Surfaces, interfaces and thin films articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Previous work has demonstrated electric-field detection with nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond; however, nanoscale electric-field imaging has not been shown. Here, the authors use individual nitrogen-vacancy centers to map out electric field contours from a tip of an atomic force microscope with 10 nm resolution.

    • Ke Bian
    • , Wentian Zheng
    •  & Ying Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electric fields and currents can alter microstructures of materials in unexpected ways. Here the authors report how electrochemical reduction can cause a grain boundary disorder-to-order transition and show the electric field effects on microstructural stability and evolution.

    • Jiuyuan Nie
    • , Chongze Hu
    •  & Jian Luo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While the role of PbTiO3 in PbTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices has been widely studied, little attention is paid to possible polar topologies in SrTiO3. Here, the authors create atomic-scale vortex–antivortex pairs in the superlattices, expanding the understanding of topological structures.

    • Adeel Y. Abid
    • , Yuanwei Sun
    •  & Peng Gao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is an ongoing debate in the origin of unusual bumps in the resistive Hall measurements in SrRuO3 systems. Here, the authors analyze surface inversion symmetry breaking and confirm the role of an interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction at the heart of the system, revealing a magnetic spin crystal emergent across the unusual bumps.

    • S. D. Seddon
    • , D. E. Dogaru
    •  & M. Alexe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The classic Leidenfrost phenomenon is familiar, yet its physics is rather complex. Graeber et al. observe the unexpected development of repeated hopping of a droplet trampolining on its own vapor cushion on a hot plate and show under which conditions this self-initiated motion occurs.

    • Gustav Graeber
    • , Kartik Regulagadda
    •  & Dimos Poulikakos

  • Article
    | Open Access

    One major challenge for antiferromagnetic spintronics is how to control the antiferromagnetic state. Here Jani et al. demonstrate the reversible ionic control of the room-temperature magnetic anisotropy and spin reorientation transition in haematite, via the incorporation and removal of hydrogen.

    • Hariom Jani
    • , Linghu Jiajun
    •  & T. Venkatesan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The effect of Rashba spin orbit coupling (SOC) on superconductivity remains elusive. Here, the authors report largely enhanced in-plane upper critical magnetic field due to Rashba SOC induced dynamic spin-momentum locking on the surfaces of an atomic-layer superconductor.

    • Shunsuke Yoshizawa
    • , Takahiro Kobayashi
    •  & Takashi Uchihashi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrical manipulation of magnetization in devices made of topological materials may be an essential route towards future spintronics technology. Here, Mogi et al. show efficient current-induced switching of surface ferromagnetism in hetero-bilayers of topological insulator (Bi1-xSbx)2Te3 and ferromagnetic insulator Cr2Ge2Te6.

    • Masataka Mogi
    • , Kenji Yasuda
    •  & Yoshinori Tokura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Braiding Majorana modes is essential for topological quantum computing, but it remains difficult to find a suitable platform. Here, the authors report the evidence of hybridization between field-induced and magnetic adatom induced Majorana modes in an iron-based superconductor FeTe0.55Se0.45, providing a possible single-material platform for braiding Majorana modes.

    • Peng Fan
    • , Fazhi Yang
    •  & Hong-Jun Gao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    MXenes have emerged as potential antimicrobial materials. Here, the authors report on the creation of a Schottky junction to increase the charge separation between MXenes and semiconductor to increase photodynamic creation of reactive oxygen species under near infrared irradiation for antibacterial purposes.

    • Jianfang Li
    • , Zhaoyang Li
    •  & Shuilin Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The impact of local magnetic impurities on superconducting order parameter remains largely unexplored. Here, the authors visualize the effect of different magnetic perturbations on a superconductor, unveiling a rich correlation of the interplay between quantum spins and superconductivity in different spectroscopic regimes.

    • Felix Küster
    • , Ana M. Montero
    •  & Paolo Sessi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spin-thermoelectrics have great promise for waste heat conversion, however scaling up is challenging for device using standard magnetic insulators. Here, Oh et al demonstrate the molecular-magnet, Prussian blue analogues as a viable candidate for spin-thermoelectrics.

    • Inseon Oh
    • , Jungmin Park
    •  & Jung-Woo Yoo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metallization by photoexcitation of defect excitons is observed on very long time scales in bulk semiconductors, while ultrafast control of the conduction properties is appealing. Here, the authors demonstrate the ultrafast (20 fs) generation of a metal at the surface of ZnO upon photoexcitation.

    • L. Gierster
    • , S. Vempati
    •  & J. Stähler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topological side surface, characterization of a weak topological insulator (WTI), has rarely been investigated. Here, Zhang et al. visualize a quasi-one dimensional, spin-momentum locked band on the side surface of the WTI candidate ZrTe5, and manipulate the bulk band gap by strain.

    • Peng Zhang
    • , Ryo Noguchi
    •  & Takeshi Kondo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, moiré superlattices generated by twisted insulating crystals of hexagonal boron nitride are shown to have a ferroelectric-like character, attributed to strain-induced polarized dipoles formed by pairs of interfacial boron and nitrogen atoms that create bilayer-thick ferroelectric domains.

    • C. R. Woods
    • , P. Ares
    •  & L. Fumagalli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors study the evolution of the bulk photovoltaic effect in BiFeO3 thin films with stripe-domains as the polarization of light is modulated from linear to circular. A relationship between the anomalous photo-response and differential light-domain interaction is established.

    • David S. Knoche
    • , Matthias Steimecke
    •  & Akash Bhatnagar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Melting and crystallization of ice close to the triple point is mediated by a thin liquid layer of water. Within an extended theoretical-numerical model, Sibley et al. capture both equilibrium properties and kinetic aspects of the film evolution to arrive at a broader perspective of how ice grows.

    • David N. Sibley
    • , Pablo Llombart
    •  & Luis G. MacDowell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, in contrast to previous observations in Fe-based superconductors, scanning tunnelling microscopy of strain-patterned FeSe thin films reveals a local decoupling of electron nematicity and structural anisotropy, pointing towards a stiffness of the nematic order parameter at the nanoscale.

    • Zheng Ren
    • , Hong Li
    •  & Ilija Zeljkovic

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Berry curvature connects to exotic electronic phases hence it provides important insights to understand quantum materials. Here, the authors report sign change of the anomalous Hall effect resulted from Berry curvature change at the interface of a topological insulator/magnetic topological insulator heterostructure.

    • Fei Wang
    • , Xuepeng Wang
    •  & Cui-Zu Chang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Epitaxial strain is a promising control knob to modulate Tc to enhance superconductivity. Here, the authors show that a metallic oxide RuO2 can be turned superconducting through application of epitaxial strain in thin films grown on a (110)-oriented TiO2 substrate.

    • J. P. Ruf
    • , H. Paik
    •  & K. M. Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chemical interaction between metal and oxide supports is an important molecular-level factor that influences the catalytic selectivity of a desirable reaction. Here, using Pt nanowires/TiO2 catalytic nanodiodes, the authors investigate an enhancement of both selectivity and hot electron generation on metal-oxide interfacial sites.

    • Si Woo Lee
    • , Jong Min Kim
    •  & Jeong Young Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Predicting segregation energies of alloy systems can be challenging even for a single grain boundary. Here the authors propose a machine-learning framework, which maps the local environments on a distribution of segregation energies, to predict segregation energies of alloy elements in polycrystalline materials.

    • Malik Wagih
    • , Peter M. Larsen
    •  & Christopher A. Schuh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topological spin textures are of technological interest due to their potential as a store of information. Here the authors experimentally demonstrate two distinct topological spin textures, tubular and incomplete skyrmions, and their mutual conversion in a ferromagnetic/ferromagnetic heterostructure.

    • Andrada-Oana Mandru
    • , Oğuz Yıldırım
    •  & Hans Josef Hug

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferroelectric domain wall profiles can be modeled by phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory, with different candidate models and parameters. Here, the authors solve the problem of model selection by developing a Bayesian inference framework allowing for uncertainty quantification and apply it to atomically resolved images of walls. This analysis can also predict the level of microscope performance needed to detect specific physical phenomena.

    • Christopher T. Nelson
    • , Rama K. Vasudevan
    •  & Sergei V. Kalinin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transition-metal atoms deposited on metal surfaces exhibit zero bias anomalies, which have been detected by scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and are commonly attributed to Kondo resonances. Here the authors explain the zero-bias anomalies in terms of gapped spin-excitations in contrast to Kondo resonances, which reproduce well the experiments.

    • Juba Bouaziz
    • , Filipe Souza Mendes Guimarães
    •  & Samir Lounis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In magneto-ionics, ion migration through the material is used to change the materials magnetic properties. Typically oxygen is used as the mobile ion. In this manuscript, the authors demonstrate controlled migration of nitrogen in a CoN film, expanding the possibilities of magneto-ionics.

    • Julius de Rojas
    • , Alberto Quintana
    •  & Jordi Sort

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Advances in our ability to manipulate genetics leads to deeper understanding of biological systems. In this perspective, the authors argue that synthetic genomics facilitates complex modifications that open up new areas of research.

    • Jichen Dong
    • , Leining Zhang
    •  & Feng Ding

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How to maintain a robust polarization in ferroelectrics despite its inherent suppression when going to the thin-film limit is a long-standing issue. Here, the authors propose the concept of competitive and cooperative interfaces and establish robust polarization states in the ultrathin regime.

    • Nives Strkalj
    • , Chiara Gattinoni
    •  & Morgan Trassin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation relies on highly choreographed delivery of protons and electrons to the reaction site such that they arrive just in time. Here, authors show that proton transport can be controlled by light with the photobase effect to increase H2 generation rate.

    • Jiawen Fang
    • , Tushar Debnath
    •  & Jacek K. Stolarczyk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Observation of a strain-gradient-induced piezoresponse at domain walls remains a challenge. Here, the authors find the piezoelectric response to be enhanced in the ferroelastic domain walls of centrosymmetric tungsten trioxide thin films due to a large strain gradient over a wide width of the wall.

    • Shinhee Yun
    • , Kyung Song
    •  & Chan-Ho Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding dynamics of fermionic bound states is important for their potential application in quantum devices. Here the authors study zero temperature dynamics and dissipation of fermions bound on a moving goal-post shaped wire in superfluid 3He-B.

    • S. Autti
    • , S. L. Ahlstrom
    •  & D. E. Zmeev

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    Structural lubricity is one of the most interesting concepts in modern tribology, which promises to achieve ultra-low friction over a wide range of length-scales. Here the authors highlight novel research lines in this area achievable by combining theoretical and experimental efforts on hard two-dimensional materials and soft colloidal and cold ion systems.

    • Andrea Vanossi
    • , Clemens Bechinger
    •  & Michael Urbakh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It remains challenging to resolve the dynamics of charges with different mobilities in multi-band systems. Here, the authors report a Raman scattering study of the dynamics of holes and electrons in semimetallic SrIrO3, which is well described by a marginal Fermi liquid phenomenology, with frequency dependent scattering rates close to the Planckian limit.

    • K. Sen
    • , D. Fuchs
    •  & M. Le Tacon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nickel Oxide (NiO) is a strongly correlated insulator with antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering. Here, using pump-probe photoemission on NiO, the authors observe coherent terahertz oscillations in the photoemission signal, a signature of an in-gap state coupled to the AFM background.

    • Konrad Gillmeister
    • , Denis Golež
    •  & Wolf Widdra

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dealloying usually relies on chemical dissolution of an alloy component. By contrast, the authors demonstrate an atomic-scale phase separation process that differs completely from the chemical dealloying mechanism and thus represents a significant departure from the well-known Hume-Rothery rules.

    • Lianfeng Zou
    • , Penghui Cao
    •  & Guangwen Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the interfaces of non-magnetic complex oxides, it is unclear which defects are responsible for the magnetic interfaces. Here, the authors find the B-site cation stoichiometry is crucial for the creation and control of magnetism at the interface between non-magnetic ABO3-perovskite oxides.

    • D.-S. Park
    • , A. D. Rata
    •  & N. Pryds

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Domain walls in van der Waals layered ferrielectric CuInP2Se6 exhibit piezoelectric response. This striking departure from traditional ferroelectric behavior is ascribed to a partially polarized antiferroelectric state, where the domain wall separates coexisting regions of ferrielectric and antiferroelectric phases.

    • Andrius Dziaugys
    • , Kyle Kelley
    •  & Petro Maksymovych

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To realize ultra-fast dynamics of superconducting vortices one needs to overcome the practical issue of flux-flow instability (FFI). Here, Dobrovolskiy et al. demonstrate ultra-fast vortex motion at 10-15 km/s velocity in a Nb-C superconductor where the FFI is described by the edge-controlled FFI model.

    • O. V. Dobrovolskiy
    • , D. Yu Vodolazov
    •  & M. Huth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The benign nature of defects in lead halide perovskites is widely regarded as the basis for their outstanding optoelectronic properties. Here Righetto et al. overthrew this perception, revealing the defects’ surprising potency to hot carriers and devised a strategy to suppress them.

    • Marcello Righetto
    • , Swee Sien Lim
    •  & Tze Chien Sum

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