Physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    The formation of structural ripples has been shown to control the local electronic properties in graphene. Okadaet al. use scanning tunnelling microscopy to study the effects of ripples in Bi2Te3topological insulators, and find that buckling modulates the Dirac surface-state dispersion.

    • Yoshinori Okada
    • , Wenwen Zhou
    •  & V. Madhavan

  • Article |

    Bursting of electrified drops is a fundamental physical process and important for diverse technical applications. Wanget al. find that bursting of electrified drops in polymers is sensitive to the shape of the drops, which in turn is determined by the polymer's elasticity

    • Qiming Wang
    • , Zhigang Suo
    •  & Xuanhe Zhao

  • Article |

    Crystals containing atoms with widely disparate masses can exhibit unusual lattice dynamics. Using time-of-flight neutron scattering, Aczelet al. show that at high frequencies individual nitrogen atoms in uranium nitride behave as independent quantum harmonic oscillators.

    • A.A. Aczel
    • , G.E. Granroth
    •  & S.E. Nagler

  • Article |

    Computed tomography relies on scanning to measure an object from many angles, which fails for shot-to-shot changes and ultrafast phenomena. Matliset al. demonstrate an approach based on spectral multiplexing for single-shot tomographic imaging and use it to measure femtosecond plasma filaments.

    • N.H. Matlis
    • , A. Axley
    •  & W.P. Leemans

  • Article |

    Molecules in intense laser fields have enhanced multiple ionization rates, caused by the ionic core and laser fields acting on the part of the molecule in the up-field. Here, direct proof of this model is presented by studying the instantaneous effect of the field direction during double ionization in ArXe.

    • J. Wu
    • , M. Meckel
    •  & R. Dörner

  • Article |

    Trapped ions and atoms coexist at different temperatures in mixed systems, and cooling of ions through collisions with atoms is required for the mixture to stabilize. Raviet al. study these effects using rubidium atoms and ions, and find a collisional cooling mechanism leading to stability of the mixture.

    • K. Ravi
    • , Seunghyun Lee
    •  & S.A. Rangwala

  • Article |

    The degree of polydispersity of colloidal suspensions is known to have consequences for their physical properties. Kuritaet al. present a general method for determining the sizes of individual particles, and thus the polydispersity, using only the coordinates of the centre positions of spherical particles.

    • Rei Kurita
    • , David B. Ruffner
    •  & Eric R. Weeks

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultrafast demagnetization occurs when magnetically ordered solids are exposed to femtosecond light pulses, yet the exact spin-transfer mechanism is still debated. Combining ultrashort X-rays and infrared laser pulses, Pfauet al. show the importance of spin transport between domains in thin magnetic films.

    • B. Pfau
    • , S. Schaffert
    •  & S. Eisebitt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Causal order is a concept that is engrained in the standard understanding of time, both in classical and quantum mechanics. Oreshkovet al.generalize the standard formalism of quantum theory to a framework with no pre-existing causal order, and find a new class of correlations that have no analogue in the classical world.

    • Ognyan Oreshkov
    • , Fabio Costa
    •  & Časlav Brukner

  • Article |

    Continuous variable quantum key distribution allows secure communication that is more robust against channel losses than discrete approaches, yet is strongly affected by noise. Madsenet al.devise a continuous scheme for modulated entangled states that is more tolerant to noise and loss than other protocols.

    • Lars S. Madsen
    • , Vladyslav C. Usenko
    •  & Ulrik L. Andersen

  • Article |

    Spin liquids are states of matter in which the constituent spins of a magnet are highly correlated yet fluctuate strongly down to millikelvin temperatures. Here the authors report torque magnetometry measurements of the Mott insulator EtMe3Sb[Pd(dmit)2]2and find it displays an ungapped quantum spin liquid state.

    • D. Watanabe
    • , M. Yamashita
    •  & Y. Matsuda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving spin separation of charged particles in non-uniform magnetic fields is hindered by the Lorentz force. Kohdaet al. demonstrate spin separation in a semiconductor nanostructure by exploiting the effective magnetic field arising from the spin–orbit interaction and achieve highly polarized spin currents.

    • Makoto Kohda
    • , Shuji Nakamura
    •  & Junsaku Nitta

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A signature of the Dirac-like physics of charge carriers in graphene is the occurrence of an anomalous Hall effect, resulting in a quantization of the Landau levels. Guoet al. observe Landau levels of Dirac fermions in potassium-intercalated graphite arising in the absence of an applied magnetic field.

    • Donghui Guo
    • , Takahiro Kondo
    •  & Junji Nakamura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum metrology employs the properties of quantum states to further enhance the accuracy of some of the most precise measurement schemes to date. Here, a method for estimating the upper bounds to achievable precision in quantum-enhanced metrology protocols in the presence of decoherence is presented.

    • Rafał Demkowicz-Dobrzański
    • , Jan Kołodyński
    •  & Mădălin Guţă

  • Article |

    Insulators can be classified according to the kind of electronic interactions they are dominated by. Hellmannet al. used time- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the dominant interactions in a series of transition metal dichalcogenides.

    • S. Hellmann
    • , T. Rohwer
    •  & K. Rossnagel

  • Article |

    The coil-globule transition undergone by polymers in solution delineates a transition from expanded coils to collapsed globules, depending on the polarity of the solvent. This study examines the influence of vibrational entropy on the transition, and finds it can induce a crossover from a second-order to a first-order transition.

    • Carlo Maffi
    • , Marco Baiesi
    •  & Paolo De Los Rios

  • Article |

    The spin Hall effect and its inverse allow conversion between charge and spin currents in both magnetic and nonmagnetic materials. Weiet al.observe an anomaly in the temperature dependence of the inverse spin Hall effect, which suggests that it can also be used as a sensor for very small magnetic moments.

    • D.H. Wei
    • , Y. Niimi
    •  & Y. Otani

  • Article |

    Frequency comb synthesizers are important for metrology, but they have been difficult to use as frequency rulers in the terahertz region due to their low power. Consolinoet al. phase-lock a quantum cascade laser to a free-space-propagating terahertz comb, demonstrating that they can overcome this limitation.

    • L. Consolino
    • , A. Taschin
    •  & P. De Natale

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Blind quantum computation is a protocol that permits an algorithm, its input and output to be kept secret from the owner of the computational resource doing the calculation. Morimae and Fujii propose a strategy for topologically protected fault-tolerant blind quantum computation that is robust to environmental noise.

    • Tomoyuki Morimae
    •  & Keisuke Fujii

  • Article |

    One of the obstacles to improving the efficiency of organic photovoltaic solar cells is the recombination of polaron pairs at the interface between donor and acceptor molecules. By doping cells with galvinoxyl radicals, Zhanget al. demonstrate a mechanism that overcomes this problem via a spin-flip process.

    • Ye Zhang
    • , Tek P. Basel
    •  & Z. Valy Vardeny

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multi-partite entanglement is essential not only to understand large quantum ensembles but also to build useful quantum technologies. Armstronget al. demonstrate multimode entanglement of up to eight modes using programmable virtual networks based on linear optics that can be switched in real time.

    • Seiji Armstrong
    • , Jean-François Morizur
    •  & Hans-A. Bachor

  • Article |

    Signal modulation is a mechanism which embeds an information-carrying signal into a carrier wave to broadcast information and is essential for high-speed communication. Zhonget al. report a flexible, transparent all-graphene modulator circuit performing quaternary modulation schemes with only two transistors.

    • Seunghyun Lee
    • , Kyunghoon Lee
    •  & Zhaohui Zhong

  • Article |

    Metallic nanoantennas can be used to enhance and tailor the photoluminescence effects in small-scale devices. Huanget al.design combined nanoantenna electrodes for quantum well nanoscale light-emitting diodes, to both inject charge and control the electroluminescence properties.

    • Kevin C.Y. Huang
    • , Min-Kyo Seo
    •  & Mark L. Brongersma

  • Article |

    Precise qubit manipulation is essential in quantum computation; however errors can occur from fluctuations in the magnetic field. Wanget al. propose a robust scheme for universal control of qubits in a semiconductor double quantum dot, cancelling leading orders of error in field gradient variation.

    • Xin Wang
    • , Lev S. Bishop
    •  & S. Das Sarma

  • Article |

    Understanding ultrafast demagnetisation is key to manipulating magnetic structures on fast timescales, yet laser sources limit the attainable spatial resolution. Here, a soft X-ray high harmonic source enables a high temporal and spatial resolution study of domain demagnetisation in [Co/Pt]30multilayer films.

    • Boris Vodungbo
    • , Julien Gautier
    •  & Jan Lüning

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optomechanical systems allow for the exploration of macroscopic behaviour at or near the quantum limit. Masselet al. use micromechanical resonators to study the hybridisation of one photonic and two phononic modes with phonon numbers down to 1.8, showing a coupling between all three degrees of freedom.

    • Francesco Massel
    • , Sung Un Cho
    •  & Mika A. Sillanpää

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Along with its electronic characteristics, the spin properties of graphene have recently received increasing attention in the context of spintronic applications. Using microwave radiation, Maniet al. identify resistively detected spin resonance in monolayer and trilayer graphene sheets and extract the value for the Landé g-factor.

    • Ramesh G. Mani
    • , John Hankinson
    •  & Walter A. de Heer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Measuring the entanglement between down-converted photons is central to many quantum optical experiments, and is normally performed by scanning detectors stepwise across a plane. Edgaret al. use a CCD camera to measure the entire entangled light field, finding strong correlations in position and momentum.

    • M.P. Edgar
    • , D.S. Tasca
    •  & M.J. Padgett

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Light-matter interactions are generally dominated by electric fields and electric-dipole transitions. This study, however, quantifies magnetic contributions to light emission and so exploits the strong natural magnetic-dipole transitions in lanthanide ions to measure optical-frequency magnetic fields.

    • Tim H. Taminiau
    • , Sinan Karaveli
    •  & Rashid Zia

  • Article |

    Topologically protected states of matter are receiving widespread attention owing to their unusual electronic properties. Using numerical simulations, this study predicts that tin telluride is a physical realization of a new class of materials termed topological crystalline insulators.

    • Timothy H. Hsieh
    • , Hsin Lin
    •  & Liang Fu

  • Article |

    The Kondo coupling causes electron mass enhancement in rare earth materials, but not in otherd electron systems. Shimizu et al. report on the combination of frustrated spin liquid and strong Hund's coupling in a vanadium spinel as a mechanism for the microscopic origin of heavy dfermions in transition metals.

    • Yasuhiro Shimizu
    • , Hikaru Takeda
    •  & Hidenori Takagi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The realization of wafer-scale graphene electronics is envisaged to open up the route to the use of graphene in mainstream electronics. Hertelet al.take a step in this direction by fabricating a transistor with a SiC channel and graphene electrodes, with excellent performance up to megahertz frequencies.

    • S. Hertel
    • , D. Waldmann
    •  & H.B. Weber

  • Article |

    Controlling the behaviour of single molecules on electrode interfaces is crucial for the development of molecular spintronics. This study reports spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscopy data of the spin-split molecular orbitals of a single-molecule magnet adsorbed on a cobalt surface.

    • Jörg Schwöbel
    • , Yingshuang Fu
    •  & Roland Wiesendanger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum communication promises important advances in information and communication technology, yet it suffers from alignment sensitivity. Here, an alignment-free approach is demonstrated using liquid crystal devices, allowing for broader applications, including satellites.

    • Vincenzo D'Ambrosio
    • , Eleonora Nagali
    •  & Fabio Sciarrino

  • Article |

    X-ray free-electron lasers offer a wealth of possibilities for future diffraction studies, but variations in successive pulses mean the wavefront is not well defined. Rutishauseret al. use grating interferometry to characterize the wavefronts shot to shot, both in situand under operating conditions.

    • Simon Rutishauser
    • , Liubov Samoylova
    •  & Christian David

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The iron pnictides are a class of superconductors that have received widespread interest in recent years. By doping the prototypical material LaFeAsO with hydrogen, this study reveals the existence of a second superconducting dome at higher doping ranges, which arises due to orbital fluctuations.

    • Soshi Iimura
    • , Satoru Matsuishi
    •  & Hideo Hosono

  • Article |

    Chiral metamaterials present interesting ways to manipulate and distinguish between different circular polarizations of light. Zhanget al. realize chiral metamaterials that exhibit photoinduced switching between left- and right-handed circular polarization interactions at terahertz frequencies.

    • Shuang Zhang
    • , Jiangfeng Zhou
    •  & Xiang Zhang

  • Article |

    Single electron pumps have been proposed as potential candidates for redefining the ampere. This study reports measurements of the quantized current flowing through a semiconductor electron pump with a precision that makes a substantial step towards establishing a direct metric for electrical currents.

    • S.P. Giblin
    • , M. Kataoka
    •  & D.A. Ritchie

  • Article |

    The ability to manipulate single charges is a key requisite for novel nanoelectronic devices. Allenet al. show how to electrostatically confine electrons in suspended bilayer graphene quantum dots by local control of the graphene band structure.

    • M. T. Allen
    • , J. Martin
    •  & A. Yacoby

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