Electronic properties and materials articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors reveal a link between the quantum metric and the dielectric constant of insulators, determining the geometric capacitance of insulators and revealing the intrinsic delocalization of electrons in the lattice.

    • Ilia Komissarov
    • , Tobias Holder
    •  & Raquel Queiroz
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Strange metal behaviour of high-Tc superconductors, characterised by unconventional electrical and thermodynamic properties, still poses challenges for theory. Smit et al. report experimental features in the self-energy of a strange metal that are consistent with predictions by holographic theoretical methods.

    • S. Smit
    • , E. Mauri
    •  & M. S. Golden
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extreme magnetoresistance (XMR) is the name assigned to the large and non-saturating magnetoresistance that occurs in some metals and semi-metals. In this work, the authors demonstrate the first material, PtSn4, in which XMR can be switched off by changing the direction of the magnetic field.

    • J. Diaz
    • , K. Wang
    •  & P. J. W. Moll
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The transport behavior of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) remains unclear. Here, the authors explore the fundamentals of low-wear and high-conductivity refractory HEAs, examining the cocktail effect in conductivity, and highlight its potential applications in enhancing atomic-scale image resolution.

    • Cheng-Hsien Yeh
    • , Wen-Dung Hsu
    •  & Chuan-Feng Shih
  • Article
    | Open Access

    According to conventional wisdom, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) can only measure the magnitude of the superconducting gap but not its phase. Here, the authors propose a new method to directly detect the superconducting gap phase using ARPES and validate this technique on a cuprate superconductor.

    • Qiang Gao
    • , Jin Mo Bok
    •  & X. J. Zhou
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large-scale 2D hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) grown via chemical vapour deposition (CVD) has strategic importance for various applications of 2D materials. Here, the authors analyse the structural and electrical properties of commercially available CVD hBN from 9 popular suppliers and compare the results with mechanically exfoliated hBN and in-house CVD hBN.

    • Yue Yuan
    • , Jonas Weber
    •  & Mario Lanza
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topological flat bands offer a solid-state platform for studying the interplay between topology and electron correlations. Here, the authors demonstrate that a prototypical 3D Dirac material can host topological flat bands under magnetic fields due to polar-distortion-assisted Rashba splitting.

    • Dong Xing
    • , Bingbing Tong
    •  & Cheng-Long Zhang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recently, superconductivity near 80 K was observed in La3Ni2O7 under high pressure, but the mechanism is debated. Here the authors report angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements under ambient pressure, revealing flat bands with strong electronic correlations that could be linked to superconductivity.

    • Jiangang Yang
    • , Hualei Sun
    •  & X. J. Zhou
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The hierarchy of symmetry breaking in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene remains a topic of intense fundamental study. Here, the authors determine the spin polarization of symmetry-broken quantum Hall states and Chern insulators in MATBG using a twist-decoupled graphene probe.

    • Jesse C. Hoke
    • , Yifan Li
    •  & Benjamin E. Feldman
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Helimagnetic materials host a twisted magnetic texture, realizing screws, cycloids, and cones. While helimagnets are common in three dimensional materials, layered van der Waals helimagnets are exceedingly rare. Here, Akatsuka et al. demonstrate conical ordering in the easily cleavable magnet DyTe3.

    • Shun Akatsuka
    • , Sebastian Esser
    •  & Max Hirschberger
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the microscopic variability of CMOS spin qubits is crucial for developing scalable quantum processors. Here the authors report a combined experimental and numerical study of the effect of interface roughness on variability of quantum dot spin qubits formed at the Si/SiO2 interface.

    • Jesús D. Cifuentes
    • , Tuomo Tanttu
    •  & Andre Saraiva
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extreme magnetoresistance is characterized by a large and non-saturating magnetoresistance. Typically, it is observed in materials with compensated bandstructures, however, here, Christensen et al demonstrate a large and non-saturating magnetoresistance in a γAl2O3/SrTiO3 heterostructure, which is related to disorder, rather than the materials bandstructure.

    • D. V. Christensen
    • , T. S. Steegemans
    •  & N. Pryds
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The band topology of twisted 2D systems is a key factor behind their fascinating physics. Here, the authors demonstrate the role of polarization in driving the band topology evolution in twisted transition metal dichalcogenide homobilayers.

    • Xiao-Wei Zhang
    • , Chong Wang
    •  & Di Xiao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Existing proposals of axion insulators are limited to spin-1/2 systems. Here the authors put forward a concept of a high spin axion insulator with several peculiar properties, such as the absence of gapless surface states and tunability of the axion field by an external magnetic field.

    • Shuai Li
    • , Ming Gong
    •  & X. C. Xie
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Traditional methods to incorporate polycrystalline thin film into flexible systems are often complicated and limited by their sizes. Here, the authors introduce flexible amorphous thin film energy harvester, based on perovskite oxides, on a plastic substrate for electromechanical energy harvesting.

    • Ju Han
    • , Sung Hyun Park
    •  & Yong Soo Cho
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The coupling between topological electronic properties and magnetic order offers a promising route for magnetoelectric control with great potential for both applications and fundamental physics. Here, Susilo et al demonstrate the rich tunability of magnetic properties in nodal-line magnetic semiconductor Mn3Si2Te6 using pressure as control knob.

    • Resta A. Susilo
    • , Chang Il Kwon
    •  & Jun Sung Kim
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors theoretically study the pressure dependence of the phase diagram of the nickelate PrNiO2 with and without Sr doping. At high pressure, they find that the superconducting dome is significantly enhanced in both Tc and doping-range of superconductivity compared with ambient pressure, with a maximal Tc of 100 K around 100 GPa in absence of external doping.

    • Simone Di Cataldo
    • , Paul Worm
    •  & Karsten Held
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Previous work proposed the Berry curvature dipole as the mechanism of the nonlinear Hall effect. Lee et al. establish the sign-changing Berry curvature hot spots from spin-orbit split bands as the origin of the Berry curvature dipole and link it to the nonlinear Hall effect in the topological semimetal NbIrTe4.

    • Ji-Eun Lee
    • , Aifeng Wang
    •  & Hyejin Ryu
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors report the observation of an interlayer plasmon polaron in heterostructures composed of graphene and monolayer WS2. This is manifested in the ARPES spectra as a strong quasiparticle peak accompanied by several carrier density-dependent shake-off replicas around the WS2 conduction band minimum.

    • Søren Ulstrup
    • , Yann in ’t Veld
    •  & Jyoti Katoch
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spin-momentum locking is a fundamental property of condensed matter systems. Here, the authors evidence parallel Weyl spin-momentum locking of multifold fermions in the chiral topological semimetal PtGa.

    • Jonas A. Krieger
    • , Samuel Stolz
    •  & Niels B. M. Schröter
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Previous studies of the effects of strain on charge density waves have mostly focused on uniaxial strain. Here the authors use a biaxial-strain device to demonstrate switching of the charge density wave orientation, as well as a strong linear increase of the transition temperature while the gap seems to saturate.

    • A. Gallo–Frantz
    • , V. L. R. Jacques
    •  & D. Le Bolloc’h
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors report the ledge-guided epitaxial growth of high-density 2D Bi2O2Se fin arrays and their application for the realization of 2D multi-channel fin field-effect transistors, showing improved on-state currents as the number of integrated channels is increased.

    • Mengshi Yu
    • , Congwei Tan
    •  & Hailin Peng
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photonic time crystal refers to a material whose dielectric properties oscillate in time. Here the authors theoretically show such behaviour in the excitonic insulator candidate Ta2NiSe5 under optical excitation and use it to explain the enhanced THz reflectivity recently observed in pump-probe experiments

    • Marios H. Michael
    • , Sheikh Rubaiat Ul Haque
    •  & Eugene Demler
  • Article
    | Open Access

    In most materials, the hall conductivity has a scaling to the longitudinal resistance that varies between linear and quadratic. Here, Zhang et al demonstrate a hall conductivity proportional to the fifth power of the longitudinal conductivity in Mn3Si2Te6, which they attribute to enhanced force on charge carriers due to chiral orbital currents.

    • Yu Zhang
    • , Yifei Ni
    •  & Gang Cao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The electronic correlation-driven Mott metal-insulator transition has been predicted in a 2D metal-organic framework with a kagome structure. Here the authors synthesize such a system in experiment and demonstrate an electrostatically controlled Mott transition.

    • Benjamin Lowe
    • , Bernard Field
    •  & Agustin Schiffrin
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Manipulating the electronic properties of topological semimetals is a central goal of modern condensed matter physics research. Here, the authors demonstrate how a high-entropy engineering approach allows for the tuning of the crystal structure and the electronic states in a Dirac semimetal.

    • Antu Laha
    • , Suguru Yoshida
    •  & Zhiqiang Mao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Point defects in 2D semiconductors have potential for quantum computing applications, but their controlled design and synthesis remains challenging. Here, the authors identify and fabricate a promising quantum defect in 2D WS2 via high-throughput computational screening and scanning tunnelling microscopy.

    • John C. Thomas
    • , Wei Chen
    •  & Geoffroy Hautier
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phase singularities are intimately related to orbital angular momentum. Direct local imaging of orbital angular momentum effects at the nanoscale remains challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate via scanning tunnelling microscopy that inter-orbital angular momentum scatterings induced by asymmetric potentials can modulate the phase singularities and induce single-wavefront dislocations.

    • Yi-Wen Liu
    • , Yu-Chen Zhuang
    •  & Lin He
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The thermal Hall effect is a novel probe of neutral excitations in insulators; however, the mechanism behind one type of neutral excitations – phonons – is still unclear. Here the authors observe a planar thermal Hall effect in the Kitaev candidate material Na2Co2TeO6 and proposed that it is generated by phonons.

    • Lu Chen
    • , Étienne Lefrançois
    •  & Louis Taillefer
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large-scale eDMFT computation reveals that FeO undergoes a gradual orbitally selective insulator-metal transition across the extreme conditions of Earth’s interior, with implications for compositions and conductivity of the core-mantle boundary region.

    • Wai-Ga D. Ho
    • , Peng Zhang
    •  & Vasilije V. Dobrosavljevic
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The communication of colour information stands as one of the most immediate and widespread methods of interaction among biological entities. Xu et al. report an electrochromic neuromorphic transistor employing color updates to represent synaptic weight for real-time visualised in-sensor computing.

    • Yao Ni
    • , Jiaqi Liu
    •  & Wentao Xu
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Integrating self-healing capabilities into skin-like stretchable transistors presents a persistent challenge. Here, by using a supramolecular polymer matrix, the authors develop autonomous self-healing transistors and skin-like logic circuits.

    • Ngoc Thanh Phuong Vo
    • , Tae Uk Nam
    •  & Jin Young Oh
  • Article
    | Open Access

    While monolayer of 1T-TaS2 is considered to be a Mott insulator, the nature of the bulk insulating state is debated. Here the authors introduce a ladder-type structures with fractional misalignment of adjacent layers, showing that it becomes a Mott insulator due to decoupling between the layers.

    • Yihao Wang
    • , Zhihao Li
    •  & Liang Cao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reconfigurable neuromorphic transistors are important for creating compact and efficient neuromorphic computing networks. Here, Li et al. introduce an optoelectronic electrolyte-gated transistor to perform multimodal recognition.

    • Pengzhan Li
    • , Mingzhen Zhang
    •  & Chen Ge
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene (BLG) has been extensively studied due to its tunable band gap and emerging electronic properties, but its low-energy band structure remains debated. Here, the authors report magnetotransport measurements of Bernal BLG, showing evidence of four Dirac cones and electrically induced topological transitions.

    • Anna M. Seiler
    • , Nils Jacobsen
    •  & R. Thomas Weitz
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superconductors with hexagonal symmetry are expected to be isotropic particularly near the critical temperature Tc, a property called emergent rotational symmetry (ERS). Here, the authors use calorimetry to study the hexagonal kagome superconductor CsV3Sb5 and find a violation of the expected ERS, hinting at realization of exotic superconductivity.

    • Kazumi Fukushima
    • , Keito Obata
    •  & Shingo Yonezawa
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Guo et al. report enhanced emission and photoconductivity in 2D Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites by synergistically tuning the intra and interlayer structure via pressure. A structure descriptor considering both intra- and interlayer is then introduced for screening perovskite with desired properties.

    • Songhao Guo
    • , Willa Mihalyi-Koch
    •  & Xujie Lü
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical control is an alternative pathway to boost nonlinear transport in noncentrosymmetric systems. Here, the authors observe a light-induced giant enhancement of nonreciprocal transport coefficient as high as 105 A−1 T−1 at KTaO3-based Rashba interfaces.

    • Xu Zhang
    • , Tongshuai Zhu
    •  & Xuefeng Wang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors demonstrate that the band structure of graphene nanoribbons is modulated by cove edges, brightening the luminescence 4-fold via emission from otherwise dark twilight states. High spectral resolution of the optical response reveals strong vibron-electron coupling

    • Bernd K. Sturdza
    • , Fanmiao Kong
    •  & Robin J. Nicholas