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  • Article
    | Open Access

    3D skyrmion strings are topological spin textures promising for spintronics applications, but their manipulation and dynamics are challenging to understand. Here, high-resolution 3D phase imaging reveals the melting dynamics of metastable skyrmions, accompanied by the emergence of (anti)hedgehogs, in (Fe,Ni,Pd)3P and FeGe helimagnets.

    • Xiuzhen Yu
    • , Nobuto Nakanishi
    •  & Yoshinori Tokura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rare-earth engineering is an effective way to introduce and tune magnetism in topological materials. Here, titanium-based kagome metals RETi3Bi4 (RE = Yb, Pr, and Nd) are synthesized and characterized, whereby changing the rare earth atoms in zig-zag chains the magnetism can be tuned from nonmagnetic YbTi3Bi4 to short-range ordered PrTi3Bi4 and finally to ferromagnetic NdTi3Bi4.

    • Long Chen
    • , Ying Zhou
    •  & Gang Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nonlinear memory devices such as memristors, memcapacitors, and meminductors, are the building blocks of energy-efficient neuromorphic computing. Here, the authors propose a superconducting circuit design acting as a microwave quantum memcapacitor, which could be implemented in neuromorphic quantum computing architectures.

    • Xinyu Qiu
    • , Shubham Kumar
    •  & Francisco Albarrán-Arriagada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The tetragonal tungsten bronzes are promising for high-temperature energy storage applications but the mechanisms for their broad dielectric responses are unclear. Here, a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of Sr2NaNb5O15 explains its two large dielectric anomalies in terms of structural transitions.

    • Jeremiah P. Tidey
    • , Urmimala Dey
    •  & Mark S. Senn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic Josephson junctions are important for studying the interplay between superconductivity and ferromagnetism. Here, an inverse proximity effect with tunable nanoscale spin ordering at the superconductor/ferromagnet interface of Nb-permalloy structures is observed, confirming theoretical predictions on these systems.

    • Roberta Satariano
    • , Anatoly Fjodorovich Volkov
    •  & Davide Massarotti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Commercial adiabatic demagnetisation refrigerators are typically based on hydrated salts that are subject to corrosion and have poor thermal conductivity and low entropy at sub-Kelvin temperatures. Here, YbNi1.6Sn is identified as a metallic magnetocaloric which retains high entropy into the 100 mK regime, providing an economical and durable alternative to magnetic refrigeration.

    • Thomas Gruner
    • , Jiasheng Chen
    •  & F. Malte Grosche

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The recent claim of near-ambient superconductivity in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydrides has sparked great excitement and strong controversies in the community. Here, a comprehensive first-principles calculations study predicts the stability and critical temperatures of Lu-N-H compounds based on their composition and applied pressure.

    • Yue-Wen Fang
    • , Đorđe Dangić
    •  & Ion Errea

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Dicke model, describing the cooperative coupling of an ensemble of two-level atoms with a single-mode light field, has a rich phenomenology in quantum optics and quantum information, but its analytical or numerical solution is beyond current reach. Here, a solid-state quantum simulator of an extended Dicke model is achieved using ErFeO3 crystals, where terahertz spectroscopy and magnetocaloric effect measurements reveal an atomically ordered phase in addition to the expected superradiant and normal phases.

    • Nicolas Marquez Peraca
    • , Xinwei Li
    •  & Junichiro Kono

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic ordering in 2D materials represents a promising platform for data storage, computing, and sensing. Here, nanometer scale imaging of few-layer Cr2Ge2Te6 reveals its thickness-dependent magnetic textures such as labyrinth domains and skyrmionic bubbles.

    • Andriani Vervelaki
    • , Kousik Bagani
    •  & Martino Poggio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Complex oxides are interesting for their potential to host multiple properties and functionalities by integrating different elements in a single compound, however they are often challenging to stabilize. Here, epitaxial stabilization of LaRuO3 and NdRuO3 is demonstrated, revealing an unconventional anomalous Hall effect in NdRuO3 which is possibly related to a non-coplanar spin texture on the Nd3+ sublattice.

    • Lingfei Zhang
    • , Takahiro C. Fujita
    •  & Masashi Kawasaki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Kagome superconductors provide a platform to explore intertwined symmetry-breaking orders, but controversies remain despite intensive experimental and theoretical efforts. Here, a combined density functional theory and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study reveals quantum confinement phenomena on the surface of CsV3Sb5, reconciling conflicting observations of time-reversal symmetry breaking between bulk- and surface-sensitive probes.

    • Yongqing Cai
    • , Yuan Wang
    •  & Chaoyu Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Unconventional superconductivity can be found in many artificial compounds such as cuprates, iron-based and heavy-fermion superconductors, and recently discovered exotic materials; however, it rarely occurs naturally. Here, nodal superconductivity is observed in synthetically clean miassite minerals, which can also be found in nature.

    • Hyunsoo Kim
    • , Makariy A. Tanatar
    •  & Ruslan Prozorov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pinning sites are extremely detrimental to the frequency tunability of nano-rectifiers based on magnetic tunnel junctions. Here, the effect of pinning defects in vortex-based magnetic tunnel junctions is thoroughly explored, revealing that an amorphous magnetic material utilized as free layer can significantly reduce the impact of pinning.

    • Alex. S. Jenkins
    • , Leandro Martins
    •  & Ricardo Ferreira

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Suspended carbon nanotubes are ideal for hosting long-lived quantum states but mechanically integrating nanotubes into circuits is challenging. Here, by engineering a transparent metal-nanotube interface, the authors can reach the open quantum dot regime and integrate the nanotube within the circuit with a 200 nm precision.

    • Tim Althuon
    • , Tino Cubaynes
    •  & Wolfgang Wernsdorfer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    When electronic band structures undergo a topological phase transition, a non-trivial Berry curvature emerges, but its experimental detection is challenging. Here, scaling relations in the nonlinear magneto-electric transport are used to reveal a topological phase transition in ZrTe5 under magnetic fields.

    • Yusuff Adeyemi Salawu
    • , Dilanath Adhikari
    •  & Heon-Jung Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Materials with a chiral crystal structure are of great interest due to potentially non-trivial structure-property relations. Here, electron microscopy and crystallographic analysis, supported by quantum chemical calculations, shed light on the conversion of the crystal structure of CoSi accompanying a change in handedness.

    • Wilder Carrillo-Cabrera
    • , Paul Simon
    •  & Yuri Grin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tuning the effective g-factor of semiconductors by a perpendicular electric field is essential for designing controllable spin-based devices such as qubits and spin field-effect transistors. Here, a wide-range g-factor tunability by external electric field is demonstrated in a high-mobility 2D hole heterostructure.

    • Maksym Myronov
    • , Philip Waldron
    •  & Sergei Studenikin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Kagome metals are remarkably interesting due to the strong interplay of topology, magnetism, van-Hove singularities, correlated flat bands, and structural degrees of freedom. Here, the driving mechanism and dynamics of the charge density wave phase in ScV6Sn6 are investigated by experimental and theoretical techniques, revealing a predominant role of phonons in its stabilization.

    • Manuel Tuniz
    • , Armando Consiglio
    •  & Federico Mazzola

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A superlattice structure in Eu-doped GaN is known to improve the power output of red LEDs, though the mechanism behind this needs to be further established. Here, terahertz emission spectroscopy is used to understand the role played by potential barriers and carrier confinement in determining power output.

    • Fumikazu Murakami
    • , Atsushi Takeo
    •  & Masayoshi Tonouchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    As recently proposed, the kagome metal CsV3Sb5 could host spontaneous orbital-currents due to Chern Fermi pockets, but these are challenging to detect. Here, a large g-factor enhancement in magnetic breakdown orbits, determined via quantum oscillations, provides a visible manifestation of Berry-curvature-induced large orbital moments.

    • Kuan-Wen Chen
    • , Guoxin Zheng
    •  & Lu Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    MnBi2-xSbxTe4 is a promising host for exotic quantum phenomena but its electronic properties crucially depend on intrinsic disorder, which is difficult to quantify. Here, the roles of nanoscale defects in MnBi2-xSbxTe4 are disentangled by statistical analysis using scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy.

    • Felix Lüpke
    • , Marek Kolmer
    •  & An-Ping Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    LiCrSe2 is a recently synthesized two-dimensional triangular lattice antiferromagnet. Here, a comprehensive analysis of its magnetic phases and structural transitions is obtained by a combination of experimental probes, revealing a complex interplay of magnetic interactions, lattice distortions, and itinerant magnetic frustration.

    • Elisabetta Nocerino
    • , Shintaro Kobayashi
    •  & Martin Månsson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    LaPt2Si2 exhibits an intriguing interplay of superconductivity and charge density wave order, but the nature of its density wave transitions is controversial. Here, high-resolution X-ray diffraction reveals the temperature dependence of a series of density wave and structural transitions in this material.

    • Elisabetta Nocerino
    • , Irene Sanlorenzo
    •  & Martin Månsson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Excitons – electron-hole bound states important for optoelectronics – are typically observed only in weakly-doped semiconductors or insulators. Here, an exciton with a large binding energy of 375 meV is observed in a highly-doped van der Waals degenerate semiconductor, remaining stable up to room temperature.

    • Yueshan Xu
    • , Junjie Wang
    •  & Zhi-Guo Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mechanical metamaterials are artificially designed structures with tunable behavior, typically obeying precisely programmed dynamics. Here, a metamaterial based on randomly stacked flexible cylindrical shells provides a disordered yet statistically robust and controllable structure for mechanical energy dissipation and storage.

    • Tomohiko G. Sano
    • , Emile Hohnadel
    •  & Florence Bertails-Descoubes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interplay of kinetic and spin degrees of freedom in strongly correlated materials leads to interesting emergent many-body phases, but their microscopic origin is still unclear. Here, a theoretical study quantifies the effect of hole motion in driving an antiferromagnetic spin background into a highly frustrated magnetic system.

    • Henning Schlömer
    • , Timon A. Hilker
    •  & Annabelle Bohrdt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Predicting phonon properties is essential for identifying thermally efficient materials. Here, an indirect bottom-up machine learning approach is able to predict comprehensive phonon properties of ~80,000 cubic crystals spanning 63 elements, thereby overcoming the computational burden of first-principles calculations.

    • Alejandro Rodriguez
    • , Changpeng Lin
    •  & Ming Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Using machine learning to construct interatomic potentials when materials are not in their electronic ground state is challenging. Here, a neural network interatomic potential is constructed for laser-excited silicon, which extends first-principles accuracy to ultra-large length and time scales.

    • Pascal Plettenberg
    • , Bernd Bauerhenne
    •  & Martin E. Garcia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antiferromagnetic materials are receiving renewed interest for their potential use in spintronics and information technology. Here, neutron scattering experiments reveal that TbCu2, a collinear antiferromagnet, can host spiral-like magnetic superstructures both in bulk form and small nanoparticle ensembles.

    • Elizabeth M. Jefremovas
    • , María de la Fuente Rodríguez
    •  & Luis Fernández Barquín

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Frustrated magnetism may lead to the emergence of intriguing charge-neutral fermionic excitations at low temperatures. Here, nuclear quadrupole resonance and specific-heat measurements on YbCuS2 reveal a gapless Fermi-liquid excitation in the antiferromagnetic state of the ytterbium zigzag chain.

    • Fumiya Hori
    • , Katsuki Kinjo
    •  & Takahiro Onimaru

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    There is great interest in commercializing perovskite solar cells, however, the presence of defects and trap states hinder their performance. Here, recent developments in characterization techniques to investigate defects and ion migration in halide perovskites are reviewed.

    • Saurabh Srivastava
    • , Sudhir Ranjan
    •  & Kanwar S. Nalwa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transition metal dichalcogenides are hosts to interesting electronic order states intertwined with non-trivial band topology. Here, systematic photoemission experiments on 1T-VSe2 reveal a Dirac nodal arc emerging from band inversion and supporting spin-momentum locked topological surface states.

    • Turgut Yilmaz
    • , Xuance Jiang
    •  & Elio Vescovo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Prediction of new high entropy materials presents a significant challenge. Here, the authors combine experimental and computational methods to search for new high entropy oxides in the tetravalent AO2 family and show why (Ti, Zr, Hf, Sn)2 crystallizes in a α-PbO2 structure.

    • Solveig S. Aamlid
    • , Graham H. J. Johnstone
    •  & Alannah M. Hallas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Strong spin-orbit coupling in SrIrO3 mixes the orbital character of iridium d-bands, resulting in correlated narrow bands and a metal-insulator transition. Here, the electric field generated by ionic liquid gating is used to manipulate the band structure, triggering a reversible control of the metal-insulator transition.

    • Fernando Gallego
    • , Javier Tornos
    •  & Jacobo Santamaria

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantized states in strongly correlated oxide nanostructures are crucial for designing quantum devices in future electronics. Here, in situ ARPES measurements in SrTi1–xVxO3 reveal that the electron mean free path is a key parameter for controlling and designing quantized states in these structures.

    • Tatsuhiko Kanda
    • , Daisuke Shiga
    •  & Hiroshi Kumigashira

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The difficulty in obtaining a superconducting gap free of subgap states has hindered progress with hybrid superconductor-semiconductor devices in germanium. Here, this challenge is addressed by using a germanosilicide parent superconductor to contact high mobility planar germanium, facilitating scalable quantum information processing.

    • Alberto Tosato
    • , Vukan Levajac
    •  & Giordano Scappucci

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Defect engineering and doping of semiconductors by ion irradiation are essential in large-scale integration of electronic devices. Here, intense ion pulses from a laser-accelerator, with flux levels up to 1022 ions cm-2 s-1, are used to induce and optimize silicon color centers and photon emitters in the telecom band.

    • Walid Redjem
    • , Ariel J. Amsellem
    •  & Thomas Schenkel

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Scintillators are materials of great interest for versatile and fast radiation detection systems. This Review discusses recent advances and strategies to improve the light yield, decay time, and coincidence timing resolution of all-inorganic and hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite scintillators.

    • Arie Wibowo
    • , Md Abdul Kuddus Sheikh
    •  & Muhammad Danang Birowosuto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Direct imaging and tuning of flat band localization in kagome materials remains a challenge. Here, scanning tunneling microscopy and photoemission spectroscopy are used to study FeSn, revealing real-space localization and magnetic tuning of the flat band state within the Fe3Sn kagome lattice layer.

    • Daniel Multer
    • , Jia-Xin Yin
    •  & M. Zahid Hasan

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    High-entropy materials are defined by the configurational entropy of their bulk phase, yet it is interesting to consider whether grain boundaries can also be “high entropy”. This paper discusses a thermodynamic framework for “high-entropy grain boundaries” and relevant concepts and unique thermodynamic properties.

    • Jian Luo
    •  & Naixie Zhou

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