Reviews & Analysis

Electrical injection into polaritons, built from admixing excitons in carbon nanotubes with light in a surrounding microcavity, has been achieved.

Large tensile pressure applied to the putative topological Kondo insulator SmB₆ results in an expansion of the lattice in all directions, and a huge increase in the temperature range over which surface-dominated conduction can be observed.

Exploring the minute mechanical deformations induced by electrical bias at the interface with electrolytes allows the identification of local crystallinity and distinguishing adsorption and intercalation of ions in electroactive polymers.

A method to realize regular patterns with nanometre precision during the synthesis of PtSe₂ and CuSe monolayers has been developed.

A Pd₄ cluster, supported by a metal–organic framework and formed by post-synthesis methods, shows high catalytic activity and selectivity for carbene-mediated reactions. This crystallographically precise material may lead to a large class of catalysts.

High-resolution imaging, composition analysis and mechanical testing reveal a disordered transitional material within the Achilles tendon-to-bone attachment, structured as a fibrous network to enable force transfer and maximize structural integrity.

A study on the formation of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite films reveals that light illumination influences the crystallization kinetics, therefore affecting the final photovoltaic performance of these materials.

Simulation determined the crystal energy landscape of a set of molecular crystals, predicting ultrahigh surface area solids with high methane storage. These were then synthesized, showing the potential of computational structure-property mapping.

Thermally activated defects in a blue-emitting phosphor can enhance energy transfer to the activator, and compensate for thermal quenching.

By combining an electron-counting camera with low-energy transmission electron microscopy, it is possible to directly image the surface structure of delicate metal–organic framework crystals and their coherent interfaces.

Molecular spintronics is an interdisciplinary field at the interface between organic spintronics, molecular magnetism, molecular electronics and quantum computing, which is advancing fast and promises large technological payoffs.

This Perspective discusses the spin-dependent properties emerging at the interfaces of molecular and inorganic materials, and describes possible future developments for spin-based technologies.

Resonance fluorescence from a semiconductor quantum dot unravels a rich two-photon landscape of correlations, and may be used to test their quantum nonlocality.

Nuclear quadrupole resonance spectroscopy is used to map the properties of atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride, with the help of the nitrogen–vacancy colour centres engineered in a diamond layer placed under the 2D material.

The magnetization in a chiral ferromagnetic fluid can be twisted and linked to form a stable three-dimensional topological soliton known as a hopfion.

Using a biomimetic culture platform to replicate the early biophysical environment of a developing embryo, human pluripotent stem cells can be directed towards amnion formation in vitro.