Surfaces, interfaces and thin films articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional theories for interfacial thermal transport are derived from bulk phonon properties. Here, the authors report experimental observation of interfacial phonon modes localized at interfaces, changing how interfacial thermal transport should be understood.

    • Zhe Cheng
    • , Ruiyang Li
    •  & Samuel Graham

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quasiparticle interference is a powerful tool for characterization of electronic structure which leverages scattering off defects; however, it is limited to quasi two-dimensional materials. Here, the authors demonstrate a method for reconstructing electronic structure of three-dimensional materials from quasiparticle interference data.

    • C. A. Marques
    • , M. S. Bahramy
    •  & P. Wahl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferroelectric ordering of water has been at the heart of intense debates due to its importance in enhancing our understanding of the condensed matter. Here, the authors observe ferroelectric properties of water ice in a two dimensional phase under confinement between two graphene layers.

    • Hao-Ting Chin
    • , Jiri Klimes
    •  & Ya-Ping Hsieh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transition metal oxides exhibit a variety of correlated phases in their bulk form; however, they typically become insulators in the monolayer limit. Here, the authors report a correlated metallic state in a single-atomic layer of epitaxial SrRuO3, realized in epitaxial oxide heterostructure.

    • Byungmin Sohn
    • , Jeong Rae Kim
    •  & Changyoung Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While multiband superconductivity is the subject of extensive studies, the possibility of multiband charge density waves (CDW) remains elusive. Here, the authors report evidence of gap opening on both inner and outer bands by a CDW state in 2H-NbSe2, suggesting a possible multiband CDW.

    • Árpád Pásztor
    • , Alessandro Scarfato
    •  & Christoph Renner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single molecules on metal surfaces are paradigmatic systems for the study of many-body phenomena. Here, the authors show that several spectroscopic experiments on iron phthalocyanine on Au(111) surface can be described in a unified way in terms of a strongly interacting topologically non-trivial (non-Landau) Fermi liquid.

    • R. Žitko
    • , G. G. Blesio
    •  & A. A. Aligia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The local variation of grain boundary atomic structure and chemistry caused by segregation of impurities influences the macroscopic properties of polycrystalline materials. Here, the effect of co-segregation of carbon and boron on the depletion of aluminum in a α − Fe grain boundary is shown.

    • A. Ahmadian
    • , D. Scheiber
    •  & G. Dehm

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An enhanced superconducting pairing temperature (Tg) has only been observed in single-layer FeSe interfaced with TiOx system. Here, the authors construct a new interface composed of single-layer FeSe interfaced with LaFeO3 showing a highest Tg of 80 K among all-known interfacial superconductors.

    • Yuanhe Song
    • , Zheng Chen
    •  & Donglai Feng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In classical wetting, the spreading of a drop on a surface is preceded by a bridge directly connecting the drop and the surface, yet it ignores the solubility of the drop phase in the medium. Here, the authors show that dissolved drop fluid from the parent drop can nucleate on the surface as islands, one of which coalesces with the parent drop to effect wetting.

    • Suraj Borkar
    •  & Arun Ramachandran

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors investigate the lattice dynamics of twisted hexagonal boron nitride layers via nano-infrared spectroscopy, showing local and stacking-dependent variations of the optical phonon frequencies associated to the interaction with the graphite substrate.

    • S. L. Moore
    • , C. J. Ciccarino
    •  & D. N. Basov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It was predicted that lattice reconstruction can lead to the emergence of multiple ultra-flat electronic bands in twisted bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides. Here, by using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, the authors demonstrate such bands in twisted bilayer WSe2.

    • En Li
    • , Jin-Xin Hu
    •  & Nian Lin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene nanoribbons are potential systems for engineering topological phases of matter, but the pre-required gapped phases are difficult to find. Here, the authors show that chiral graphene nanoribbons undergo a transition from metallic to topological insulators, and then to trivial band insulators as they are narrowed down to nanometer widths.

    • Jingcheng Li
    • , Sofia Sanz
    •  & Jose Ignacio Pascual

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transition metal kagome compounds have been shown to host flat bands in their bulk electronic spectrum. Here, using planar tunnelling spectroscopy supported by first-principles calculations, the authors report the signature of a novel type of flat band at the surface of antiferromagnetic kagome metal FeSn.

    • Minyong Han
    • , Hisashi Inoue
    •  & Joseph G. Checkelsky

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atomic monolayers of large-gap quantum spin Hall insulators are challenging to synthesize. Here, the authors realize massive Dirac fermions emerging from Bloch wave-function interference on a triangular lattice and achieve topologically non-trivial domains with unprecedented spatial extension.

    • Maximilian Bauernfeind
    • , Jonas Erhardt
    •  & Giorgio Sangiovanni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Unrestricted integration of single-crystal oxide films on Si substrates allows for exploitation of emerging functionality of new materials in mature silicon devices. Here the authors integrate epitaxial oxide films with sharp metal-insulator transition on Si substrates by epitaxial lift-off of a freestanding nanomembrane.

    • Dong Kyu Lee
    • , Yunkyu Park
    •  & Junwoo Son

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The orientation of polymer chains in the corona of polymer-grafted nanoparticles has never been measured. Here, the authors use polarized resonant soft X-ray scattering to measure local chain orientation in polystyrene grafted gold nanoparticles and quantify the thickness of the anisotropic region of the corona as well as the extent of chain orientation within it.

    • Subhrangsu Mukherjee
    • , Jason K. Streit
    •  & Dean M. DeLongchamp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The experimental realization of higher order topological insulator (HOTI) in solid state materials remains elusive. Here, Aggarwal et al. reveal hinge states on three edges of both Bi and Bi0.92Sb0.08 (110) islands, supporting them as a class of HOTI.

    • Leena Aggarwal
    • , Penghao Zhu
    •  & Vidya Madhavan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferroelectricity in orthoferrite perovskites has stimulated intense research, but the mechanism remains unclear. Here, the authors propose an antisite defect mechanism for introducing ferroelectricity in magnetically ordered YFeO3 and the family of rare earth orthoferrites.

    • Shuai Ning
    • , Abinash Kumar
    •  & Caroline A. Ross

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The observation of negative capacitance effect is focused on the ferroelectrics, while the antiferroelectrics based on Landau switches may have negative capacitance effect. Here, the authors report the static and transient negative capacitance effect in antiferroelectric PbZrO3 and reveal its origin.

    • Leilei Qiao
    • , Cheng Song
    •  & Feng Pan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are a promising class of ligands for forming robust self-assembled monolayers on metals, many questions remain about their behavior on surfaces. Here, the authors address these fundamental questions—such as the factors controlling NHC orientation, mobility, and ability to self-assemble—through an in-depth examination of NHC overlayers on Au(111).

    • Alex Inayeh
    • , Ryan R. K. Groome
    •  & Alastair B. McLean

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atomically precise nanostructures resulting from a laser-induced phase change offer a rich playground to study the interplay between confinement and correlations. Here, the authors report on quantum interference effects in equilateral triangles created by a laser-induced polytype phase transition in TaS2.

    • Jan Ravnik
    • , Yevhenii Vaskivskyi
    •  & Dragan Mihailovic

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antiferromagnets (AFM) exhibit faster magnetization dynamics, and have immunity to stray fields, making AFMs attractive for spintronic devices. Here, the authors investigate the behaviour of domain walls in AFMs, and find a new type domain wall, a superposition of two adjacent rotational domains.

    • Jonas Spethmann
    • , Martin Grünebohm
    •  & André Kubetzka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Macroscopic properties usually follow algebraic scaling laws near phase transitions. Here, the authors investigate the scaling properties of the metal‐insulator transition at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface, finding that coupling between structural and electronic properties prevents the universal behavior.

    • Eylon Persky
    • , Naor Vardi
    •  & Beena Kalisky

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanism of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in heavy metal-ferromagnet heterostructures is debated. Here, the authors show the oscillating behaviour of the interaction as a function of the MgO spacer layer thickness, supporting the interlayer exchange coupling mechanism of the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida type.

    • Taehyun Kim
    • , In Ho Cha
    •  & Young Keun Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The anomalous Hall effect (AHE) occurs in ferromagnets caused by intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms. Here, Yoo et al. report large anomalous Hall conductivity and Hall angle at the interface between a ferromagnet La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 and a semimetallic SrIrO3, due to the interplay between correlated physics and topological phenomena.

    • Myoung-Woo Yoo
    • , J. Tornos
    •  & Javier E. Villegas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Knowledge of the quantum response of materials is essential for designing light–matter interactions at the nanoscale. Here, the authors report a theory for understanding the impact of metallic quantum response on acoustic graphene plasmons and how such response could be inferred from measurements.

    • P. A. D. Gonçalves
    • , Thomas Christensen
    •  & N. Asger Mortensen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superconductivity often appears due to suppression of competing electronic orders. Here, the authors present a contrary example showing a superconducting dome inside the parent phase with a stripe charge order in IrTe2 nanoflakes and identify their unusual superconducting properties.

    • Sungyu Park
    • , So Young Kim
    •  & Jun Sung Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Flow through nanometer scale channels facilitates an unmasked study of water-surface molecular interactions. Here, Keerthi et al. show with conduits made from graphite and hexagonal boron nitride that strong hydrophobicity does not rule out enhanced stickiness and friction.

    • Ashok Keerthi
    • , Solleti Goutham
    •  & Boya Radha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The dynamics of water molecules at interfaces controls natural and artificial processes, but experimental investigations have been challenging. Here the authors investigate water molecules on a graphene surface using helium spin-echo spectroscopy, and reveal a regime where freely mobile molecules undergo strong repulsive mutual interactions which inhibit ice nucleation.

    • Anton Tamtögl
    • , Emanuel Bahn
    •  & William Allison

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, Pelliciari et al. present resonant inelastic X-ray scattering on monolayer samples of unconventional superconductor FeSe, finding evidence for gapped and dispersionless spin excitations. These experiments are very difficult due to the extremely small scattering volume of the FeSe monolayer.

    • Jonathan Pelliciari
    • , Seher Karakuzu
    •  & Riccardo Comin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precise control of vibrational states coupled to electronic degrees of freedom could enable control over charge or magnetic order in a material. Here, the authors use a double-pulse photoexcitation combined with an X-ray probe to control vibrational states near the critical point of spin density wave in Cr films.

    • O. Yu. Gorobtsov
    • , L. Ponet
    •  & A. Singer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this work, Meisenheimer et al. use careful epitaxial growth of FeGa thin films to achieve a metastable state with remarkably high magetostrictive coefficients. Materials with strong magnetostrictive properties are vital components in magnetoelectric multiferroic heterostructures, with considerable potential for use a variety of technologies.

    • P. B. Meisenheimer
    • , R. A. Steinhardt
    •  & J. T. Heron

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The spatial distribution of the quantized transport due to the presence of Weyl orbits in topological semimetals remains elusive. Here, the authors report concomitant modulation of doubly-degenerate quantum Hall states, evidencing intrinsic coupling between two spatially separated surface states in the Weyl orbits of a Dirac semimetal film.

    • Shinichi Nishihaya
    • , Masaki Uchida
    •  & Masashi Kawasaki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors characterize the spectroscopic and transport properties of heterojunctions composed of quasi-metallic and semiconducting graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with different widths, showing a predominant quantum tunnelling mechanism. The GNR heterojunctions can also be used to realize adsorbate sensors with high sensitivity.

    • Boris V. Senkovskiy
    • , Alexey V. Nenashev
    •  & Alexander Grüneis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanism of the delocalization transition of 4f electrons in closely-packed Ce metal has been debated. Here, the authors present photoemission evidence for bandwidth-controlled Mott delocalization in a previously unreported structural phase of thin epitaxial Ce films obtained by thermal annealing.

    • Yi Wu
    • , Yuan Fang
    •  & Yang Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single crystalline membranes enable the tuning of materials properties via strain states that are not accessible to bulk crystals or epitaxially clamped films. Here, the authors demonstrate the synthesis and strain gradient-induced magnetism in membranes of the Heusler compound GdPtSb.

    • Dongxue Du
    • , Sebastian Manzo
    •  & Jason K. Kawasaki

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