Physical sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The coupling that occurs between the structural and the magnetic properties of magnetic materials leads to a host of magnetoresponsive effects that are useful for potential technological applications. Here, a strong magnetostructural coupling that persists over a wide temperature range is reported in MnNiGe:Fe alloys.

    • Enke Liu
    • , Wenhong Wang
    •  & Frank de Boer

  • Article |

    Nitrogen-vacancy colour centres in diamond are promising examples for solid-state multi-spin-qubit systems. Here, the spin environment of nitrogen vacancy centres is studied spectroscopically, uncovering a mechanism for spin-flip suppression that opens the way for quantum information applications.

    • N. Bar-Gill
    • , L.M. Pham
    •  & R. Walsworth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The motion of domain walls in magnetic materials characterized by a perpendicular axis of magnetization is a promising means of controlling information in future memory and logic devices. Schellekenset al. show the velocity of domain walls in such systems can be controlled by using an applied electric field.

    • A.J. Schellekens
    • , A. van den Brink
    •  & B. Koopmans

  • Article |

    The ground state of yttrium-doped lithium holmium fluoride, a realisation of dilute magnetic dipoles, has been the subject of much debate. Biltmo and Henelius demonstrate theoretically that the system freezes and exhibits extremely slow and unusual glassy dynamics.

    • A. Biltmo
    •  & P. Henelius

  • Article |

    The electromotive force is a well established phenomenon that is induced by a varying magnetic field. Here, Tanabeet al. report a compelling experimental confirmation of its spin-induced analogue, the spinmotive force.

    • K. Tanabe
    • , D. Chiba
    •  & T. Ono

  • Article |

    The formation mechanisms of fullerenes remain unclear. This study shows that fullerenes self-assemble through a closed network growth mechanism in which atomic carbon and C2are incorporated into the growing closed cages.

    • Paul W. Dunk
    • , Nathan K. Kaiser
    •  & Harold W. Kroto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoscale optomechanical systems offer a route to using optical forces for a range of devices based on photonic structures. Deotareet al. present a reconfigurable optical filter based on coupled silicon photonic crystal nanobeam cavities that can overcome thermo-optic effects at high frequencies.

    • Parag B. Deotare
    • , Irfan Bulu
    •  & Marko Loncar

  • Article |

    Light propagating in a medium can undergo polarization rotation, an effect that depends on light intensity and chiral properties. Renet al. report polarization rotation in a plasmonic metamaterial with million-fold stronger nonlinearity than that found in natural crystals.

    • Mengxin Ren
    • , Eric Plum
    •  & Nikolay I. Zheludev

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Resonant magnetic excitations are common in unconventional superconductors, but the mechanism for their formation is elusive. Using inelastic neutron scattering, this study finds similar excitations in the non-superconducting heavy-fermion metal CeB6, suggesting common behaviour between the two ground states.

    • G. Friemel
    • , Yuan Li
    •  & D.S. Inosov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The compositional makeup of skeletons and teeth in invertebrates and vertebrates is generally different. This study examines the material composition and properties of freshwater crayfish mandibles and finds, in an unusual case of convergent evolution, that they are composed of an apatite layer that is similar to mammalian enamel.

    • Shmuel Bentov
    • , Paul Zaslansky
    •  & Barbara Aichmayer

  • Article |

    Strain engineering has been proposed as a promising strategy for manipulating the electronic properties of graphene. This scanning tunnelling microscopy study demonstrates the feasibility of controlling strain patterns in graphene down to the nanoscale.

    • Jiong Lu
    • , A.H. Castro Neto
    •  & Kian Ping Loh

  • Review Article |

    Quantum-mechanical tunnelling currents across nanometre-scale gaps between electrodes are sensitive to the medium in the gap. Albrecht reviews progress towards using tunnelling currents to probe single-molecule processes, and in biosensor and sequencing applications.

    • T. Albrecht

  • Article |

    Tuning the properties of responsive materials by applying an external stimulus could lead to their application as chemical switches or molecular sensors. Coronadoet al. develop a non-porous one-dimensional coordination polymer, the magnetic properties of which undergo drastic changes on chemisorption of gaseous HCl.

    • Eugenio Coronado
    • , Mónica Giménez-Marqués
    •  & Lee Brammer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    As lengthscales in plasmonic structures enter the sub-nanometre regime, quantum effects become increasingly important. Here, a quantum-corrected model is presented that addresses quantum effects in realistic-sized plasmonic structures, a situation not feasible for full-quantum-mechanical simulations.

    • Ruben Esteban
    • , Andrei G. Borisov
    •  & Javier Aizpurua

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electronic and optoelectronic devices based on gallium nitride suffer from self-heating arising as a result of their operation. This study presents and demonstrates a strategy for managing this problem that relies on graphene quilts which dissipate the heat away.

    • Zhong Yan
    • , Guanxiong Liu
    •  & Alexander A. Balandin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studying the dynamics of electrons is important for understanding fundamental processes in materials. Here the ionization of a pair of electrons in argon atoms is explored on attosecond timescales, offering insight into their correlated emission and the double ionization mechanism.

    • Boris Bergues
    • , Matthias Kübel
    •  & Matthias F. Kling

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Micromechanical oscillators present a route to miniaturisation of devices and may be used as frequency references or sensitive sensors, but their small size means that they often behave nonlinearly. Antonioet al. demonstrate frequency stabilisation of nonlinear resonators by coupling two vibrational modes.

    • Dario Antonio
    • , Damián H. Zanette
    •  & Daniel López

  • Article |

    Quantum phase transitions are generally associated with many-body quantum systems undergoing changes between different phases. This study examines the connection between such phase transitions and quantum information processing, and finds that different quantum phases can have different computational power.

    • Jian Cui
    • , Mile Gu
    •  & Vlatko Vedral

  • Article |

    Flow lithography is used to synthesize microparticles but relies on polydimethylsiloxane microchannels for oxygen to permeate and inhibit polymerization near channel interfaces. Now, non-polydimethylsiloxane devices have been developed, which allow oxygen-free lithography, increasing the capabilities of flow lithography.

    • Ki Wan Bong
    • , Jingjing Xu
    •  & Patrick S. Doyle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Broadband coherent light sources are crucial for numerous applications, such as imaging and spectroscopy. Using filamentation of mid-infrared laser pulses in bulk crystals, Silvaet al. generate supercontinuum spectra over three octaves, from 4.5 μm to 450 nm, with carrier-envelope phase stability.

    • F. Silva
    • , D.R. Austin
    •  & J. Biegert

  • Article |

    Studying the structures of dense colloidal systems of anisotropic Brownian particles provides insight into fundamental processes like protein crystallization. Zhaoet al. study the phases of two-dimensional triatic liquid crystals and find that one of them exhibits local chiral-symmetry breaking.

    • Kun Zhao
    • , Robijn Bruinsma
    •  & Thomas G. Mason

  • Article |

    Electrochromic materials reversibly change their colour upon application of an electric field. Seidelet al. measure the optical properties of doped bismuth ferrite and report the largest electrochromic response for an inorganic material, which they attribute to the melting of oxygen-vacancy ordering.

    • J. Seidel
    • , W. Luo
    •  & R. Ramesh

  • Article |

    The assembly of microscopic particles into macroscopic structures may allow the fabrication of complex materials, but general strategies to provide a wide variety of structures are lacking. Khalilet al. develop a colloidal assembly system, which can be tuned to provide over 20 different pre-programmed structures.

    • Karim S. Khalil
    • , Amanda Sagastegui
    •  & Benjamin B. Yellen

  • Article |

    Conjugated polymers are promising materials for organic photovoltaic solar cells. By usingin situgrazing incidence wide-angle X-ray diffraction, Ocko and collaborators report the formation of a new type of crystalline arrangement in a conjugated polymer material known as PCDTBT.

    • Xinhui Lu
    • , Htay Hlaing
    •  & Benjamin M. Ocko

  • Article |

    Electron spins at nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond are thought to be the most promising building blocks for practical realizations of quantum computers. Yaoet al. present a scalable architecture for a quantum information processor based on such vacancy centres that operates at room temperature.

    • N.Y. Yao
    • , L. Jiang
    •  & M.D. Lukin

  • Article |

    Studying the effects of extracellular matrix stiffening has been impeded because mostin vitromodels are static. Here, dynamic hydrogels are developed that stiffen in the presence of cells and are used to investigate the short-term (minutes-to-hours) and long-term (days-to-weeks) cellular responses to dynamic stiffening.

    • Murat Guvendiren
    •  & Jason A. Burdick

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-assembly of multi-component systems can be used to construct discrete, well-defined, nanoscopic-sized cages. Pasqualeet al. report the self-assembly of conical-shaped carboxylic acid derivatives of calix[4]arene and calix[5]arene, and the uranyl cation UO22+into octahedral and icosahedral anionic metallocages.

    • Sara Pasquale
    • , Sara Sattin
    •  & Javier de Mendoza

  • Article |

    Percolation transitions indicate the threshold above which a network can operate. This work examines a general class of models known as hierarchical networks, and shows they can be made to percolate explosively, if they share features of so-called 'small-world' networks.

    • Stefan Boettcher
    • , Vijay Singh
    •  & Robert M. Ziff

  • Article |

    The terahertz spectral region is desirable for applications such as imaging or spectroscopy, but progress is hampered by a lack of efficient terahertz devices. By exploiting intraband transitions in graphene, Sensale-Rodriguezet al. demonstrate a broadband intensity modulator working at terahertz frequencies.

    • Berardi Sensale-Rodriguez
    • , Rusen Yan
    •  & Huili Grace Xing

  • Article |

    Morphotropic phase boundaries—regions of abrupt structural change and enhanced material response—are of practical importance and are a challenge for the fundamental theory of phase transitions. Here, the ferroelectric–antiferroelectric boundary is studied using atomically resolved mapping in BiFeO3.

    • A.Y. Borisevich
    • , E.A. Eliseev
    •  & S.V. Kalinin

  • Article |

    The kinetics of chemical reactions occurring within confined volumes is relevant to a range of systems, including biological cells. This study examines the kinetics of reaction networks, and finds that below a critical volume there may be pairs of species whose relative concentrations invert.

    • Rajesh Ramaswamy
    • , Nélido González-Segredo
    •  & Ramon Grima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stable, ultrahigh repetition rate optical clocks are critical for applications in high-speed communications, metrology and microchip computing. Pecciantiet al.present a mode-locked laser based on an integrated microcavity, with repetition rate exceeding 200 GHz and narrow linewidth pulses.

    • M. Peccianti
    • , A. Pasquazi
    •  & R. Morandotti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic solar cells are promising for technological applications, as they are lightweight and mechanically robust. This study presents flexible organic solar cells that are less than 2 μm thick, have very low specific weight and maintain their photovoltaic performance under repeated mechanical deformation.

    • Martin Kaltenbrunner
    • , Matthew S. White
    •  & Siegfried Bauer

  • Article |

    Microbial metabolism is usually considered to be phototrophic or chemotrophic. By showing that light-induced photoelectrons from metal oxide and metal sulfides can stimulate the growth of chemoautotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria, this study indicates that light may be involved in non-phototrophic microbial activity.

    • Anhuai Lu
    • , Yan Li
    •  & Hailiang Dong

  • Article |

    Metamaterials can be used to alter the transmission of light or sound, with their tailored structures permitting control over their optical or acoustic properties. Meiet al. present a thin-film acoustic metamaterial that provides efficient absorption of sound over a broad range of wavelengths.

    • Jun Mei
    • , Guancong Ma
    •  & Ping Sheng

  • Article |

    Stochastic processes play an important role in a broad range of scientific problems. This study demonstrates that a large class of such processes are most efficiently simulated by quantum mechanical models, thus reducing the complexity required to simulate them using classical models.

    • Mile Gu
    • , Karoline Wiesner
    •  & Vlatko Vedral

  • Article |

    A record of the daily light cycle in tropical regions is difficult to extract from biogenic marine carbonates such as shells. Here, the precise analysis of Sr/Ca ratios is shown in a cultivated giant clam shell, revealing variations that reflect the daily light cycle and the potential for future development of a proxy.

    • Yuji Sano
    • , Sayumi Kobayashi
    •  & Kenji Iwai

  • Article |

    The singular properties of topological insulators are defined by the topological nature of their metallic surface states. This study shows that by doping Bi2Se3nanoribbons with antimony, the transport properties of these surface states are measurable and can be distinguished from the contributions due to the bulk of the samples.

    • Seung Sae Hong
    • , Judy J. Cha
    •  & Yi Cui

  • Article |

    Graphene is characterized by unique physical properties that offer substantial promise, most notably for electronic applications. Mannooret al. present a wireless graphene-based sensor for detecting bacteria on a range of biological tissues.

    • Manu S. Mannoor
    • , Hu Tao
    •  & Michael C. McAlpine

  • Article |

    The spin-dependent thermal and electrical transport properties of nanostructures are central for future applications of spintronic devices. Here, Linet al. report an enhanced spin-dependent thermoelectric effect in an Al2O3-based magnetic tunnel junction.

    • Weiwei Lin
    • , Michel Hehn
    •  & Stéphane Mangin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The piezoelectric materials most commonly used for technological applications contain lead, a toxic element. Slukaet al. identify a mechanism that leads to an enhancement of the dielectric and piezoelectric properties of non-toxic ferroelectrics, due to the presence of charged domain walls.

    • Tomas Sluka
    • , Alexander K. Tagantsev
    •  & Nava Setter

  • Article |

    Explosive energy releases in plasmas, such as in solar eruptions like flares and coronal mass ejections, are thought to be caused by magnetic reconnection in thin current sheets. Zhanget al. observed a magnetic flux rope during a solar eruption, highlighting its role in driving explosive energy releases.

    • Jie Zhang
    • , Xin Cheng
    •  & Ming-de Ding

  • Article |

    An important goal in optics is to image objects hidden by turbid media, although line-of-sight techniques fail when the obscuring medium becomes opaque. Veltenet al. use ultrafast imaging techniques to recover three-dimensional shapes of non-line-of-sight objects after reflection from diffuse surfaces.

    • Andreas Velten
    • , Thomas Willwacher
    •  & Ramesh Raskar

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