Physics articles within Nature Materials

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  • Article |

    The rational design of out-of-equilibrium demixing transitions remains challenging. Active fluids are used to control the liquid–liquid phase separation of passive DNA nanostars and establish the activity-based control of the phase diagram.

    • Alexandra M. Tayar
    • , Fernando Caballero
    •  & Zvonimir Dogic

  • News & Views |

    By means of a precise folding–tearing process, screw dislocations with helical cores — appearing in pairs and taking on a DNA-like double-helix structure — are engineered to control the growth of twisted bilayer graphene.

    • Pascal Pochet
    •  & Harley T. Johnson

  • News & Views |

    Metamaterial adhesives with nonlinear cut architectures provide strong and reversible adhesion, directionality and spatially programmable adhesive strength.

    • Geonjun Choi
    •  & Hoon Eui Jeong

  • News & Views |

    By monitoring the lattice dynamics of single-crystal argyrodite Ag8SnSe6 through the superionic transition, low thermal conductivity and ionic transport are found to arise from extreme phonon anharmonicity.

    • M. de Boissieu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors report the emergence of a transient hexatic state during laser-induced transformation between two charge-density wave (CDW) phases in a thin film of the CDW material 1T-TaS2.

    • Till Domröse
    • , Thomas Danz
    •  & Claus Ropers

  • Article |

    FeSe does not exhibit magnetic order and lacks a nematic quantum critical point coinciding with optimal superconductivity, suggesting that an orbital mechanism drives nematicity, but direct evidence is lacking. Here, combining X-ray linear dichroism with in situ uniaxial stress, the role of spontaneous orbital polarization in nematic-phase FeSe is determined.

    • Connor A. Occhialini
    • , Joshua J. Sanchez
    •  & Riccardo Comin

  • Article |

    The transmission spectrum reflects energy alignment between electrodes and frontier orbitals in single-molecule junctions but few experimental tools exist for characterization beyond the HOMO–LUMO gap. Here, the authors develop a single-molecule photoelectron tunnelling spectroscopy approach that makes it possible to map the transmission spectrum beyond the HOMO–LUMO gap at room temperature.

    • Haojie Liu
    • , Lijue Chen
    •  & Wenjing Hong

  • Article |

    The direction of polariton canalization—its diffractionless propagation—in twisted bilayers at the magic angle is hindered by the lack of multiple magic angles. By controlling the twist angles between three α-MoO3 layers, reconfigurable and spectrally robust polariton canalization along any in-plane direction is demonstrated.

    • J. Duan
    • , G. Álvarez-Pérez
    •  & P. Alonso-González

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Linear π-conjugated polymers have attracted great attention as semiconductors for (opto)electronic devices, but charge transfer is only effective along polymer chains. Here poly(benzimidazobenzophenanthroline)-ladder-type two-dimensional conjugated polymers are presented with high charge carrier mobilities.

    • Mingchao Wang
    • , Shuai Fu
    •  & Xinliang Feng

  • Article |

    A method to manipulate the dislocation motion via a non-mechanical field alone has remained elusive. Here, using in situ TEM, it is directly observed that dislocation motion can be controlled solely by an external electric field.

    • Mingqiang Li
    • , Yidi Shen
    •  & Yu Zou

  • Article |

    Superionic materials are of interest for solid-state batteries or thermoelectrics, yet a clear understanding of the atomistic mechanisms is lacking. Here it is shown that transverse acoustic phonons persist above the superionic transition in argyrodite Ag8SnSe6, and that the free-Se sublattice controls fast Ag cation diffusion.

    • Qingyong Ren
    • , Mayanak K. Gupta
    •  & Jie Ma

  • Letter
    | Open Access

    The authors report subatomic precision in measuring the displacement of a nanowire. Such precision is achieved by employing deep-learning enabled analysis of single-shot scattering of topologically structured superoscillatory illumination.

    • Tongjun Liu
    • , Cheng-Hung Chi
    •  & Nikolay I. Zheludev

  • Article |

    Understanding charge-compensating interactions and ionic dynamics in organic mixed conductors can be challenging. Operando NMR spectroscopy is now used to quantify cation and water movement during doping/dedoping in mixed conductor films.

    • Dongxun Lyu
    • , Yanting Jin
    •  & Clare P. Grey

  • News & Views |

    An optical spectroscopy approach unravels different layer-dependent correlated electron phases in a two-dimensional semiconductor heterobilayer.

    • Mauro Brotons-Gisbert
    •  & Brian D. Gerardot

  • News & Views |

    Scientists have realized Weyl modes by exposing a topological insulator to large magnetic fields. Their effort enriches the toolbox to design, engineer and manipulate topological materials for physics research and materials applications.

    • Zhengguang Lu
    •  & Long Ju

  • News & Views |

    Using low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy on a MoSe2/few-layer graphene heterostructure enables localized exciton generation and mapping with atomic-scale spatial resolution.

    • Libai Huang

  • Letter |

    Employing an oxidation-activated charge transfer strategy to oxidize transition-metal dichalcogenides into transition-metal oxides, the authors imprint plasmonic cavities with laterally abrupt doping profiles and nanoscale precision demonstrating plasmonic whispering-gallery resonators.

    • Brian S. Y. Kim
    • , Aaron J. Sternbach
    •  & D. N. Basov

  • Article |

    Nickelate superconductivity has so far been limited to thin films, raising questions about the role of the polar substrate–film interface. Here the authors utilize advanced characterization techniques to reveal the interfacial atomic structure and its relevance for superconductivity.

    • Berit H. Goodge
    • , Benjamin Geisler
    •  & Lena F. Kourkoutis

  • Article |

    Optically detected magnetic resonance of nitrogen vacancy centres in diamond enables the detection of pressure-induced phase transitions, but interpreting their magnetic resonance spectra remains challenging. Here the authors propose implanted silicon vacancy defects in 4H-SiC for in situ magnetic phase detection at high pressures.

    • Jun-Feng Wang
    • , Lin Liu
    •  & Guang-Can Guo

  • Review Article |

    This Review discusses the field of antiferromagnetic spintronics with a focus on coherent effects.

    • Jiahao Han
    • , Ran Cheng
    •  & Shunsuke Fukami

  • Letter |

    We report the observation of narrowband terahertz emission from a quasi-one-dimensional charge-density-wave insulator, (TaSe4)2I. The origin of the emitted radiation is interpreted as a phason that obtains mass due to the long-range Coulomb interaction.

    • Soyeun Kim
    • , Yinchuan Lv
    •  & Fahad Mahmood

  • Article |

    The authors report on the emergence of intercell moiré exciton complexes where, in H-stacked WS2/WSe2 heterobilayers, the exciton’s hole from the WSe2 layer is surrounded by its bound electron’s wavefunction distributed among three adjacent moiré traps in the WS2 layer exhibiting an out-of-plane dipole and in-plane quadrupole.

    • Xi Wang
    • , Xiaowei Zhang
    •  & Xiaodong Xu

  • News & Views |

    Time-dependent pump–probe studies of polaritonic transport — for polaritons formed by strong coupling between organic molecules and Bloch surface waves at the interface of a distributed Bragg reflector — reveal a transition between diffusive and ballistic behaviour.

    • Jonathan Keeling
    •  & Graham Turnbull

  • News & Views |

    By exploiting optical phase-modulation at complex surface plasmon polariton patterns, as well as energy-filtered imaging, femtosecond electron pulses are dynamically shaped in phase and amplitude.

    • Armin Feist

  • Article |

    The authors report spin current generation in a metallic layer adjacent to a non-magnetic chiral hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite when subjected to a thermal gradient, and attribute this to chiral phonons possessing angular momentum.

    • Kyunghoon Kim
    • , Eric Vetter
    •  & Jun Liu

  • News & Views |

    Two studies explore strongly correlated states of Bose–Fermi excitonic complexes realized in two distinct solid-state platforms, setting the stage for tabletop quantum simulators.

    • David A. Ruiz-Tijerina

  • Perspective |

    Colloidal nanocrystals can form into periodic superlattices exhibiting collective vibrations from the correlated motion of the nanocrystals. This Perspective discusses such collective vibrations and their as-of-yet untapped potential applications for phononic crystals, acoustic metamaterials and optomechanical systems.

    • Maximilian Jansen
    • , William A. Tisdale
    •  & Vanessa Wood

  • Article |

    The study of the inherent charge transport behaviour of 3D lead halide perovskite is challenging, owing to entanglement with ionic migration effects and dipolar disorder instabilities. Here, the authors circumvented both challenges and found that ion migration is much suppressed in mixed metal perovskite compositions relative to pure-Pb counterparts.

    • Satyaprasad P. Senanayak
    • , Krishanu Dey
    •  & Henning Sirringhaus

  • Letter |

    The realization of strongly correlated bosons in a solid-state lattice is challenging. Here, the authors trap interlayer excitons in an angle-aligned WS2/bilayer WSe2/WS2 multilayer moiré lattice and observe correlated insulating states.

    • Yihang Zeng
    • , Zhengchao Xia
    •  & Kin Fai Mak

  • News & Views |

    A new spectroscopic technique takes advantage of overlapping electronic bands to probe the strongly correlated states of magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene.

    • Matthew Yankowitz

  • News & Views |

    Transforming atomically thin materials by their magnetic neighbours reveals a surprising asymmetry that allows a versatile control of the valley degrees of freedom and band topology in van der Waals heterostructures.

    • Tong Zhou
    •  & Igor Žutić

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