Nanoscience and technology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    DNA is a useful molecule with which to construct nanomaterials with controllable functionalities. Here, the authors fabricate photonic wires by appending dye molecules at set positions along DNA structures, and show how FRET performance can be tuned by modifying dye separation.

    • Susan Buckhout-White
    • , Christopher M Spillmann
    •  & Igor L. Medintz

  • Article |

    An integrated electronic platform with site-specific sensitivity is highly needed for medical applications. Here, Kim et al.report a stretchable prosthetic skin composed of ultrathin single crystalline silicon nanoribbon array, which can sense strain, pressure and temperature spontaneously.

    • Jaemin Kim
    • , Mincheol Lee
    •  & Dae-Hyeong Kim

  • Article |

    Infrared spectral mapping offers the non-destructive analyses of samples; however, the spatial resolution is restricted to >10 microns. Here, the authors present a new infrared technique capable of sub-micron scale mineral identification, demonstrated using a chondrule and a cometary dust grain.

    • Gerardo Dominguez
    • , A. S. Mcleod
    •  & D. N. Basov

  • Article |

    The integration of carbon nanotubes with silicon is important for their incorporation into next-generation nano-electronics. Here, the authors demonstrate a non-volatile switch that utilizes carbon nanotube networks to electrically contact a conductive nano-crystal silicon filament in silica.

    • Albert D. Liao
    • , Paulo T. Araujo
    •  & Mildred S. Dresselhaus

  • Article
    | Open Access

    DNA may be used to fabricate functional nanostructures with various possible geometries, but first being able to predict these structures is a challenging task. Here, the authors use coarse-grained modelling to predict the shape of artificial DNA nanostructures in solution.

    • Keyao Pan
    • , Do-Nyun Kim
    •  & Mark Bathe

  • Article |

    The typical method for DNA origami fabrication uses thermal annealing of staples to a longer DNA scaffold. Here, the authors present a mechanical method to control the folding pathway, which instead relies on stretching the DNA scaffold in magnetic tweezers, prior to staple incorporation.

    • Wooli Bae
    • , Kipom Kim
    •  & Tae-Young Yoon

  • Article |

    Printing text and images is a significant cause of paper and ink waste, leading to an increased focus on reusable alternatives. Here, the authors show that films of commercial dyes can be photoactivated with UV light and catalysts and, with an appropriate stabilizer, can be used as a rewritable display system.

    • Wenshou Wang
    • , Ning Xie
    •  & Yadong Yin

  • Article |

    Epitaxial crystal growth is widely used in electronics for the rational design of efficient devices. Here, Rupich et al. find a universal law for island size scaling, which outlines similarities and differences between self-assembly of nanocrystals and atomic epitaxial growth.

    • Sara M. Rupich
    • , Fernando C. Castro
    •  & Dmitri V. Talapin

  • Article |

    Mixtures of various size fullerenes are available as a component of fullerene soot, but isolating pure fullerenes is a challenging task. Here, the authors use a porphyrin-based supramolecular cage that encapsulates fullerenes with high selectivity and releases C60by a simple washing technique.

    • Cristina García-Simón
    • , Marc Garcia-Borràs
    •  & Xavi Ribas

  • Article |

    Ferroelectric tunnel junctions, where electrical transport occurs across two electrodes separated by a ferroelectric layer, could be used for future non-volatile computer memories. Here, the authors employ graphene as an electrode in tunnel junctions for interface-facilitated enhancement of device performance.

    • H. Lu
    • , A. Lipatov
    •  & A. Gruverman

  • Article |

    The predictable assembly of DNA makes it a useful scaffold for creating pathways to guide nanotransport systems. Here the authors use reversible covalent capture of DNA by quinone methide generation, as well as diffusion along the nucleophilic surface of DNA to guide migration.

    • Fazel Fakhari
    •  & Steven E. Rokita

  • Article |

    The electroresistance displayed by ferroelectric tunnel junctions could be used for non-volatile computer memories and other computing applications. Here, the authors show that effects from ferroelectric–electrode interfaces can have a strong positive impact on the electroresistance in such junctions.

    • Rohit Soni
    • , Adrian Petraru
    •  & Hermann Kohlstedt

  • Article |

    It is important as well as challenging to map out redox activity at battery electrodes. Here, the authors present a scanning electrochemical cell microscope approach, which allows redox activity and ion flux processes at battery electrodes to be visualized with high space and time resolution.

    • Yasufumi Takahashi
    • , Akichika Kumatani
    •  & Tomokazu Matsue

  • Article |

    The polarization state of light is analogous to the spin state of electrons, enabling equivalent phenomena to be explored in optics as in the solid state. Here, the authors study directional scattering of light from nanostructured surfaces, arising from a spin-orbit coupling effect for surface plasmon waves.

    • D. O’Connor
    • , P. Ginzburg
    •  & A. V. Zayats

  • Article |

    Crown ethers have been used as strong and selective binders for alkali metals and other cations since their discovery. Here the authors observe crown ether type structures in partially oxidized graphene and through simulations predict that they have similar abilities to selectively bind cations.

    • Junjie Guo
    • , Jaekwang Lee
    •  & Matthew F. Chisholm

  • Article |

    Nanoscale light sources using nonlinearities are needed in many applications but their small size leads to very low efficiencies. Here, Ren et al.exploit the highly confined whispering gallery modes in metal-coated nanowires to achieve enhanced second-harmonic generation with minimal Ohmic losses.

    • Ming-Liang Ren
    • , Wenjing Liu
    •  & Ritesh Agarwal

  • Article |

    Metal nanostructures strongly influence fluorescence of nearby molecules, ranging from significant enhancement to total quenching. To decode the precise interactions taking place, Holzmeister et al. present a method that distinguishes the contributions to excitation, radiative and non-radiative rates.

    • Phil Holzmeister
    • , Enrico Pibiri
    •  & Philip Tinnefeld

  • Article |

    Plasmonic nanostructures enable control over the spatial and spectral dependence of scattered light. Here, the authors use pixels formed of nanoellipse or nanosquare dimers to show polarization-dependent full-colour scattering in reflection, and build 3D stereoscopic colour microprints from them.

    • Xiao Ming Goh
    • , Yihan Zheng
    •  & Joel K. W. Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Semiconductor quantum dots embedded in nanowires are good candidates for the realization of a nearly ideal entangled photons source. Here, Versteegh et al.demonstrate emission of single-photon pairs from a position-controlled nanowire quantum dot without the need for temporal post-selection.

    • Marijn A. M. Versteegh
    • , Michael E. Reimer
    •  & Val Zwiller

  • Article |

    In proton exchange membrane fuel cells, little is known about distribution of ionomers inside electrodes. Here, the authors present an electron tomography technique that allows a three dimensional visualization and quantitative analysis of ionomer layers in the electrodes.

    • M. Lopez-Haro
    • , L. Guétaz
    •  & G. Gebel

  • Article |

    Three-dimensional nanostructures have numerous applications and are normally fabricated via templating strategies. Here, the authors present a current-limited hard anodization approach for tunable, homogeneous anodic aluminium oxide, which can be used to template a range of periodic nanowire networks.

    • Jaime Martín
    • , Marisol Martín-González
    •  & Olga Caballero-Calero

  • Article |

    Spin textures, such as skyrmions, could be useful in future low-power-consumption memory devices, but they are usually only seen in materials with a strong spin-orbit interaction. Phark et al.now, however, observe such non-collinear magnetic order in nanometre-scale bilayer iron islands.

    • S. -H. Phark
    • , J. A. Fischer
    •  & J. Kirschner

  • Article |

    Quantum simulators offer a test bed to emulate physical phenomena that are difficult to reproduce numerically. Using a multi-element superconducting quantum circuit, Chen et al.emulate weak localization for a mesoscopic system using a control sequence that lets them continuously tune the level of disorder.

    • Yu Chen
    • , P. Roushan
    •  & John M. Martinis

  • Article |

    The hybridization of DNA in solution is more difficult the shorter the strands become, making trimer duplexes difficult to isolate and study. Here, the authors use a silica pore in supercooled conditions to isolate and study complementary and mismatched trimer DNA duplexes.

    • Hiroyuki Arafune
    • , Akira Yamaguchi
    •  & Norio Teramae

  • Article |

    It has been predicted that when a polar discontinuity occurs in honeycomb lattices, wires of electrons or holes would appear. Here, the authors suggest different and realistic routes to engineer such wires in current two-dimensional materials, and validate these with first-principles calculations.

    • Marco Gibertini
    • , Giovanni Pizzi
    •  & Nicola Marzari

  • Article |

    Point defects in a surface can subtly alter the bulk phonon spectra. Here, the authors show phonon spectra of point defects that are capable of differentiating between different degrees of integration—alloyed or loose in a vacancy—of an atom into a surface.

    • K. Volgmann
    • , H. Gawronski
    •  & K. Morgenstern

  • Article |

    Photonic methods can be greatly improved by metal nanoparticles, but biological targets such as cells prevent spatial control of particles, excluding key regions of interest. Here, the authors show laser light can control nanoparticle growth locations in the cell, and probe intracellular molecules.

    • Nicholas I. Smith
    • , Kentaro Mochizuki
    •  & Yutaro Kumagai

  • Article |

    Molybdenum disulfide holds great potential for advanced flexible electronic devices. Here, using a transferred gate technique, the authors fabricate molybdenum disulfide-based transistors with optimized device geometry and contact, improving device speed and demonstrating gigahertz circuits with voltage gain.

    • Rui Cheng
    • , Shan Jiang
    •  & Xiangfeng Duan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Devices that generate single electrons are crucial for a precise definition of the ampere—the SI unit for electrical current. Yamahata et al. now demonstrate a silicon-based transistor that can accurately emit lone electrons at a rate of over 3 billion per second.

    • Gento Yamahata
    • , Katsuhiko Nishiguchi
    •  & Akira Fujiwara

  • Article |

    Semiconducting single-wall nanotubes hold promise for the next generation of electronic devices, but separating them from metallic counterparts is still challenging. Here, the authors show how to sort semiconducting nanotubes by selectively stabilizing them in solution via a removable solubilizer.

    • Fumiyuki Toshimitsu
    •  & Naotoshi Nakashima

  • Article |

    Lithium–sulphur batteries are a promising candidate for next-generation electrochemical energy storage. Here, the authors report a facile strategy for covalent stabilization of sulphur and its discharge products on amino-functionalized reduced graphene oxide, which enhances the cycling stability.

    • Zhiyu Wang
    • , Yanfeng Dong
    •  & Xiong Wen (David) Lou

  • Article |

    Miniaturization of devices and machines requires advanced lithographic techniques, whilst the high cost and complexity are the bottlenecks. Li et al.now show an approach for direct, arbitrary nano-patterning using self-propelled nanomotors acting as mobile nanomasks and near-field lenses.

    • Jinxing Li
    • , Wei Gao
    •  & Joseph Wang

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