Nanoscience and technology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Piezoelectronic materials are attractive for force sensing and as energy harvesting components in electronics that interface directly with the human body. Here, the authors synthesize large area, flexible, electrospun materials capable of ultra-high sensitivity force measurements in the low-pressure regime.

    • Luana Persano
    • , Canan Dagdeviren
    •  & John A. Rogers

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multiplexed labelling of individual cells allows the direct observation of intracellular molecular composition, but is difficult to achieve with existing techniques. Here, self-assembled fluorescent nanoparticle probes and multicolour multicycle staining are used for the simultaneous evaluation of multiple biomolecules at subcellular resolution.

    • Pavel Zrazhevskiy
    •  & Xiaohu Gao

  • Article |

    Large spin-orbit coupling in solids has the potential to yield materials that can display unique properties such as non-trivial topological ordering. Steele et al.report an order of magnitude higher zero-field spin splitting in carbon than has been measured previously.

    • G.A. Steele
    • , F. Pei
    •  & L.P. Kouwenhoven

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transistors that operate by the passage of electrons through a single-dopant atom achieve the ultimate limit for the miniaturization of electronic devices, but only when multiple transistors are intimately connected can they become useful. Roche et al. demonstrate the equivalent of just this, connecting two such transistors to build a two-atom electron pump.

    • B. Roche
    • , R.-P. Riwar
    •  & X. Jehl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Alkali vapours are increasingly useful in photonic research and metrology applications, and they provide a useful test bed for investigating light–matter interaction. Stern et al. integrate silicon nitride waveguides with alkali vapours to study light–matter interactions on a chip-scale platform.

    • Liron Stern
    • , Boris Desiatov
    •  & Uriel Levy

  • Article |

    The chemical reduction of graphene oxide can provide large quantities of reduced graphene oxide for potential application in electronics and composite materials. Feng et al. report a highly efficient low-temperature one-pot reduction of graphene oxide that uses sodium-ammonia solution as the reducing agent.

    • Hongbin Feng
    • , Rui Cheng
    •  & Jinghong Li

  • Article |

    The scattering of light by nanoparticles could be useful for photonic nanoantenna or other light manipulation schemes. Here Kuznetsov et al. demonstrate directional light scattering from silicon nanoparticles for visible light.

    • Yuan Hsing Fu
    • , Arseniy I. Kuznetsov
    •  & Boris Luk’yanchuk

  • Article |

    Manipulation of spins in the solid state is a promising avenue for quantum information and field sensing applications. Bennett et al. demonstrate voltage tunability of single-spin states in a quantum dot as a step towards universal control of a single spin with a single electrical gate.

    • Anthony J. Bennett
    • , Matthew A. Pooley
    •  & Andrew J. Shields

  • 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 |

    The recognition of viruses by synthetic materials is historically difficult. Here, a templating procedure using silica nanoparticles coated with organosilanes is used to form virus-imprinted particles, possessing both shape and chemical imprints, capable of virus recognition at picomolar concentrations.

    • Alessandro Cumbo
    • , Bernard Lorber
    •  & Patrick Shahgaldian

  • 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
    | Open Access

    Measuring acoustic phonons across the Brillouin zone reveals important information on electrical and thermal transport in materials. Temnov et al.generate giant acoustic strain pulses in gold/cobalt bilayers and monitor their nonlinear reshaping in the gold layer with plasmonic interferometry.

    • Vasily V. Temnov
    • , Christoph Klieber
    •  & Rudolf Bratschitsch

  • Article |

    For quantum technologies to become widespread and scalable, bright sources of indistinguishable single photons are essential. Through deterministic positioning of quantum dots in pillar cavities, Gazzano et al.present a solid-state single-photon source with brightness as large as 0.65 photons per pulse.

    • O. Gazzano
    • , S. Michaelis de Vasconcellos
    •  & P. Senellart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The emission properties of quantum dots make them ideal for probing plasmonic nanostructures, but their small size makes them difficult to manipulate. Ropp et al.use a microfluidic system to accurately place single quantum dots around silver nanowires to probe the local density of optical states.

    • Chad Ropp
    • , Zachary Cummins
    •  & Edo Waks

  • Article |

    Controlling the interaction between distant quantum dots is important if they are to be used in quantum information devices. Delbecq et al. place two quantum dot circuits in a microwave cavity and show that they interact via cavity photons, even though they are separated by 200 times their own size.

    • M.R. Delbecq
    • , L.E. Bruhat
    •  & T. Kontos

  • Article |

    Quantum magnetometry in the solid state is usually affected by short coherence times and control errors that limit the sensitivity. This work demonstrates a continuous-driving scheme based on composite pulses that improves both these shortcomings and can be used in variable sensing environments.

    • Clarice D. Aiello
    • , Masashi Hirose
    •  & Paola Cappellaro

  • Article |

    Metallic particles are known to etch the surface layers of graphite by catalytic hydrogenation. Here, the authors report the sub-surface etching of graphite by Ni nanoparticles, revealing the formation of networks of tunnels, which are observed microscopically and could be modified for various applications.

    • Maya Lukas
    • , Velimir Meded
    •  & Ralph Krupke

  • Article |

    Double-walled carbon nanotubes are a convenient system for studying quantum mechanical interactions in distinct but coupled nanostructures. Liu et al.characterize the coupling between radial-breathing mode oscillations of inner and outer walls of many double-walled nanotubes of different diameter and chirality.

    • Kaihui Liu
    • , Xiaoping Hong
    •  & Feng Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The construction of homochiral surfaces may play a significant role in applications including heterogeneous catalysis and bio-sensors. Here, globally homochiral two-dimensional assemblies of achiral molecules are formed via co-assembly with chiral co-adsorbers, demonstrating a ‘majority rules’ effect.

    • Ting Chen
    • , Wen-Hong Yang
    •  & Li-Jun Wan

  • Article |

    The collective gyrotropic excitation of an array of spin vortices has frequencies that depend on the polarities and chirality of individual vortices. This work demonstrates control of the spectral response of the system by tuning the excitation frequency or the external magnetic field.

    • S. Jain
    • , V. Novosad
    •  & S.D. Bader

  • Article |

    The 3D self-assembly of nanocrystals could generate materials with unique optical and electronic properties. Barrowet al. report the DNA-mediated assembly of symmetrical 3D gold tetrahedra, pentamers and hexamers, and elucidate their plasmon modes.

    • Steven J. Barrow
    • , Xingzhan Wei
    •  & Paul Mulvaney

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In a nonlinear medium, a pump laser beam generates and amplifies a second beam at a different frequency through stimulated Raman scattering. Sirleto et al.show this effect in silicon nanocrystals in a silicon matrix, with gain greater than four orders of magnitude compared with crystalline silicon.

    • Luigi Sirleto
    • , Maria Antonietta Ferrara
    •  & Leonid Khriachtchev

  • Article |

    Developing next generation batteries requires better understanding of the dynamics of electrochemical reactions in working electrodes. Using a transmission electron microscope, Wanget al. develop a means to track the real time flow of lithium atoms in electrodes during the discharge of a functioning electrochemical cell.

    • Feng Wang
    • , Hui-Chia Yu
    •  & Jason Graetz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Binary mixtures of molecules on the surface of nanoparticles can arrange randomly or into different domains to form Janus, patchy or striped particles. Liuet al.show that NMR can be used to determine the ligand-shell morphology of particles coated with aliphatic and aromatic ligands.

    • Xiang Liu
    • , Miao Yu
    •  & Francesco Stellacci

  • Article |

    The Cooper pairs that losslessly conduct current in a superconductor can be split into two spatially separated but quantum mechanically entangled electrons. In this paper, non-local cross-correlation measurements of pairs split within a superconducting wire indicate the efficiency of this process can approach 100%.

    • Anindya Das
    • , Yuval Ronen
    •  & Hadas Shtrikman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-resolution characterisation techniques enable us to better understand the properties of nanoscale materials and devices. By combining electron microscopy and infrared nanoscopy, Stiegleret al.demonstrate a general approach to simultaneously probe the structural, chemical and electronic properties of a nanostructure.

    • J.M. Stiegler
    • , R. Tena-Zaera
    •  & R. Hillenbrand

  • Article |

    Photosynthesis occurs at the thylakoid membrane, which acts as a scaffold, precisely arranging functional proteins and electron carriers. Sunet al.synthesize hollow photosynthetic nanospheres that function as light-harvesting antennae and structured scaffolds that improve photoredox catalysis.

    • Jianhua Sun
    • , Jinshui Zhang
    •  & Xinchen Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmonic nanoparticles are useful as optical sensors, but their spectral resolution is hindered by the linewidth of the plasmon resonance. Schmidtet al. find that coupling this resonance to a microcavity creates hybrid modes with enhanced sensing figure-of-merit and improved frequency resolution.

    • Markus A. Schmidt
    • , Dang Yuan Lei
    •  & Stefan A. Maier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microdisk lasers are useful for compact wavelength-scale photonic devices and circuits, but their operation by electrical injection can hamper their optical properties. Kimet al. show that a graphene-contact electrode provides efficient electrical injection while minimising optical losses.

    • Yoon-Ho Kim
    • , Soon-Hong Kwon
    •  & Hong-Gyu Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-assembly of DNA can provide access to a range of nanoscale structures, but assembly using magnesium has been considered essential. Martin and Dietz report conditions that allow the assembly of templated, multi-layer DNA structures in the presence of monovalent ions, rather than magnesium.

    • Thomas G. Martin
    •  & Hendrik Dietz

  • Article |

    Strain in Si nanostructures is used to achieve higher carrier mobility, making these devices candidates for the next generation of transistors. Minamisawaet al. fabricate silicon nanowires subject to elastic tensile strain up to 4.5%, exceeding the limit achievable with the use of SiGe virtual substrates.

    • R.A. Minamisawa
    • , M.J. Süess
    •  & H. Sigg

  • Article |

    Cavity optomechanics can exploit optical forces to achieve all-optical signal processing, but most schemes are limited to a narrow wavelength range. Using a cavity optomechanical design system with two optical channels, Liet al. show broadband readout and all-optical amplification of radio-frequency signals.

    • Huan Li
    • , Yu Chen
    •  & Mo Li

  • Article |

    Well-defined, monodisperse colloids of semiconducting polymers are required as new photonic and optoelectronic materials. Here, a Suzuki–Miyaura dispersion polymerization is used to produce monodisperse sub-micrometer particles of a range of semiconducting polymers.

    • Alexander J.C. Kuehne
    • , Malte C. Gather
    •  & Joris Sprakel

  • Article |

    Supramolecular interactions allow some small molecules to self-assemble into nanofibres and hydrogels in aqueous environments. Gaoet al.report a hydrogelator that forms fluorescent nanofibres within cells, leading to the visualization of their self-assembly at the endoplasmic reticulum.

    • Yuan Gao
    • , Junfeng Shi
    •  & Bing Xu

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