News & Comment

Kiyoshi Miyata and X.-Y. Zhu analyse the ferroelectric-like dielectric response of lead halide perovskites in the terahertz region and discuss the potential role of polar nanodomains in accounting for the defect tolerance and low recombination rates of these materials.

Charge carriers in metal halide perovskites seem to be only marginally affected by defect-related trap states. Filippo De Angelis and Annamaria Petrozza suggest that the key to this behaviour lies in the redox chemistry of halide defects.

Claudine Katan, Aditya D. Mohite and Jacky Even discuss the possible impact of various entropy contributions (stochastic structural fluctuations, anharmonicity and lattice softness) on the optoelectronic properties of halide perovskite materials and devices.

Whether you like exploring the mysteries of light–matter interactions, playing with a versatile chemical platform, or developing the most efficient devices, metal halide perovskites could be the materials for you.

Heavy atoms and crystal or inversion symmetry breaking may promote Rashba effects in halide perovskites. Sam Stranks and Paulina Plochocka propose experiments to assess the existence of these effects and their implications on the photophysics of perovskites.

US research funding sees both winners and losers as the Trump administration outlines its agenda.

Materials research in Africa can contribute to addressing global challenges by tapping into a growing number of talented scientists.

Art historians have joined forces with material scientists in order to better understand the objects of interest but also develop better conservation treatments and preservation approaches.

Carl Heron and Joanne Dyer from the British Museum in London talk to Nature Materials about the research activities at the museum and how scientists can impact cultural heritage.