Physical sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conditions to realize topological superconductivity have long been known, but the materialization remains rare. Here, Hsuet al. report a strategy towards possible topological superconductivity in monolayer hole-doped transition metal dichalcogenide by splitting the spin degeneracy in momentum space.

    • Yi-Ting Hsu
    • , Abolhassan Vaezi
    •  & Eun-Ah Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Soft particulate flows such as granular media are prone to fluctuations like jamming and avalanches. Here Rahbari et al. consider the statistics of rare fluctuations to identify an effective temperature which, unlike previous ones, is valid for packing fractions both near and far from the jamming point.

    • S.H.E. Rahbari
    • , A.A. Saberi
    •  & J. Vollmer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organoboranes are widely employed in organic synthesis and typically are prepared using electrophilic boron sources. Here the authors report a route to nucleophilic boryl anions via organomagnesium-driven cleavage of boron-boron bonds.

    • Anne-Frédérique Pécharman
    • , Annie L. Colebatch
    •  & Catherine Weetman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An understanding of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in terms of magnetic susceptibility is still lacking. Here, Chenet al. numerically study the temperature and doping dependent Knight shift and spin relaxation time in NMR response, providing insight to understand the pseudogap in cuprates.

    • Xi Chen
    • , J. P. F. LeBlanc
    •  & Emanuel Gull

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Visualizing neurotransmitter receptor traffic is fundamental to understanding brain functions, but the current imaging methods can compromise the process. Here, the authors synthesize small fluorescent probes to label endogenous glutamate receptors in cell cultures and brain tissues, without affecting their function.

    • Sho Wakayama
    • , Shigeki Kiyonaka
    •  & Itaru Hamachi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    MoS2 is a promising two-dimensional candidate for opto-electronic and spintronic applications. Here, the authors report electrical spin injection and detection in a few-layered MoS2 channel, demonstrating that the spin diffusion length is at least 235 nm in MoS2conduction band.

    • Shiheng Liang
    • , Huaiwen Yang
    •  & Yuan Lu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large variations in insolation experienced by circumbinary planets raise the question of the habitability of such planets. Here, the authors show that while the changing insolation does not radically affect habitability, it does impact on the planet’s climate and on the interpretation of future observations.

    • Max Popp
    •  & Siegfried Eggl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plant and animal tissues have evolved to contain hierarchical networks of pores that maximize mass transfer and exchange. Here the authors fabricate bio-inspired materials with multi-scale macro–meso–micropores and show their enhanced performances as photocatalysts, gas sensors and Li-ion battery electrodes.

    • Xianfeng Zheng
    • , Guofang Shen
    •  & Bao-Lian Su

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Harvesting incident photons with energy below the bandgap may lead to highly efficient solar cells. By introducing InAs quantum dots at the hetero-interface, Asahiet al. achieve efficient two step photon up-conversion resulting in additional photocurrent and very high external quantum efficiency.

    • Shigeo Asahi
    • , Haruyuki Teranishi
    •  & Takashi Kita

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atomic force microscopy allows for the imaging of molecules at a nanometre resolution. Here the authors combine AFM with self-assembling DNA origami structures to detect single-nucleotide polymorphisms and determine haplotypes.

    • Honglu Zhang
    • , Jie Chao
    •  & Chunhai Fan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The controlled generation of extreme-ultraviolet beams with controllable topological charge has not been demonstrated. Here, Gauthieret al. report on the generation of extreme-ultraviolet optical vortices with femtosecond duration carrying a controllable amount of orbital angular momentum.

    • D. Gauthier
    • , P. Rebernik Ribič
    •  & G. De Ninno

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Few methods can produce orbital angular momentum beams in the extreme ultraviolet or X-ray, and controlling orbital angular momentum on these beams remains challenging. Here the authors apply wave mixing to a tabletop high-harmonic source and control the topological charge of extreme ultraviolet beams.

    • Fanqi Kong
    • , Chunmei Zhang
    •  & P. B. Corkum

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metasurfaces promise the possibility of thin optical elements, like lenses, but these mostly suffer from chromatic aberrations. Here, the authors demonstrate a multilayer fabrication approach with multiple materials to realise achromatic lenses and multispectral functional optical elements.

    • Ori Avayu
    • , Euclides Almeida
    •  & Tal Ellenbogen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Regioselectivity during electrophilic aromatic substitution is typically controlled by substituents on the aryl group. Here the authors report an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction, wherein remote chiral ester groups direct the electrophile to a precise location on the molecule.

    • Kyle E. Murphy
    • , Jessica L. Bocanegra
    •  & Severin T. Schneebeli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Physicists’ understanding of interacting many-body systems often depends on finding an approximate description in terms of non-interacting particles. Here, the authors propose a systematic approach to identify the closest free particle description of a given model.

    • Christopher J. Turner
    • , Konstantinos Meichanetzidis
    •  & Jiannis K. Pachos

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Advanced LIGO has detected gravitational waves from two binary black hole mergers, plus a merger candidate. Here the authors use the COMPAS code to show that all three events can be explained by a single evolutionary channel via a common envelope phase, and characterize the progenitor metallicity and masses.

    • Simon Stevenson
    • , Alejandro Vigna-Gómez
    •  & Selma E. de Mink

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nucleation is a fundamental physical process, however it is a long-standing issue whether completely homogeneous nucleation can occur. Here the authors reveal, via a billion-atom molecular dynamics simulation, that local heterogeneity exists during homogeneous nucleation in an undercooled iron melt.

    • Yasushi Shibuta
    • , Shinji Sakane
    •  & Munekazu Ohno

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Glyoxalase I converts toxic methylglyoxal to a thioester. Here the authors report a synthetic analogue capable of enantioselectively converting alpha-keto aldehydes to thioesters via formation of a hemithioacetal, giving access to both enantiomers of a range of alpha-hydroxy thioesters.

    • Sang Yeon Park
    • , In-Soo Hwang
    •  & Choong Eui Song

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Molecular ferroelectric crystals hold promise in data storage applications, yet their preparations by maximizing molecular polarization are challenging. Here, Youet al. report quinuclidinium periodate with six rotation axes and grow them in macroscopic ferroelectric thin films via a solution process.

    • Yu-Meng You
    • , Yuan-Yuan Tang
    •  & Ren-Gen Xiong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Droplet manipulation is an essential task for designing microfluidic platforms such as lab-on-chip devices. Here Tanget al. develop a non-wettable mesh with reversible liquid adhesion controlled by mechanically inserting wettable pillars which allows for effective and rapid droplet manoeuvring.

    • Xin Tang
    • , Pingan Zhu
    •  & Liqiu Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors record both local and long-range neural activity during human epileptic seizures to study the underlying multi-scale dynamics. They find that coupling of activity across spatial scales increases during seizures through propagating waves that are fit by a model that combines neural activity and potassium concentration dynamics.

    • L-E Martinet
    • , G. Fiddyment
    •  & M. A. Kramer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    On-surface synthesis, in which molecular units assemble and couple on a defined surface, can access rare reaction pathways and products. Here, the authors synthesize functionalized organic nanoribbons on the Ag(110) surface, and monitor the evolution of the covalent reactions by an unorthodox vibrational spectroscopy approach.

    • Nataliya Kalashnyk
    • , Kawtar Mouhat
    •  & Sylvain Clair

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides host excitons, bound electron-hole pairs that play a pivotal role in optoelectronic applications relying on strong light-matter interaction. Here, the authors unveil the spectroscopic signature of boson scattering of two-dimensional excitons in monolayer WSe2.

    • M. Manca
    • , M. M. Glazov
    •  & B. Urbaszek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Accurate modelling of memristor dynamics is essential for the development of autonomous learning in artificial neural networks. Through a combined theoretical and experimental study of the polarization switching process in ferroelectric memristors, Boynet al. establish a model that enables learning and retrieving patterns in a neural system.

    • Sören Boyn
    • , Julie Grollier
    •  & Vincent Garcia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photon twins are important for interdisciplinary research fields using non-classical light, such as quantum biology. Here, Heindelet al. demonstrate that a single semiconductor quantum dot integrated into a microlens operates as an efficient photon-pair source.

    • T. Heindel
    • , A. Thoma
    •  & S. Reitzenstein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Glycolipids are commonly found in densely stacked biological membranes, which show unusually strong self-cohesion compared to phospholipid membranes. Here, the authors attribute this phenomenon to the lack of long-range repulsion between glycolipid membranes, a consequence of the headgroup architecture.

    • Matej Kanduč
    • , Alexander Schlaich
    •  & Emanuel Schneck

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Incorporating oxophilic metals into noble metal catalysts can improve electrocatalytic performance; however, the influence of the distance between noble metal and oxophilic metal active site is not well understood. Here the authors make Pd–Ni–P nanocatalysts for ethanol oxidation, with improved performance achieved by shortening the Pd–Ni distance.

    • Lin Chen
    • , Lilin Lu
    •  & Leyu Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene nanoribbons consist of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. Despite non-hexagonal rings generally being more unstable, the authors demonstrate the successful synthesis of graphene-like nanoribbons with periodically embedded four- and eight-membered carbon rings, with tailored electronic properties.

    • Meizhuang Liu
    • , Mengxi Liu
    •  & Dingyong Zhong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electronic skins and health monitoring devices rely on integrated tactile sensors, which often require tailored degrees of sensitivity in specific pressure ranges. Here, the authors fabricate a versatile matrix array of pressure-sensitive graphene transistors operating in the wide 250 Pa to 3 MPa pressure range.

    • Sung-Ho Shin
    • , Sangyoon Ji
    •  & Jang-Ung Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In vivo, complex topologies have been identified in proteins and DNA, while their existence in RNA is still unclear. Here, the authors design synthetic topological structures containing single stranded RNA, offering tools for investigating biologically relevant questions about RNA topology.

    • Di Liu
    • , Yaming Shao
    •  & Yossi Weizmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Alfvén waves are fundamental plasma modes that provide a mechanism for the transfer of energy between particles and fields. Here the authors confirm experimentally the conservative energy exchange between Alfvén wave fields and plasma particles via high-resolution MMS observations of Earth’s magnetosphere.

    • Daniel J. Gershman
    • , Adolfo F-Viñas
    •  & James L. Burch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electron transfer reactions govern most biogeochemical processes, yet we have a limited knowledge of the electrochemistry of pyrogenic carbon, a major component of organic matter. Here, the authors quantify electron transfers between pyrogenic carbon and mineral phases under different pyrolysis temperatures.

    • Tianran Sun
    • , Barnaby D. A. Levin
    •  & Johannes Lehmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    One of the challenges of synthetic self-assembled capsules is achieving selective recognition of specific cargoes. Here, authors synthesize a self-assembled porphyrin cubic cage that is capable of sequestering imidazole and thiazole-containing small molecules and peptides, protecting them from proteolysis.

    • Jesús Mosquera
    • , Bartosz Szyszko
    •  & Jonathan R. Nitschke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    CuTe nanocrystals may be used as an alternative to noble metals for plasmonics but requires understanding of the atomic structure and the influence of defects. Here Willhammaret al. use electron tomography to reveal the distribution of vacancies in the nanocrystals and their effect on the optical properties.

    • Tom Willhammar
    • , Kadir Sentosun
    •  & Gustaaf Van Tendeloo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Allostery and drug-drug synergism can yield potential novel therapies with existing molecules. Here, the authors provide evidence that two unrelated drugs have increased cytotoxicity in cancer cells, which coincides with increased formation of chromatin adducts.

    • Zenita Adhireksan
    • , Giulia Palermo
    •  & Curt A. Davey

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    The continued search of high-performance semiconductors for organic electronics calls for smart molecular designs. Here, Yinget al. review the recent development of synthesizing regioregular narrow bandgap conjugated polymers and the effect of regioregularity on transistor and photovoltaic performance.

    • Lei Ying
    • , Fei Huang
    •  & Guillermo C. Bazan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantitative understanding of the spatial localization of hot carriers has been elusive. Here Corteset al. spatially map hot-electron-driven reduction chemistry with 15 nm resolution as a function of time and electromagnetic field polarization for different plasmonic nanostructures.

    • Emiliano Cortés
    • , Wei Xie
    •  & Stefan A. Maier

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