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Microtubules respond to mechanical compression by deforming, becoming more stable, which results in CLASP2 recruitment to the distorted shaft—a process crucial for cell migration through confined spaces.
Polar domains have been observed in twist-stacked van der Waals layers, but their dynamics are unexplored. Here, using operando electron microscopy, it is found that polar domains in an antiferroelectric arrangement cannot transition to a ferroelectric state due to topological protection of the domain wall network.
The authors demonstrate exciton-assisted resonant electron tunnelling in van der Waals heterostructure tunnel junctions. Their study elucidates tunnelling mechanisms involving either indirect or direct excitons in the absence of charge injection and reveals excitonic light emission driven by inelastic electron tunnelling.
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.
High-quality AlN heteroepitaxial films are obtained by controllable discretization and coalescence of columns on nano-patterned AlN/sapphire templates with hexagonal holes, where the density of dislocation etch pits is greatly reduced to ~10 × 104 cm−2.
The authors demonstrate strong coupling in bound state in the continuum metasurfaces on nanostructured bulk WS2 and exhibiting sharp resonances with tailored linewidths and controllable light-matter coupling strength.
Strong yet releasable metamaterial adhesives are fabricated using nonlinear cut architectures to achieve control of the crack propagation interface for programmable, directional and spatially selective adhesion.
Elaborated catalysts design can substantially enhance performance under unfavourable reaction conditions. Amorphous nickel hydroxide proton sieve used to modify local chemical environment on a platinum surface results in unprecedented performance for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction.
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.
Employing connected coaxial waveguides on a nested meta-crystal configuration, the authors design photonic crystals with scalar-wave-like band dispersions, facilitating the search for topological phases in three-dimensional photonic crystals.
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.
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.
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.
A bi-continuous hydrogel prepared from phase-separated PEDOT:PSS and polyurethane is 3D printed into soft biolelectronic devices with high electrical conductivity, stretchability and toughness for long-term in vivo electrophysiological monitoring and stimulation.
Piezoelectric actuators play a critical role in precision positioning devices; however, materials with high actuation strain and mechanical energy density are rare. Here a composite of poly(vinylidene fluoride) and TiO2 demonstrates superior performance in these metrics, with the ferroelectric transition driven by Joule heating.
Combining a tungsten disulfide monolayer and a topologically protected bound state in the continuum formed by a one-dimensional photonic crystal, strong light–matter interaction enhancement and large exciton–polariton nonlinearities at room temperature are demonstrated.
Photopolymerizable hydrogels enable optical clearance and high homogeneous expansion for high-resolution optical imaging of cells embedded within degradable hydrogels.
Detailed structures of both solvated corona chains and sub-nanometre crystalline core lattice of polymer-based nanofibres in solution are obtained using high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy.
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.