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Topological insulators have been studied primarily with regard to the behaviour of electrons. A theoretical study now shows that a single layer of a metal dichalcogenide can become a topological insulator for excitons.
Knowledge and control of the dynamic response in micromagnetic configurations is important both for understanding their fundamental properties and for their use in technological applications. Pump–probe magnetic laminography now unveils the evolution of the magnetization in a three-dimensional system with nanoscale resolution.
Stress relaxation properties of the matrix as well as water transport through aquaporin-1 enable extracellular vesicles to deform and travel through the dense mesh of the extracellular matrix between cells.
The spontaneous relaxation of misfit strain achieved on graphene-coated substrates enables the growth of heteroepitaxial single-crystalline films with reduced dislocation density.
Extracellular potassium levels in the brain can be correlated to neural activity. A selective potassium sensor, in which cations other than potassium are shielded by a membrane, can measure potassium concentration changes in the brain of freely moving mice undergoing epileptic seizures.
Gauge fields in condensed matter give rise to nonreciprocal transport and topological non-trivial states. In an on-chip experiment, multi-mode optomechanical interactions generate a magnetic gauge field for nanomechanical motion and yield phonon transport with a nonreciprocal phase.
The low carrier mobilities of TMDCs pose a challenge for applications in high-speed photodetection. Integrating vertical two-dimensional heterostructures with photonic waveguides allows the intrinsic speed limitations to be overcome and record-high photodetection bandwidths to be achieved.
Light-sensitive azobenzene compounds can be engineered to stably partition into the plasma membrane, thus causing its thinning in the dark and relaxation upon light stimulation. In neurons, the resulting light-dependent change in membrane capacitance induces a transient hyperpolarization followed by rebound depolarization and action potential firing.
Tunnel field-effect transistors with spatially varying layer thickness in black phosphorus enable high performance with a record-low subthreshold swing.
Controlling the individual layer magnetization in CrI3 enables the observation of a layer-resolved magnetic proximity effect in WSe2/CrI3 heterostructures.
An operando mass spectrometry technique, along with molecular dynamics simulations, unveils the evolution of the solid–electrolyte interphase chemistry and structure in lithium-ion batteries during the first cycle.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes can restore phagocytotic properties of macrophages in artherosclerotic plaques to promote plaque clearance and combat artherosclerosis.
Fast all-electrical switching of magnetic tunnel junctions is required to improve the next generation of non-volatile memory. The combination of spin–orbit torques, spin-transfer torques, and the voltage control of magnetic anisotropy permits switching latency smaller than 0.2 ns as unveiled by real-time observation of the switching dynamics.
HER2-targeting peptide-based micelles transform into nanofibrils on binding to HER2 on cancer cells, triggering cancer cell apoptosis and tumour death in vivo.
A supercooled liquid phase of elemental sulfur can be grown electrochemically on two-dimensional materials. This phase has a markedly higher areal capacity than solid sulfur, with possible implications for future lithium–sulfur batteries.
Large-area, high-quality AB-stacked bilayer and ABA-stacked trilayer graphene films have been achieved, with fine control of Ni content, on single-crystal Cu/Ni(111) alloy foils.
A double-buffer-layer engineering strategy enables the selective growth of magnetic materials at specific locations on a wide variety of semiconducting nanorods.