Physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    STM is capable of imaging the configurations of molecules on surfaces and measuring the rate of transitions between them. Here the authors demonstrate that, controlled by the STM tip position, the entropic and conservative forces on the molecule can modify the rate by orders of magnitude.

    • J. C. Gehrig
    • , M. Penedo
    •  & H. J. Hug

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Local probing into the microscopic degrees of freedom is highly desired to understand emergent exotic quantum phases. Here, the authors report a canted ferromagnetic phase preceded by local point symmetry breaking at low temperature in Ba2NaOsO6, acquired by probing into the spin, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom.

    • L. Lu
    • , M. Song
    •  & V. F. Mitrović

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, Francoiset al. propose a method of remotely shaping particle trajectories by using rotating waves on a liquid gas interface. The superposition of orthogonal standing waves creates angular momentum which is transferred from waves to floating microparticles, guiding them along closed trajectories.

    • N Francois
    • , H Xia
    •  & M Shats

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It remains difficult to distinguish single-Q and multi-Q magnetic states experimentally. Here, Gastiasoro et al. show that the magnetic configuration of an itinerant system can be mapped out to the local density of states near a magnetic impurity, distinguishing unambiguously between single-Q and multi-Qphases.

    • Maria N. Gastiasoro
    • , Ilya Eremin
    •  & Brian M. Andersen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The surface electrons in a topological insulator are resistant to localization by nonmagnetic disorder, but are affected by lattice disorder. Here, the authors show that resonance states near lattice defects on the surface have significance beyond the localized regime usually associated with impurity bands.

    • Yishuai Xu
    • , Janet Chiu
    •  & L. Andrew Wray

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An articulation point in a network is a node whose removal disconnects the network. Here the authors develop analytical tools to study key issues pertinent to articulation points, such as the expected number of them and the network vulnerability against their removal, in arbitrary complex networks.

    • Liang Tian
    • , Amir Bashan
    •  & Yang-Yu Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Slow electrons, which cause radiation damage, are efficiently produced by interatomic neutralization processes. Here, the authors show experimental evidence for the efficient neutralization of the ionic states produced in Auger decay, using large neon–krypton clusters as a prototype system.

    • D. You
    • , H. Fukuzawa
    •  & K Ueda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studying the properties of dense plasmas is challenging due to strong interactions between electrons and ions, and numerical methods overcome this difficulty using a static thermostat. Here the authors predict a strong diffusive ion mode at low energy by including dissipative processes in the model.

    • P. Mabey
    • , S. Richardson
    •  & G. Gregori

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In quantum information technology the output of one element often does not match the required frequency and bandwidth of the input of the next element. Here, Allgaieret al. demonstrate simultaneous frequency and bandwidth conversion of single photons without changing their quantum statistics.

    • Markus Allgaier
    • , Vahid Ansari
    •  & Christine Silberhorn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Earth abundant transition metal oxides show great promise as catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction. Here, the authors reveal a self-assisted water dissociation mechanism and favourable theoretical adsorption energetics for water oxidation at the edge sites of cobalt oxide nano-islands.

    • J. Fester
    • , M. García-Melchor
    •  & J. V. Lauritsen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precise quantum state preparation plays an important role in quantum information processing. Here, Premaratneet al. use stimulated Raman adiabatic passage to transfer population from a superconducting transmon qubit to a cavity Fock state.

    • Shavindra P. Premaratne
    • , F. C. Wellstood
    •  & B. S. Palmer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solid-state NMR can in principle be used to study calcium environments in biomaterials such as bones/teeth, but43Ca lacks receptivity. Here the authors present an approach to acquire 43Ca data for hydroxyapatite at its natural isotopic abundance, distinguishing between core and surface Ca sites.

    • Daniel Lee
    • , César Leroy
    •  & Gaël De Paëpe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here Jeskeet al. show both theoretical and experimental evidence for stimulated emission from negatively charged nitrogen vacancy centres using light in the phonon sidebands around 700 nm, demonstrating its suitability as a laser medium.

    • Jan Jeske
    • , Desmond W. M. Lau
    •  & Andrew D. Greentree

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dipole-dipole interactions give rise to a number of physical phenomena, but they are typically limited to the Coulombic near-field. Here authors demonstrate the existence of a class of real- and virtual-photon interactions which have a singularity in media with hyperbolic dispersion.

    • Cristian L. Cortes
    •  & Zubin Jacob

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Above band-gap photovoltage could be achieved in materials with a net polarization. Here, Cooket al. compute the contribution to the shift current from the band edge and identify two classes of shift current photovoltaics materials, GeS and ferroelectric polymer films.

    • Ashley M. Cook
    • , Benjamin M. Fregoso
    •  & Joel E. Moore

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pulsed electron beams with ultrafast duration are desirable to study atomic processes occurring over the natural time scales of electronic motion. Here the authors demonstrate the generation of electron pulses down to attosecond time scales by using optical gating and streaking method.

    • M. Kozák
    • , J. McNeur
    •  & P. Hommelhoff

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here Rocklinet al. propose a design principle using operations that cost little energy and realize mechanical metamaterials that can be easily and reversibly transformed between states with different mechanical and acoustic properties.

    • D. Zeb Rocklin
    • , Shangnan Zhou
    •  & Xiaoming Mao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Investigating dynamics of polyatomic molecules is difficult as their potential energy surfaces are multidimensional due to coupled degrees of freedom. Here the authors demonstrate a spatial selective gating technique to probe the different vibrational modes of water upon core-level excitation with X-rays.

    • Rafael C. Couto
    • , Vinícius V. Cruz
    •  & Alexander Föhlisch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Telephone cord blisters constitute a well-known example of patterns generated following buckling in thin films. Here the authors develop an analytical approach that can model the sectional height profiles along the blisters that they measure experimentally and simulate numerically.

    • Yong Ni
    • , Senjiang Yu
    •  & Linghui He

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Practical implementations of quantum photonic circuits consist primarily of large waveguide networks to path-encode information. Here, Mohantyet al. demonstrate quantum interference between transverse spatial modes in a single silicon nitride waveguide, enabling robust quantum information processing.

    • Aseema Mohanty
    • , Mian Zhang
    •  & Michal Lipson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A challenge of using 2D materials for nanoelectronic devices is the need for defect-free lattice supporting efficient carrier transport. Here, the authors show theoretically that 2D topological insulators enable high-performance, low-power field-effect transistors without requiring defect-free materials.

    • William G. Vandenberghe
    •  & Massimo V. Fischetti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The state of a single photon can be stored as a Rydberg excitation using electromagnetically induced transparency, and this enables nonlinear interactions at the single-photon level. Here, the authors store a paired photon emitted by a quantum memory in an ensemble-based, highly nonlinear medium.

    • Emanuele Distante
    • , Pau Farrera
    •  & Hugues de Riedmatten

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-precision measurements could disclose fundamental dissimilarities between matter and antimatter, which are found imbalanced in the Universe. Here, the authors measure the magnetic moment of the antiproton with six-fold higher accuracy than before, finding it consistent with that of the proton.

    • H. Nagahama
    • , C. Smorra
    •  & S. Ulmer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Complex networks have been conjectured to be hidden in metric spaces, which offer geometric interpretation of networks’ topologies. Here the authors extend this concept to weighted networks, providing empirical evidence on the metric natures of weights, which are shown to be reproducible by a gravity model.

    • Antoine Allard
    • , M. Ángeles Serrano
    •  & Marián Boguñá

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The microscopic picture of how superconductivity is linked to antiferromagnetic order in Fe-based compounds remains elusive. Here, Mannaet al. report superconducting correlations which spatially coexist with bi-collinear antiferromagnetic order in a one unit cell thin layer of FeTe grown on Bi2Te3.

    • S. Manna
    • , A. Kamlapure
    •  & R. Wiesendanger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hybrid polariton states originating from the strong coupling of photonic and excitonic states hold promise for control of nonlinear light behaviour. Here, the authors fabricate a microcavity containing organic dye and WS2, featuring hybrid polaritons arising from both Frenkel and Wannier-Mott excitons.

    • Lucas C. Flatten
    • , David M. Coles
    •  & Jason M. Smith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Control engineering techniques are promising for realizing stable quantum systems to counter their extreme fragility. Here the authors use techniques from machine learning to enable real-time feedback suppression of decoherence in a trapped ion qubit by predicting its future stochastic evolution.

    • Sandeep Mavadia
    • , Virginia Frey
    •  & Michael J. Biercuk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It remains unclear why energy storage systems with nanoscale constituents are less susceptible to stress-induced damage than their bulk counterparts. Here, the authors probe in real time the intercalation-driven phase transitions of nanoscale palladium hydride, finding that these nanoparticles are able to fix crystallographic flaws as they form.

    • Tarun C. Narayan
    • , Fariah Hayee
    •  & Jennifer A. Dionne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Frustrated systems display rich behaviour due to unsatisfied competing interactions. Here, the authors report extended frustration by introducing controlled topological defects into square artificial spin ice lattices, demonstrating the potential of lattice topology to induce frustration.

    • Jasper Drisko
    • , Thomas Marsh
    •  & John Cumings

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spin-spin correlation is fundamental to many material properties but challenging to measure in nanomagnetic systems. Muenkset al. show that correlations between a localized spin and the electrons of its hosting bath can be quantified when coupled to another spin by an asymmetry in the differential conductance.

    • Matthias Muenks
    • , Peter Jacobson
    •  & Klaus Kern

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The near-field interaction of single emitters and plasmonic structures can alter the perceived physical location of the emitter. Here, Raabet al. use DNA origami and far-field super-resolution microscopy to quantitatively evaluate this localization offset for gold nanoparticles.

    • Mario Raab
    • , Carolin Vietz
    •  & Philip Tinnefeld

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The nodal-line semimetals exhibit an intriguing interplay between topology, symmetry and materials science. Here, Hirayamaet al. predict a nodal-line semimetal phase resulting from the pi Berry phase in alkaline-earth metals, and show that the nodal lines give rise to surface polarization charge, which is eventually screened by bulk carriers.

    • Motoaki Hirayama
    • , Ryo Okugawa
    •  & Shuichi Murakami

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Energy dissipation characterizes the states far from equilibrium, whilst how it affects the local organization remains elusive. Here, Muruganet al. show that the non-equilibrium systems exhibit topologically protected boundary modes that have been known in electronic and mechanical systems.

    • Arvind Murugan
    •  & Suriyanarayanan Vaikuntanathan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Edge current quantization in the integer quantum Hall effect is understood to arise due to noninteracting electrons circulating an incompressible insulating bulk. Here, the authors evidence compressible metal-like bulk behaviour in GaAs/AlGaAs Hall bars consistent with electronic interactions.

    • E. M. Kendirlik
    • , S. Sirt
    •  & A. Siddiki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    MRI imaging can be significantly enhanced by injecting highly magnetized chemical agents, but the short magnetization lifetime requires processing at the point of use. Here, the authors demonstrate a method that could extend the lifetime from seconds to hours, enabling remote preparation.

    • Xiao Ji
    • , Aurélien Bornet
    •  & Sami Jannin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Materials displaying negative thermal expansion have received interest as thermal-expansion compensators. Here, authors report very large total volume change associated with this effect in reduced calcium ruthenates and propose a microstructural origin driven by highly anisotropic thermal lattice expansion.

    • Koshi Takenaka
    • , Yoshihiko Okamoto
    •  & Yuki Sakai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The magnetoresistance suggests an exotic topological phase in LaBi, but the evidence is still missing. Here, Nayaket al. report the existence of surface states of LaBi through the observation of three Dirac cones, confirming it a topological semimetal.

    • Jayita Nayak
    • , Shu-Chun Wu
    •  & Claudia Felser

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetotransport signature of topological semimetal states has been observed but restricted at very low temperature. Here, Zhanget al. report magnetic field-modulated chiral charge pumping and valley diffusion in Cd3As2up to room temperature.

    • Cheng Zhang
    • , Enze Zhang
    •  & Faxian Xiu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Identifying and quantifying dissimilarities among graphs is a problem of practical importance, but current approaches are either limited or computationally demanding. Here, the authors propose an efficiently computable measure for network comparison that can identify structural topological differences.

    • Tiago A. Schieber
    • , Laura Carpi
    •  & Martín G. Ravetti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, Smalleyet al. demonstrate luminescent hyperbolic metasurfaces wherein quantum heterostructures simultaneously function as the emission source and constituent dielectric. The design enables extreme polarization anisotropy of photoluminescence and efficient extraction of in-plane surface modes.

    • J. S. T. Smalley
    • , F. Vallini
    •  & Y. Fainman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nuclear spin noise allows passive monitoring of magnetization using the sole NMR detection circuit. Here, the authors report spectroscopic signatures of low abundance molecules and of weak magnetic field gradients which are nonlinearly amplified by cooled-coil probes and large overlapping signals.

    • Maria Theresia Pöschko
    • , Victor V. Rodin
    •  & Hervé Desvaux

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