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Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 17. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

In the version of this Letter originally published, Fig. 5g in the Supplementary Information was missing the scale bar. This has now been corrected. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 17. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

The Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, UK.

Nanolasers generate coherent light at the nanoscale. In the past decade, they have attracted intense interest, because they are more compact, faster and more power-efficient than conventional lasers. Thanks to these capabilities, nanolasers are now an emergent tool for a variety of practical applications. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 17. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Nonlinear Physics Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

Topological photonics has emerged as a route to robust optical circuitry protected against disorder and now includes demonstrations such as topologically protected lasing and single-photon transport. Recently, nonlinear optical topological structures have attracted special theoretical interest, as they enable tuning of topological properties by a change in the light intensity and can break optical reciprocity to realize full topological protection. However, so far, non-reciprocal topological states have only been realized using magneto-optical materials and macroscopic set-ups with external magnets, which is not feasible for nanoscale integration. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 17. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.

When the Fermi level is aligned with the Dirac point of graphene, reduced charge screening greatly enhances electron-electron scattering. In an optically excited system, the kinematics of electron-electron scattering in Dirac fermions is predicted to give rise to novel optoelectronic phenomena. In this paper, we report on the observation of an intrinsic photocurrent in graphene, which occurs in a different parameter regime from all the previously observed photothermoelectric or photovoltaic photocurrents in graphene: the photocurrent emerges exclusively at the charge neutrality point, requiring no finite doping. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec;13(12):1087

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec;13(12):1087

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec;13(12):1092

Nature Nanotechnology, .

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec;13(12):1092

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Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec;13(12):1092

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Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec;13(12):1092

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Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 6;13(12):1109-1119. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Key Laboratory for Intelligent Nano Materials and Devices of Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures and Institute of Nanoscience, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China.

Water contains tremendous energy in a variety of forms, but very little of this energy has yet been harnessed. Nanostructured materials can generate electricity on interaction with water, a phenomenon that we term the hydrovoltaic effect, which potentially extends the technical capability of water energy harvesting and enables the creation of self-powered devices. In this Review, starting by describing fundamental properties of water and of water-solid interfaces, we discuss key aspects pertaining to water-carbon interactions and basic mechanisms of harvesting water energy with nanostructured materials. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec;13(12):1088-1091

Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.

Measurement of the force between two atoms is performed routinely with the atomic force microscope. The shape of this interatomic force law is now found to directly regulate this capability: rapidly varying interatomic force laws, which are common in nature, can corrupt their own measurement. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 10. Epub 2018 Dec 10.

Laboratory for Multifunctional Ferroic Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Although ferromagnetism is known to be of enormous importance, the exploitation of materials with a compensated (for example, antiferromagnetic) arrangement of long-range ordered magnetic moments is still in its infancy. Antiferromagnetism is more robust against external perturbations, exhibits ultrafast responses of the spin system and is key to phenomena such as exchange bias, magnetically induced ferroelectricity or certain magnetoresistance phenomena. However, there is no conjugate field for the manipulation of antiferromagnetic order, hindering both its observation and direct manipulation. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 10. Epub 2018 Dec 10.

Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Cancer recurrence after surgical resection remains a significant cause of treatment failure. Here, we have developed an in situ formed immunotherapeutic bioresponsive gel that controls both local tumour recurrence after surgery and development of distant tumours. Briefly, calcium carbonate nanoparticles pre-loaded with the anti-CD47 antibody are encapsulated in the fibrin gel and scavenge H in the surgical wound, allowing polarization of tumour-associated macrophages to the M1-like phenotype. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 10. Epub 2018 Dec 10.

National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany.

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London, UK.

Much of the functionality of multicellular systems arises from the spatial organization and dynamic behaviours within and between cells. Current single-cell genomic methods only provide a transcriptional 'snapshot' of individual cells. The real-time analysis and perturbation of living cells would generate a step change in single-cell analysis. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Castelldefels, Spain.

Colloidal quantum dot (CQD) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) deliver a compelling performance in the visible, yet infrared CQD LEDs underperform their visible-emitting counterparts, largely due to their low photoluminescence quantum efficiency. Here we employ a ternary blend of CQD thin film that comprises a binary host matrix that serves to electronically passivate as well as to cater for an efficient and balanced carrier supply to the emitting quantum dot species. In doing so, we report infrared PbS CQD LEDs with an external quantum efficiency of ~7. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.

Borophene, a theoretically proposed two-dimensional (2D) boron allotrope, has attracted much attention as a candidate material platform for high-speed, transparent and flexible electronics. It was recently synthesized, on Ag(111) substrates, and studied by tunnelling and electron spectroscopy. However, the exact crystal structure is still controversial, the nanometre-size single-crystal domains produced so far are too small for device fabrication and the structural tunability via substrate-dependent epitaxy is yet to be proven. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.

Lysosomes are multifunctional, subcellular organelles with roles in plasma membrane repair, autophagy, pathogen degradation and nutrient sensing. Dysfunctional lysosomes underlie Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and rare lysosomal storage diseases, but their contributions to these pathophysiologies are unclear. Live imaging has revealed lysosome subpopulations with different physical characteristics including dynamics, morphology or cellular localization. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 26. Epub 2018 Nov 26.

Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Dübendorf, Switzerland.

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 26. Epub 2018 Nov 26.

Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan.

Heat-driven engines are hard to realize in nanoscale machines because of efficient heat dissipation. However, in the realm of spintronics, heat has been employed successfully-for example, heat current has been converted into a spin current in a NiFe|Pt bilayer system, and Joule heating has enabled selective writing in magnetic memory arrays. Here, we use Joule heating in nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions to create a giant spin torque due to a magnetic anisotropy change. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 26. Epub 2018 Nov 26.

Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Current technologies for water purification are limited by their contaminant-specific removal capability, requiring multiple processes to meet water quality objectives. Here we show an innovative biomimetic micellar nanocoagulant that imitates the structure of Actinia, a marine predator that uses its tentacles to ensnare food, for the removal of an array of water contaminants with a single treatment step. The Actinia-like micellar nanocoagulant has a core-shell structure and readily disperses in water while maintaining a high stability against aggregation. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 26. Epub 2018 Nov 26.

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 26. Epub 2018 Nov 26.

Laboratory of New Materials for Solar Energetics, Department of Materials Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), Moscow, Russia.

Despite tremendous progress in efficiency and stability, perovskite solar cells are still facing the challenge of upscaling. Here we present unique advantages of reactive polyiodide melts for solvent- and adduct-free reactionary fabrication of perovskite films exhibiting excellent quality over large areas. Our method employs a nanoscale layer of metallic Pb coated with stoichiometric amounts of CHNHI (MAI) or mixed CsI/MAI/NHCHNHI (FAI), subsequently exposed to iodine vapour. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec;13(12):1191

Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford, CA, USA.

In the version of this Letter originally published, Zongfu Yu was mistakenly not noted as being a corresponding author; this has now been corrected in all versions of the Letter. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 12. Epub 2018 Nov 12.

University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 12. Epub 2018 Nov 12.

School of Advanced Materials, Peking University, Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, China.

The solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) is probably the least understood component in Li-ion batteries. Considerable effort has been put into understanding its formation and electrochemistry under realistic battery conditions, but mechanistic insights have mostly been inferred indirectly. Here we show the formation of the SEI between a graphite anode and a carbonate electrolyte through combined atomic-scale microscopy and in situ and operando techniques. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 12. Epub 2018 Nov 12.

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

Photonic topological insulators offer the possibility to eliminate backscattering losses and improve the efficiency of optical communication systems. Despite considerable efforts, a direct experimental demonstration of theoretically predicted robust, lossless energy transport in topological insulators operating at near-infrared frequencies is still missing. Here, we combine the properties of a planar silicon photonic crystal and the concept of topological protection to design, fabricate and characterize an optical topological insulator that exhibits the valley Hall effect. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 12. Epub 2018 Nov 12.

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.

The memristor is a promising building block for next-generation non-volatile memory, artificial neural networks and bio-inspired computing systems. Organizing small memristors into high-density crossbar arrays is critical to meet the ever-growing demands in high-capacity and low-energy consumption, but this is challenging because of difficulties in making highly ordered conductive nanoelectrodes. Carbon nanotubes, graphene nanoribbons and dopant nanowires have potential as electrodes for discrete nanodevices, but unfortunately these are difficult to pack into ordered arrays. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov;13(11):973

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 5;13(11):994-1003. Epub 2018 Nov 5.

Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.

Van der Waals heterostructures are synthetic quantum materials composed of stacks of atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) layers. Because the electrons in the atomically thin 2D layers are exposed to layer-to-layer coupling, the properties of van der Waals heterostructures are defined not only by the constituent monolayers, but also by the interactions between the layers. Many fascinating electrical, optical and magnetic properties have recently been reported in different types of van der Waals heterostructures. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 5;13(11):986-993. Epub 2018 Nov 5.

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.

In recent decades, scientists have developed the means to engineer synthetic periodic arrays with feature sizes below the wavelength of light. When such features are appropriately structured, electromagnetic radiation can be manipulated in unusual ways, resulting in optical metamaterials whose function is directly controlled through nanoscale structure. Nature, too, has adopted such techniques-for example in the unique colouring of butterfly wings-to manipulate photons as they propagate through nanoscale periodic assemblies. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov;13(11):983-985

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov;13(11):978

Nature Nanotechnology, .

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov;13(11):978

Nature Nanotechnology, .

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov;13(11):978

Nature Nanotechnology, .

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov;13(11):978

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Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov;13(11):974-976

Department of Physics and School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov;13(11):977

Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, USA.

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 5;13(12):1167-1173. Epub 2018 Nov 5.

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.

The ongoing discoveries of RNA modalities (for example, non-coding, micro and enhancer) have resulted in an increased desire for detecting, sequencing and identifying RNA segments for applications in food safety, water and environmental protection, plant and animal pathology, clinical diagnosis and research, and bio-security. Here, we demonstrate that single-molecule conductance techniques can be used to extract biologically relevant information from short RNA oligonucleotides, that these measurements are sensitive to attomolar target concentrations, that they are capable of being multiplexed, and that they can detect targets of interest in the presence of other, possibly interfering, RNA sequences. We also demonstrate that the charge transport properties of RNA:DNA hybrids are sensitive to single-nucleotide polymorphisms, thus enabling differentiation between specific serotypes of Escherichia coli. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 5;13(12):1120-1125. Epub 2018 Nov 5.

IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA, USA.

Nuclear spins serve as sensitive probes in chemistry and materials science and are promising candidates for quantum information processing. NMR, the resonant control of nuclear spins, is a powerful tool for probing local magnetic environments in condensed matter systems, which range from magnetic ordering in high-temperature superconductors and spin liquids to quantum magnetism in nanomagnets. Increasing the sensitivity of NMR to the single-atom scale is challenging as it requires a strong polarization of nuclear spins, well in excess of the low polarizations obtained at thermal equilibrium, as well as driving and detecting them individually. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec;13(12):1093-1094

Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPCMS, Strasbourg, France.

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec;13(12):1094-1096

Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) & Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Oct 29. Epub 2018 Oct 29.

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.

Spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in multilayers of ferromagnetic (FM) and non-magnetic (NM) metals can manipulate the magnetization of the FM layer efficiently. This is employed, for example, in non-volatile magnetic memories for energy-efficient mobile electronics and spin torque nano-oscillators for neuromorphic computing. Recently, spin torque nano-oscillators also found use in microwave-assisted magnetic recording, which enables ultrahigh-capacity hard disk drives. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 29;13(12):1143-1147. Epub 2018 Oct 29.

Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford, CA, USA.

Sensing the direction of sounds gives animals clear evolutionary advantage. For large animals, with an ear-to-ear spacing that exceeds audible sound wavelengths, directional sensing is simply accomplished by recognizing the intensity and time differences of a wave impinging on its two ears. Recent research suggests that in smaller, subwavelength animals, angle sensing can instead rely on a coherent coupling of soundwaves between the two ears. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 29;13(12):1137-1142. Epub 2018 Oct 29.

Department of Physics, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA.

Solid-state single-quantum emitters are crucial resources for on-chip photonic quantum technologies and require efficient cavity-emitter coupling to realize quantum networks beyond the single-node level. Monolayer WSe, a transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductor, can host randomly located quantum emitters, while nanobubbles as well as lithographically defined arrays of pillars in contact with the transition metal dichalcogenide act as spatially controlled stressors. The induced strain can then create excitons at defined locations. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov 29;13(11):1078-1086. Epub 2018 Oct 29.

State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Electronics and Information Technology, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Display Material and Technology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.

Microbial biochemicals have been indicated as the primary stimulators of innate immunity, the first line of the body's defence against infections. However, the influence of topological features on a microbe's surface on immune responses remains largely unknown. Here we demonstrate the ability of TiO microparticles decorated with nanospikes (spiky particles) to activate and amplify the immune response in vitro and in vivo. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Nov;13(11):980-981

Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Oct 22. Epub 2018 Oct 22.

Institut für Halbleiteroptik und Funktionelle Grenzflächen, Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST) and SCoPE, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.

Efficient fibre-based long-distance quantum communication via quantum repeaters relies on deterministic single-photon sources at telecom wavelengths, potentially exploiting the existing world-wide infrastructures. For upscaling the experimental complexity in quantum networking, two-photon interference (TPI) of remote non-classical emitters in the low-loss telecom bands is of utmost importance. Several experiments have been conducted regarding TPI of distinct emitters, for example, using trapped atoms, ions, nitrogen vacancy centres, silicon vacancy centres, organic molecules and semiconductor quantum dots. Read More

Nat Nanotechnol 2018 Dec 22;13(12):1100-1108. Epub 2018 Oct 22.

Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory, Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, USA.

Infusion reactions (IRs) are complex, immune-mediated side effects that mainly occur within minutes to hours of receiving a therapeutic dose of intravenously administered pharmaceutical products. These products are diverse and include both traditional pharmaceuticals (for example biological agents and small molecules) and new ones (for example nanotechnology-based products). Although IRs are not unique to nanomedicines, they represent a hurdle for the translation of nanotechnology-based drug products. Read More