Physical sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Strain engineering has been proposed as a promising strategy for manipulating the electronic properties of graphene. This scanning tunnelling microscopy study demonstrates the feasibility of controlling strain patterns in graphene down to the nanoscale.

    • Jiong Lu
    • , A.H. Castro Neto
    •  & Kian Ping Loh

  • Review Article |

    Quantum-mechanical tunnelling currents across nanometre-scale gaps between electrodes are sensitive to the medium in the gap. Albrecht reviews progress towards using tunnelling currents to probe single-molecule processes, and in biosensor and sequencing applications.

    • T. Albrecht

  • Article |

    Tuning the properties of responsive materials by applying an external stimulus could lead to their application as chemical switches or molecular sensors. Coronadoet al. develop a non-porous one-dimensional coordination polymer, the magnetic properties of which undergo drastic changes on chemisorption of gaseous HCl.

    • Eugenio Coronado
    • , Mónica Giménez-Marqués
    •  & Lee Brammer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    As lengthscales in plasmonic structures enter the sub-nanometre regime, quantum effects become increasingly important. Here, a quantum-corrected model is presented that addresses quantum effects in realistic-sized plasmonic structures, a situation not feasible for full-quantum-mechanical simulations.

    • Ruben Esteban
    • , Andrei G. Borisov
    •  & Javier Aizpurua

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electronic and optoelectronic devices based on gallium nitride suffer from self-heating arising as a result of their operation. This study presents and demonstrates a strategy for managing this problem that relies on graphene quilts which dissipate the heat away.

    • Zhong Yan
    • , Guanxiong Liu
    •  & Alexander A. Balandin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studying the dynamics of electrons is important for understanding fundamental processes in materials. Here the ionization of a pair of electrons in argon atoms is explored on attosecond timescales, offering insight into their correlated emission and the double ionization mechanism.

    • Boris Bergues
    • , Matthias Kübel
    •  & Matthias F. Kling

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Micromechanical oscillators present a route to miniaturisation of devices and may be used as frequency references or sensitive sensors, but their small size means that they often behave nonlinearly. Antonioet al. demonstrate frequency stabilisation of nonlinear resonators by coupling two vibrational modes.

    • Dario Antonio
    • , Damián H. Zanette
    •  & Daniel López

  • Article |

    Quantum phase transitions are generally associated with many-body quantum systems undergoing changes between different phases. This study examines the connection between such phase transitions and quantum information processing, and finds that different quantum phases can have different computational power.

    • Jian Cui
    • , Mile Gu
    •  & Vlatko Vedral

  • Article |

    Flow lithography is used to synthesize microparticles but relies on polydimethylsiloxane microchannels for oxygen to permeate and inhibit polymerization near channel interfaces. Now, non-polydimethylsiloxane devices have been developed, which allow oxygen-free lithography, increasing the capabilities of flow lithography.

    • Ki Wan Bong
    • , Jingjing Xu
    •  & Patrick S. Doyle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Broadband coherent light sources are crucial for numerous applications, such as imaging and spectroscopy. Using filamentation of mid-infrared laser pulses in bulk crystals, Silvaet al. generate supercontinuum spectra over three octaves, from 4.5 μm to 450 nm, with carrier-envelope phase stability.

    • F. Silva
    • , D.R. Austin
    •  & J. Biegert

  • Article |

    Studying the structures of dense colloidal systems of anisotropic Brownian particles provides insight into fundamental processes like protein crystallization. Zhaoet al. study the phases of two-dimensional triatic liquid crystals and find that one of them exhibits local chiral-symmetry breaking.

    • Kun Zhao
    • , Robijn Bruinsma
    •  & Thomas G. Mason

  • Article |

    Electrochromic materials reversibly change their colour upon application of an electric field. Seidelet al. measure the optical properties of doped bismuth ferrite and report the largest electrochromic response for an inorganic material, which they attribute to the melting of oxygen-vacancy ordering.

    • J. Seidel
    • , W. Luo
    •  & R. Ramesh

  • Article |

    The assembly of microscopic particles into macroscopic structures may allow the fabrication of complex materials, but general strategies to provide a wide variety of structures are lacking. Khalilet al. develop a colloidal assembly system, which can be tuned to provide over 20 different pre-programmed structures.

    • Karim S. Khalil
    • , Amanda Sagastegui
    •  & Benjamin B. Yellen

  • Article |

    Conjugated polymers are promising materials for organic photovoltaic solar cells. By usingin situgrazing incidence wide-angle X-ray diffraction, Ocko and collaborators report the formation of a new type of crystalline arrangement in a conjugated polymer material known as PCDTBT.

    • Xinhui Lu
    • , Htay Hlaing
    •  & Benjamin M. Ocko

  • Article |

    Electron spins at nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond are thought to be the most promising building blocks for practical realizations of quantum computers. Yaoet al. present a scalable architecture for a quantum information processor based on such vacancy centres that operates at room temperature.

    • N.Y. Yao
    • , L. Jiang
    •  & M.D. Lukin

  • Article |

    Studying the effects of extracellular matrix stiffening has been impeded because mostin vitromodels are static. Here, dynamic hydrogels are developed that stiffen in the presence of cells and are used to investigate the short-term (minutes-to-hours) and long-term (days-to-weeks) cellular responses to dynamic stiffening.

    • Murat Guvendiren
    •  & Jason A. Burdick

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-assembly of multi-component systems can be used to construct discrete, well-defined, nanoscopic-sized cages. Pasqualeet al. report the self-assembly of conical-shaped carboxylic acid derivatives of calix[4]arene and calix[5]arene, and the uranyl cation UO22+into octahedral and icosahedral anionic metallocages.

    • Sara Pasquale
    • , Sara Sattin
    •  & Javier de Mendoza

  • Article |

    Percolation transitions indicate the threshold above which a network can operate. This work examines a general class of models known as hierarchical networks, and shows they can be made to percolate explosively, if they share features of so-called 'small-world' networks.

    • Stefan Boettcher
    • , Vijay Singh
    •  & Robert M. Ziff

  • Article |

    The terahertz spectral region is desirable for applications such as imaging or spectroscopy, but progress is hampered by a lack of efficient terahertz devices. By exploiting intraband transitions in graphene, Sensale-Rodriguezet al. demonstrate a broadband intensity modulator working at terahertz frequencies.

    • Berardi Sensale-Rodriguez
    • , Rusen Yan
    •  & Huili Grace Xing

  • Article |

    Morphotropic phase boundaries—regions of abrupt structural change and enhanced material response—are of practical importance and are a challenge for the fundamental theory of phase transitions. Here, the ferroelectric–antiferroelectric boundary is studied using atomically resolved mapping in BiFeO3.

    • A.Y. Borisevich
    • , E.A. Eliseev
    •  & S.V. Kalinin

  • Article |

    The kinetics of chemical reactions occurring within confined volumes is relevant to a range of systems, including biological cells. This study examines the kinetics of reaction networks, and finds that below a critical volume there may be pairs of species whose relative concentrations invert.

    • Rajesh Ramaswamy
    • , Nélido González-Segredo
    •  & Ramon Grima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stable, ultrahigh repetition rate optical clocks are critical for applications in high-speed communications, metrology and microchip computing. Pecciantiet al.present a mode-locked laser based on an integrated microcavity, with repetition rate exceeding 200 GHz and narrow linewidth pulses.

    • M. Peccianti
    • , A. Pasquazi
    •  & R. Morandotti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic solar cells are promising for technological applications, as they are lightweight and mechanically robust. This study presents flexible organic solar cells that are less than 2 μm thick, have very low specific weight and maintain their photovoltaic performance under repeated mechanical deformation.

    • Martin Kaltenbrunner
    • , Matthew S. White
    •  & Siegfried Bauer

  • Article |

    Microbial metabolism is usually considered to be phototrophic or chemotrophic. By showing that light-induced photoelectrons from metal oxide and metal sulfides can stimulate the growth of chemoautotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria, this study indicates that light may be involved in non-phototrophic microbial activity.

    • Anhuai Lu
    • , Yan Li
    •  & Hailiang Dong

  • Article |

    Metamaterials can be used to alter the transmission of light or sound, with their tailored structures permitting control over their optical or acoustic properties. Meiet al. present a thin-film acoustic metamaterial that provides efficient absorption of sound over a broad range of wavelengths.

    • Jun Mei
    • , Guancong Ma
    •  & Ping Sheng

  • Article |

    Stochastic processes play an important role in a broad range of scientific problems. This study demonstrates that a large class of such processes are most efficiently simulated by quantum mechanical models, thus reducing the complexity required to simulate them using classical models.

    • Mile Gu
    • , Karoline Wiesner
    •  & Vlatko Vedral

  • Article |

    A record of the daily light cycle in tropical regions is difficult to extract from biogenic marine carbonates such as shells. Here, the precise analysis of Sr/Ca ratios is shown in a cultivated giant clam shell, revealing variations that reflect the daily light cycle and the potential for future development of a proxy.

    • Yuji Sano
    • , Sayumi Kobayashi
    •  & Kenji Iwai

  • Article |

    The singular properties of topological insulators are defined by the topological nature of their metallic surface states. This study shows that by doping Bi2Se3nanoribbons with antimony, the transport properties of these surface states are measurable and can be distinguished from the contributions due to the bulk of the samples.

    • Seung Sae Hong
    • , Judy J. Cha
    •  & Yi Cui

  • Article |

    Graphene is characterized by unique physical properties that offer substantial promise, most notably for electronic applications. Mannooret al. present a wireless graphene-based sensor for detecting bacteria on a range of biological tissues.

    • Manu S. Mannoor
    • , Hu Tao
    •  & Michael C. McAlpine

  • Article |

    The spin-dependent thermal and electrical transport properties of nanostructures are central for future applications of spintronic devices. Here, Linet al. report an enhanced spin-dependent thermoelectric effect in an Al2O3-based magnetic tunnel junction.

    • Weiwei Lin
    • , Michel Hehn
    •  & Stéphane Mangin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The piezoelectric materials most commonly used for technological applications contain lead, a toxic element. Slukaet al. identify a mechanism that leads to an enhancement of the dielectric and piezoelectric properties of non-toxic ferroelectrics, due to the presence of charged domain walls.

    • Tomas Sluka
    • , Alexander K. Tagantsev
    •  & Nava Setter

  • Article |

    Explosive energy releases in plasmas, such as in solar eruptions like flares and coronal mass ejections, are thought to be caused by magnetic reconnection in thin current sheets. Zhanget al. observed a magnetic flux rope during a solar eruption, highlighting its role in driving explosive energy releases.

    • Jie Zhang
    • , Xin Cheng
    •  & Ming-de Ding

  • Article |

    An important goal in optics is to image objects hidden by turbid media, although line-of-sight techniques fail when the obscuring medium becomes opaque. Veltenet al. use ultrafast imaging techniques to recover three-dimensional shapes of non-line-of-sight objects after reflection from diffuse surfaces.

    • Andreas Velten
    • , Thomas Willwacher
    •  & Ramesh Raskar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single-photon sources are important for quantum optical technologies, although achieving efficient light extraction from them with waveguides is limited in top-down approaches. Reimeret al. show a high extraction efficiency using a bottom-up method to grow quantum dots on the axis of nanowire waveguides.

    • Michael E. Reimer
    • , Gabriele Bulgarini
    •  & Val Zwiller

  • Article |

    Resistive switching devices are promising candidates for non-volatile memories. Usingin-situ and ex-situ transmission electron microscopy, Yang et al. present an extensive study of the dynamics of filaments forming across the electrodes of resisting switching devices known as electrochemical metallization memories.

    • Yuchao Yang
    • , Peng Gao
    •  & Wei Lu

  • Article |

    The photosynthetic reaction centres, photosystems I and II, have been investigated for the light-induced generation of fuels and electrical power. Now, Yehezkeliet al. report a photobiofuel cell that generates electricity upon irradiation of photosystem II-functionalized electrodes in aqueous solutions.

    • Omer Yehezkeli
    • , Ran Tel-Vered
    •  & Itamar Willner

  • Article |

    Ultrafast excitation offers new routes to controlling material properties on short timescales, but probes are needed to better understand the changes. By studying the phonon spectrum of VO2 in the time domain, Wall et al. find a prompt change in lattice potential after a photoinduced structural transition.

    • S. Wall
    • , D. Wegkamp
    •  & M. Wolf

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Point defects in diamond in the form of nitrogen vacancy centres are believed to be promising candidates for qubits in quantum computers. Grotzet al. present a method for manipulating the charge state of nitrogen vacancies using an electrolytic gate electrode.

    • Bernhard Grotz
    • , Moritz V. Hauf
    •  & Jose A. Garrido

  • Article |

    Exchange bias is a technologically relevant effect that occurs when thin ferromagnetic films are placed in direct proximity to antiferromagnets. Raduet al. show that an exchange bias occurs at room temperature in ferrimagnetic trilayers, in which the magnetization is aligned perpendicular to the structures.

    • F. Radu
    • , R. Abrudan
    •  & H. Zabel

  • Review Article |

    High-valent iron–oxo and –nitrido complexes are intermediates in the catalytic cycles of various metalloenzymes that activate dioxygen and dinitrogen. Hohenbergeret al. review the advances in the chemistry of model high-valent iron–oxo and –nitrido systems and relate them to our understanding of related enzymes.

    • Johannes Hohenberger
    • , Kallol Ray
    •  & Karsten Meyer

  • Article |

    Teflon is a carbon based polymer that cannot be intrinsically ferromagnetic. This study shows that room temperature ferromagnetism can be induced in Teflon tape by applying mechanical stress such as stretching or cutting, which gives rise to dangling carbon bonds.

    • Y.W. Ma
    • , Y.H. Lu
    •  & J. Ding

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biological materials efficiently exploit self-assembly of simple constituents to produce complex functional structures such as optical devices. By controlling organic molecules, Leeet al. show fast two-step self-assembly of CaCO3microlens arrays, reminiscent of their biological counterparts.

    • Kyubock Lee
    • , Wolfgang Wagermaier
    •  & Peter Fratzl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Advances in nanoelectromechanical systems have brought improvements in the quality factor of nanomechanical resonators, yet few low-loss transduction schemes exist at high temperature. Using non-dissipative dielectric coupling to a microwave cavity, Faustet al. present an integrated nanomechanical transducer.

    • T. Faust
    • , P. Krenn
    •  & E.M. Weig

  • Article |

    Organic electronic devices are promising for many applications, particularly in biomedical research, but are hindered by thermal instability and low melting points. Now, organic thin-film transistors are shown with excellent thermal properties that can withstand medical sterilization processes.

    • Kazunori Kuribara
    • , He Wang
    •  & Takao Someya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multicompartment micelles can be assembled from block copolymers but it is difficult to manipulate their hierarchical superstructures using straightforward concepts. Here, methods are developed that involve the pre-assembly of subunits for the structurally controlled production of micelles.

    • André H. Gröschel
    • , Felix H. Schacher
    •  & Axel H.E. Müller

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