Physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene's broad bandwidth makes it promising as a photodetector, but common electronics cannot analyse the currents at high frequencies. Here, using photocurrent measurements, laser-induced carrier generation effects in freely suspended graphene and at graphene–metal interfaces are clarified up to 1 THz.

    • Leonhard Prechtel
    • , Li Song
    •  & Alexander W. Holleitner

  • Article |

    Under certain conditions, such as those found in low-dimensional systems, materials can show quantized behaviour based only on universal constants. Here, the relative optical transparency of gold nanopillar arrays is shown to change solely in units of the fine structure constant on adjusting array parameters.

    • V.G. Kravets
    • , F. Schedin
    •  & A.N. Grigorenko

  • Article |

    The dynamics of isolated quantum systems can either be strongly correlated with their initial state, or chaotic, as they relax into thermal equilibrium. Olshaniiet al. present a simple, exactly solvable model that captures the transition between these two limiting cases, and suggests it may have some universal features.

    • Maxim Olshanii
    • , Kurt Jacobs
    •  & Vladimir A. Yurovsky

  • Article |

    Single-photon emitters are important for developing quantum technologies, but their integration with existing devices requires them to be driven by electric fields. Here, an organic light-emitting diode is presented that emits single photons from guest molecules in an applied electric field at room temperature.

    • Maximilian Nothaft
    • , Steffen Höhla
    •  & Jörg Wrachtrup

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although they offer significant promise, practical implementations of quantum key distribution are often not as rigorous as theory predicts. This study demonstrates how two instances of such discrepancies can be resolved by taking advantage of an enotropic formulation of the uncertainty principle.

    • Marco Tomamichel
    • , Charles Ci Wen Lim
    •  & Renato Renner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Untrustworthy sources or detectors mean that quantum entanglement cannot always be ensured, but quantum steering inequalities can verify its presence. Using a highly efficient system, Smithet al. are able to close the detection loophole and clearly demonstrate steering between two parties.

    • Devin H. Smith
    • , Geoff Gillett
    •  & Andrew G. White

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum mechanics predicts that objects can simultaneously exist in a superposition of two states. Kneeet al.propose and demonstrate experimentally a protocol which fully confirms this prediction, by testing the so-called Leggett–Garg inequality in a non-invasive manner.

    • George C. Knee
    • , Stephanie Simmons
    •  & Simon C. Benjamin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fluctuations of the electrical current in nanoscale devices reveal important details of the physical processes occurring inside them. Using a quantum point contact placed in its vicinity, Ubbelohde et al. measure the electrical fluctuations in a single-electron transistor, and determine the dynamical features of the transport.

    • Niels Ubbelohde
    • , Christian Fricke
    •  & Rolf J. Haug

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studying carrier multiplication in materials is important to understand their transport properties and interaction with light. Hiroriet al. show that intense terahertz pulses can generate electron-hole pairs in GaAs quantum wells that then emit infrared light, contrary to the effect with a DC field.

    • H. Hirori
    • , K. Shinokita
    •  & K. Tanaka

  • Article |

    When materials change temperature as a result of the application of pressure or a change in the magnetization, they are said to display a barocaloric or magnetocaloric effect, respectively. This study reports a substantial barocaloric effect in the giant magnetocaloric material LaFe11.33Co0.47Si1.2.

    • Lluís Mañosa
    • , David González-Alonso
    •  & Subham Majumdar

  • Article |

    The night sky viewed from Earth is very bright at infrared wavelengths due to atmospheric emission, making land-based astronomy difficult in this spectral region. Here, a photonic filter is demonstrated to suppress this unwanted light, opening new paths to infrared astronomy with current and future telescopes.

    • J. Bland-Hawthorn
    • , S.C. Ellis
    •  & C. Trinh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum objects are subject to decoherence effects due to the surrounding environment. This study demonstrates experimentally a counterintuitive example of anomalous decoherence, in which electron spins residing at nitrogen vacancy centres in diamond display longer coherence times under stronger noises.

    • Pu Huang
    • , Xi Kong
    •  & Jiangfeng Du

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chiral liquid crystals of two-dimensional colloids have not been extensively investigated. Xu and Gao show that graphene oxide can form chiral liquid crystals, and demonstrate that they can be spun into macroscopic fibres, and that subsequent chemical reduction provides graphene fibres with high conductivity.

    • Zhen Xu
    •  & Chao Gao

  • Article |

    X-ray ptychography has been used to extend the field of view in high-resolution quantitative imaging. Godardet al. develop Bragg-mode ptychography to reconstruct, in three dimensions, a crystalline specimen that is too large to be studied as a single object with a coherence-limited X-ray beam.

    • P. Godard
    • , G. Carbone
    •  & V. Chamard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The propagation of magnetic domain walls in nanowires offers promise as the basis of future memory storage technologies. Muñoz and Prieto show that the random pinning of domain walls to structural defects in the nanowires can be suppressed at low fields, thus improving the reliability of the transmission of the domain walls substantially.

    • Manuel Muñoz
    •  & José L. Prieto

  • Article |

    The controllable modification of graphene by chemical functionalization can modulate its optical and electronic properties. Sunet al. devise a functionalisation-based method to pattern graphane/graphene superlattices within a single sheet of graphene.

    • Zhengzong Sun
    • , Cary L. Pint
    •  & James M. Tour

  • Article |

    Magnetoelectric materials combine ferroelectric and magnetic properties through a coupling of the spin and lattice degrees of freedom. Here, magnetoelectric bismuth ferrite is found to simultaneously undergo both a magnetic and a ferroelectric transition at the same temperature.

    • Kyung-Tae Ko
    • , Min Hwa Jung
    •  & Chan-Ho Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    When two spatially separated parties flip a coin, it is impossible to choose between two alternatives in an unbiased manner. This study presents a quantum coin-flipping protocol that overcomes this problem and ensures a dishonest party cannot bias the outcome completely.

    • Guido Berlín
    • , Gilles Brassard
    •  & Wolfgang Tittel

  • Article |

    Generation of multipartite entanglement between quantum states is crucial for developing quantum computation systems, although it has proven harder to achieve for photons than ions. Here, an eight-photon entangled state based on four independent photon pairs is observed, beating the previous record of six.

    • Yun-Feng Huang
    • , Bi-Heng Liu
    •  & Guang-Can Guo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tunnelling transitions triggered by microwave irradiation between coupled quantum dots have generally been assumed to be spin-conserving. This study shows that this condition is violated in the presence of spin–orbit coupling, thus opening new possibilities for manipulating a two–spin qubit system by microwave irradiation.

    • L.R. Schreiber
    • , F.R. Braakman
    •  & L.M.K. Vandersypen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    External electric fields have been used to control the motion of small objects through electrostatic repulsion. Here, electric fields are used to polarize conducting objects, triggering their movement by spatially separated electrochemical reactions leading to directionally controlled bubble evolution.

    • Gabriel Loget
    •  & Alexander Kuhn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most quantum communication experiments are performed at visible wavelengths, yet practical, long-range schemes need photons in the telecommunications range. Here, down-conversion of a visible photon to the near-infrared is demonstrated, while retaining its entanglement to another visible photon.

    • Rikizo Ikuta
    • , Yoshiaki Kusaka
    •  & Nobuyuki Imoto

  • Article |

    Surface characterization of soft materialsin situis challenging due to the importance of non-covalent interactions. Now, a new chemical imaging method is reported that generates images of surface interactions by combining many molecular probe trajectories.

    • Robert Walder
    • , Nathaniel Nelson
    •  & Daniel K. Schwartz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the theory of general relativity time flows at different rates depending on the space–time geometry. Here, a drop in the visibility of a quantum 'clock' interference in a gravitational potential is predicted, which cannot be explained without the general relativistic notion of time.

    • Magdalena Zych
    • , Fabio Costa
    •  & Časlav Brukner

  • Article |

    Nanofluidic diodes are utilized for the rectification of ionic transport, but their rectifying properties cannot be altered after the devices are made. Here, a field-effect reconfigurable nanofluidic diode is reported in which the forward direction and the degree of rectification can be modulated by a gate voltage.

    • Weihua Guan
    • , Rong Fan
    •  & Mark A. Reed

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanocrystals are used in light-emitting diodes and solar cells, but their charge transport in films is unclear. Here, the study of PbS nanocrystal films reveals the role of mid-gap states in their charge transport, suggesting different design needs for devices operated in dark (transistors) versus light (solar cells) conditions.

    • Prashant Nagpal
    •  & Victor I. Klimov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inertial sensors using atom interferometry have applications in geophysics, navigation- and space-based tests of fundamental physics. Here, the first operation of an atom accelerometer during parabolic flights is reported, demonstrating high-resolution measurements at both 1g and 0g.

    • R. Geiger
    • , V. Ménoret
    •  & P. Bouyer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The paradigm of reservoir computing shows that, like the human brain, complex networks can perform efficient information processing. Here, a simple delay dynamical system is demonstrated that can efficiently perform computations capable of replacing a complex network in reservoir computing.

    • L. Appeltant
    • , M.C. Soriano
    •  & I. Fischer

  • Article |

    Quadrupoles have many engineering applications, but experimental observations of fluidic multipoles have not been reported. This study presents an experimental two-dimensional microfluidic quadrupole, a theoretical analysis consistent with observations, and a first application as a channel-free floating gradient generator.

    • Mohammad A. Qasaimeh
    • , Thomas Gervais
    •  & David Juncker

  • Article |

    Property coupling by heteroepitaxy is severely limited in material combinations with highly dissimilar bonding. This report presents a chemical boundary condition methodology to actively engineer two-dimensional film growth in such systems that otherwise collapse into island formation and rough morphologies.

    • Elizabeth A. Paisley
    • , Mark. D. Losego
    •  & Jon-Paul Maria

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The measurement of the total cross-section of proton–proton collisions is of fundamental importance for particle physics. Here, the first measurement of the inelastic cross-section is presented for proton–proton collisions at an energy of 7 teraelectronvolts using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

    • G. Aad
    • , B. Abbott
    •  & L. Zwalinski

  • Article |

    Photodetection is believed to be among the most promising potential applications for graphene. Here, by combining graphene with plasmonic nanostructures, the efficiency of graphene-based photodetectors is increased by up to two orders of magnitude.

    • T.J. Echtermeyer
    • , L. Britnell
    •  & K.S. Novoselov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Determining the direction of the magnetic field of light is important for optical applications. Here, scattering of light from a subwavelength aperture in a metal plane is shown to be governed by its magnetic vector, providing the magnetic field orientation independently of the electric field.

    • H.W. Kihm
    • , S.M. Koo
    •  & D.-S. Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    At extreme temperature and pressure, materials can form new dense phases with unusual physical properties. Here, laser-induced microexplosions are used to produce a superdense, stable, body-centred-cubic form of aluminium, which was previously predicted to exist at pressures above 380GPa.

    • Arturas Vailionis
    • , Eugene G. Gamaly
    •  & Saulius Juodkazis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single atoms can be detected using optical resonators that extend the lifetime of the photon. Here, the authors demonstrate fast, high-fidelity detection of very low atom densities using a microfabricated optical cavity to couple the detection light with the atoms.

    • J. Goldwin
    • , M. Trupke
    •  & E.A. Hinds

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum-mechanical predictions are generally probabilistic. Here, assuming freely chosen measurements, it is shown that enhanced predictions are not possible and, thus, randomness is inherent in quantum theory: a result that has applications in fields such as quantum cryptography.

    • Roger Colbeck
    •  & Renato Renner

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