality.

    • Carsten Putzke
    • , Chunyu Guo
    •  & Philip J. W. Moll

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A long-standing puzzle in the quantum critical behavior of cuprate superconductors has been the observed sub-linear power-law dependence of optical conductivity. Here, the authors present measurements of the optical spectra and resistivity of La2−xSrxCuO4, and develop a theoretical framework that yields a unified description of the optical spectra, resistivity and specific heat.

    • Bastien Michon
    • , Christophe Berthod
    •  & Antoine Georges

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Orbital order that does not break the overall crystal lattice symmetry is difficult to observe. Here, the authors use scanning tunneling microscopy on the superconductor CeCoIn5 to detect a signature of the orbital order in quasiparticle interference which is enhanced in the superconducting state, as predicted theoretically.

    • Weijiong Chen
    • , Clara Neerup Breiø
    •  & Andreas Kreisel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The microscopic mechanism of the electric-field-driven insulator-metal transition in strongly correlated systems has been debated. Here the authors present a general theory based on a quantum avalanche mediated by the formation of in-gap ladder states from multiple-phonon emission.

    • Jong E. Han
    • , Camille Aron
    •  & Jonathan P. Bird

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors observe spectroscopic signature of obstructed surface states on the (0001) plane of SrIn2P2. Due to structural reconstruction, the surface state undergoes an adiabatic evolution and split into two branches, the upper of which being spatially localized with unusual negative differential conductance.

    • Xiang-Rui Liu
    • , Hanbin Deng
    •  & Chang Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electron screening is crucial to interpret inelastic X-ray scattering experiments in materials. Here the authors use a combined analysis based on the Bethe-Salpeter equation and time-dependent density functional theory to calculate the dielectric function and obtain the band gap of liquid water.

    • Igor Reshetnyak
    • , Arnaud Lorin
    •  & Alfredo Pasquarello

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recently, high-temperature superconductivity has been reported in LaH10 and CeH10. Here, the authors report superconductivity in the alloy (La,Ce)H9-10 with Tc = 176 K at 100 GPa, providing an improved compromise between high transition temperature and low pressure requirements.

    • Wuhao Chen
    • , Xiaoli Huang
    •  & Tian Cui

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The complex coupling between charge-carriers and phonons in bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) are uncovered, showing how carrier localisation is avoided and long transport lengths achieved. As a result, BiOI is revealed to be highly effective for X-ray detection.

    • Robert A. Jagt
    • , Ivona Bravić
    •  & Robert L. Z. Hoye

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exciton-polaritons present opportunities for quantum photonics, next generation qubits, and tuning material photophysics. Here Laitz et al. study the temperature dependence of 2D perovskite microcavity polaritons, revealing material-specific relaxation mechanisms towards the control of polariton momentum.

    • Madeleine Laitz
    • , Alexander E. K. Kaplan
    •  & Vladimir Bulović

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Classical hydrodynamics applies to electron fluids as well, provided the system has a high electron–electron collision rate. Now, model calculations show that regimes in which other scattering processes are at play can explain hydrodynamic electron transport in thin flakes of the 2D material WTe2.

    • Yotam Wolf
    • , Amit Aharon-Steinberg
    •  & Tobias Holder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topological properties can theoretically be generated by electron correlation rather than spin-orbit coupling. Here, the authors report a correlation-driven topological insulator state in the organic material α-(BETS)2I3, and its current-driven switching to a Dirac semimetal state.

    • Tetsuya Nomoto
    • , Shusaku Imajo
    •  & Yoshimitsu Kohama

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electron-phonon coupling is thought to be too weak to be responsible for the superconducting Cooper pairing of the kagome metals AV3Sb5, but an experimental measurement is lacking. Here, the authors use ARPES measurements to find that electron-phonon coupling in CsV3Sb5 is strong enough to support the experimental superconducting transition.

    • Yigui Zhong
    • , Shaozhi Li
    •  & Kozo Okazaki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A linear Hall response in isolated systems with time reversal symmetry is forbidden by Onsager relations. Here the authors show that this restriction is lifted by interlayer hopping in twisted bilayers, leading to a linear charge Hall effect under time reversal symmetry.

    • Dawei Zhai
    • , Cong Chen
    •  & Wang Yao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Mott insulator κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu2(CN)3 has been a strong candidate for a gapless quantum spin liquid, but recent experiments suggested a spin-gapped phase below 6 K. Pustogow et al. study the entropy of this phase by driving the system through the metal-insulator transition with a strain engineering approach.

    • A. Pustogow
    • , Y. Kawasugi
    •  & N. Tajima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    When entering a ferromagnet, a spin-singlet supercurrent decays rapidly, while a spin-triplet supercurrent can extend over much longer distances. Here, the authors observe long-range, spin triplet supercurrent in lateral Josephson junctions constructed using the van der Waals metallic ferromagnet Fe3GeTe2 as the weak link.

    • Guojing Hu
    • , Changlong Wang
    •  & Bin Xiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors design NaNbO3 based ceramics with the aim of enabling a field-induced reversible phase transformation between the antiferroelectric and ferroelectric phases, which manifests itself in a well-defined double hysteresis loop in the P-E hysteresis curve.

    • Nengneng Luo
    • , Li Ma
    •  & Shujun Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A quantized plateau is typically considered to be the feature of a fractional quantum Hall state. Yan et al. report a series of plateaus quantized at unusual fractions in a confined two-dimensional electron gas, which is attributed to enhanced density in the confined region.

    • Jiaojie Yan
    • , Yijia Wu
    •  & Xi Lin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of stoichiometric defects in the superconducting polyhydride LaH10±δ has received little attention so far. Here, the authors use molecular-dynamics simulations to show that a small amount of stoichiometric defects will cause quantum proton diffusion in the otherwise rigid lanthanum lattice.

    • Hui Wang
    • , Pascal T. Salzbrenner
    •  & Yansun Yao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A nonreciprocal critical current is known as the superconducting diode effect (SDE). Here, the authors use SQUID-on-tip to study SDE in a EuS/Nb bilayer and find that the stray field from magnetized EuS creates screening currents in the Nb, which lead to SDE by affecting vortex flow dynamics.

    • Alon Gutfreund
    • , Hisakazu Matsuki
    •  & Yonathan Anahory

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Significant attention has been devoted to understanding the low-electric-field properties of carriers in moiré graphene, but high-electric-field transport has not been as well explored. Here, the authors find non-monotonic transport behavior at moiré minigaps due to competition between inter-band tunneling and coupling to out-of-equilibrium phonons.

    • Jubin Nathawat
    • , Ishiaka Mansaray
    •  & Jonathan P. Bird

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Previous demonstrations of quantum interference in solids have mainly been limited to intra-layer transport within single conductors. Zhu et al. report a new type of inter-layer quantum interference in graphene-based double-layer devices, due to interference between carrier diffusion paths across the constituent layers.

    • Lijun Zhu
    • , Xiaoqiang Liu
    •  & Changgan Zeng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spin ice compounds are typically insulating and introducing carriers can destroy the spin ice state, making integration into electronic devices problematic. Here the authors report a transport response to an ice-rule-breaking transition in a heterostructure of a pyrochlore spin ice and a nonmagnetic metal.

    • Han Zhang
    • , Chengkun Xing
    •  & Jian Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Doping is widely adopted to make organic semiconductors more conductive, yet the impact of molecular electronic properties on doping performance is still not fully understood. Armleder et al. compute host-dopant interactions and show that a short-range overscreening effect strongly affects conductivity.

    • Jonas Armleder
    • , Tobias Neumann
    •  & Artem Fediai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cuprate superconductors are known for their intertwined interactions and coexistence of competing orders. Here, the authors observe a Fano resonance in the nonlinear THz response of La2-xSrxCuO4, which may arise from a coupling between superconducting and charge-density-wave amplitude fluctuations.

    • Hao Chu
    • , Sergey Kovalev
    •  & Stefan Kaiser

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Characterization of the solid electrolyte interphase formed on Li-ion battery electrodes presents significant experimental challenges. Here the authors use atomic force microscopy-based force-spectroscopy techniques to depict the initial interphase formation in two different electrolyte classes.

    • Yue Chen
    • , Wenkai Wu
    •  & Oleg V. Kolosov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Signatures of an excitonic insulator have been reported in several two-dimensional materials. Here the authors report electronic properties of monolayer ZrTe2 from ARPES and STM measurements that are consistent with the preformed exciton gas phase, a precursor for the excitonic insulator.

    • Yekai Song
    • , Chunjing Jia
    •  & Shujie Tang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanism of the charge density wave in kagome metals is under intense debate. Here, by using a combination of diffuse scattering and inelastic x-ray scattering, the authors show that the charge density wave transition in (Cs,Rb)V3Sb5 is of the order-disorder type.

    • D. Subires
    • , A. Korshunov
    •  & S. Blanco-Canosa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A distinct dependence of the superconducting transition temperature on carrier density for electron gases formed at KTaO3 interfaces is reported. In addition, these interfaces are shown to play a role in mediating superconductivity in this system. The crystallographic orientation and carrier density dependent superconductivity at KTaO3 interfaces can be explained by Cooper pairing via inter-orbital interactions and quantum confinement.

    • Changjiang Liu
    • , Xianjing Zhou
    •  & Anand Bhattacharya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superconductivity was discovered in the bismuthate (Ba,K)BiO3 soon after the discovery of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors. Here, the authors study (Ba,K)BiO3 using diffuse x-ray scattering and Monte Carlo modeling, finding that nanoscale structural correlations break inversion symmetry locally, while preserving inversion symmetry on average over large length scales.

    • S. Griffitt
    • , M. Spaić
    •  & M. Greven

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superconductivity in the cuprates is known to be intertwined with charge and spin density waves. Here, the authors study the prototypical cuprate La1.885Sr0.115CuO4 via x-ray scattering and discover a sudden increase in the charge-density-wave amplitude upon entering the superconducting-vortex-liquid state at high magnetic field.

    • J.-J. Wen
    • , W. He
    •  & Y. S. Lee

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