Featured
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Digital colloid-enhanced Raman spectroscopy by single-molecule counting
Research published in Nature shows that surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy carried out with colloids can quantify a range of molecules down to concentrations at the femtomolar level.
- Xinyuan Bi
- , Daniel M. Czajkowsky
- & Jian Ye
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Ultra-compact quasi-true time delay for boosting wireless channel capacity
A quasi-true time delay is demonstrated for a microwave device implemented in a CMOS technology to miniaturize true-time-delay components of beam-steering systems, addressing the fundamental channel-capacity limitations and increasing data transmission in wireless communications.
- Bala Govind
- , Thomas Tapen
- & Alyssa Apsel
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Three-dimensional atomic structure and local chemical order of medium- and high-entropy nanoalloys
Atomic electron tomography is used to determine the 3D atomic positions and chemical species of medium- and high-entropy alloy nanoparticles and quantitatively characterize the local lattice distortion, strain tensor, twin boundaries, dislocation cores and chemical short-range order.
- Saman Moniri
- , Yao Yang
- & Jianwei Miao
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Article
| Open AccessAn autonomous laboratory for the accelerated synthesis of novel materials
An autonomous laboratory, the A-Lab, is presented that combines computations, literature data, machine learning and active learning, which discovered and synthesized 41 novel compounds from a set of 58 targets after 17 days of operation.
- Nathan J. Szymanski
- , Bernardus Rendy
- & Gerbrand Ceder
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Dynamic diagnosis of metamaterials through laser-induced vibrational signatures
A high-throughput, non-contact framework is described that uses the laser-induced vibrational signatures of metamaterials to non-destructively quantify their omnidirectional elastic information, dynamic linear properties, damping properties and defects.
- Yun Kai
- , Somayajulu Dhulipala
- & Carlos M. Portela
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On the origin of diffuse intensities in fcc electron diffraction patterns
Some of the diffuse intensities observed in electron diffraction patterns of face-centred cubic multi-principal element alloys are due to reflections from higher-order Laue zones.
- Francisco Gil Coury
- , Cody Miller
- & Michael Kaufman
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Microstructure and crystal order during freezing of supercooled water drops
Optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction are used to study the freezing of water droplets in vacuum, leading to the development of a seven-stage model of freezing and the mapping of ice structures and crystal order.
- Armin Kalita
- , Maximillian Mrozek-McCourt
- & Claudiu A. Stan
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Characterization of just one atom using synchrotron X-rays
Using a specialized tip as a detector, the fingerprints of a single atom of iron and terbium are observed in synchrotron X-ray absorption spectra, allowing elemental and chemical characterization one atom at a time.
- Tolulope M. Ajayi
- , Nozomi Shirato
- & Saw-Wai Hla
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Tracking single adatoms in liquid in a transmission electron microscope
The ability to resolve single atoms in a liquid environment is demonstrated by combining a transmission electron microscope and a robust double graphene liquid cell, enabling studies of adatom motion at solid–liquid interfaces.
- Nick Clark
- , Daniel J. Kelly
- & Sarah J. Haigh
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Article
| Open AccessIn situ recording of Mars soundscape
Using data gathered from the microphones of the Perseverance rover, the first characterization of the acoustic environment on Mars is presented, showing two distinct values for the speed of sound in CO2-dominated atmosphere.
- S. Maurice
- , B. Chide
- & P. Willis
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Imaging of isotope diffusion using atomic-scale vibrational spectroscopy
Vibrational electron energy-loss spectroscopy is used to distinguish two stable isotopes of carbon and to monitor their diffusion with subnanometre spatial resolution.
- Ryosuke Senga
- , Yung-Chang Lin
- & Kazu Suenaga
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| Open AccessChemical crystallography by serial femtosecond X-ray diffraction
Small-molecule serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography (smSFX) characterizes microcrystals by indexing sparse serial XFEL diffraction frames, with little sample preparation, without beam damage, and at room temperature and pressure.
- Elyse A. Schriber
- , Daniel W. Paley
- & J. Nathan Hohman
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A quantum magnetic analogue to the critical point of water
The pressure dependence and magnetic field dependence of the specific heat of a quantum magnet, SrCu2(BO3)2, demonstrate that its phase diagram contains a line of first-order transitions terminating at a critical point, in analogy with water.
- J. Larrea Jiménez
- , S. P. G. Crone
- & F. Mila
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Single-defect phonons imaged by electron microscopy
State-of-the-art electron energy-loss spectroscopy in a transmission electron microscope maps the detailed phonon spectra of single defects in silicon carbide
- Xingxu Yan
- , Chengyan Liu
- & Xiaoqing Pan
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Bennu’s near-Earth lifetime of 1.75 million years inferred from craters on its boulders
Analysis of the size and depth of craters on boulders on the asteroid (101955) Bennu indicates that Bennu has been in near-Earth space for 1.75 ± 0.75 million years.
- R.-L. Ballouz
- , K. J. Walsh
- & D. S. Lauretta
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Chemical gradients in human enamel crystallites
Hydroxylapatite crystallites in human dental enamel show gradients in chemical composition, with a layer of magnesium enrichment on each side of a core rich in sodium, fluoride and carbonate ions.
- Karen A. DeRocher
- , Paul J. M. Smeets
- & Derk Joester
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Observations of grain-boundary phase transformations in an elemental metal
Atomic-resolution observations combined with simulations show that grain boundaries within elemental copper undergo temperature-induced solid-state phase transformation to different structures; grain boundary phases can also coexist and are kinetically trapped structures.
- Thorsten Meiners
- , Timofey Frolov
- & Christian H. Liebscher
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Review Article |
Single-particle spectroscopy for functional nanomaterials
Single-particle spectroscopic techniques that provide insights into the fundamental photophysical properties of functional nanomaterials are reviewed.
- Jiajia Zhou
- , Alexey I. Chizhik
- & Dayong Jin
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Carrier-resolved photo-Hall effect
A carrier-resolved photo-Hall technique is developed to extract properties of both majority and minority carriers simultaneously and determine the critical parameters of semiconductor materials under light illumination.
- Oki Gunawan
- , Seong Ryul Pae
- & Byungha Shin
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Letter |
Quantifying inactive lithium in lithium metal batteries
Titration gas chromatography is developed as an analytical method of distinguishing between lithium metal and lithium compounds within a cycled battery and assessing the amount of unreacted metallic lithium available.
- Chengcheng Fang
- , Jinxing Li
- & Ying Shirley Meng
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Letter |
Position and momentum mapping of vibrations in graphene nanostructures
Investigation of a free-standing graphene monolayer using a technique based on transmission electron microscopy allows identification of atomic vibrations characteristic of the bulk or the edge of the sample.
- Ryosuke Senga
- , Kazu Suenaga
- & Thomas Pichler
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Letter |
Thermal conductance of single-molecule junctions
The thermal conductance of single-molecule junctions is measured using picowatt-resolution calorimetric scanning probes and is found to be nearly independent of the length of the alkanedithiol molecules studied.
- Longji Cui
- , Sunghoon Hur
- & Edgar Meyhofer
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Letter |
Three-dimensional collective charge excitations in electron-doped copper oxide superconductors
Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering on electron-doped copper oxide superconductors reveals a three-dimensional charge collective mode, which has properties suggestive of the long-sought acoustic plasmon.
- M. Hepting
- , L. Chaix
- & W. S. Lee
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Letter |
Hundred-fold enhancement in far-field radiative heat transfer over the blackbody limit
Rates of radiative heat transfer between sub-wavelength planar membranes are experimentally and theoretically shown to exceed the blackbody limit in the far field by more than two orders of magnitude.
- Dakotah Thompson
- , Linxiao Zhu
- & Edgar Meyhofer
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Letter |
In situ X-ray diffraction measurement of shock-wave-driven twinning and lattice dynamics
In situ femtosecond X-ray diffraction measurements reveal that the dominant mechanism of shock-wave-driven deformation in tantalum changes from twinning to dislocation slip as pressure increases.
- C. E. Wehrenberg
- , D. McGonegle
- & J. S. Wark
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Letter |
Three-dimensional magnetization structures revealed with X-ray vector nanotomography
Techniques exist for imaging the magnetization patterns of magnetic thin films and at the surfaces of magnets, but here hard-X-ray tomography is used to image the three-dimensional magnetic structure within a micrometre-sized magnet in the vicinity of Bloch points.
- Claire Donnelly
- , Manuel Guizar-Sicairos
- & Laura J. Heyderman
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Letter |
Whole-brain serial-section electron microscopy in larval zebrafish
A complete larval zebrafish brain is examined and its myelinated axons reconstructed using serial-section electron microscopy, revealing remarkable symmetry and providing a valuable resource.
- David Grant Colburn Hildebrand
- , Marcelo Cicconet
- & Florian Engert
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Letter |
Metastable high-entropy dual-phase alloys overcome the strength–ductility trade-off
An alloy design strategy that aims for phase metastability, rather than phase stability, is described that will lead to the development of transformation-induced plasticity-assisted, dual-phase high-entropy alloys, which exhibit a rare combined increase in strength and ductility.
- Zhiming Li
- , Konda Gokuldoss Pradeep
- & Cemal Cem Tasan
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Letter |
Sub-particle reaction and photocurrent mapping to optimize catalyst-modified photoanodes
Using single-molecule fluorescence imaging of photoelectrocatalysis, the charge-carrier activities on single TiO2 nanorods and the corresponding water-oxidation photocurrent are mapped at high spatiotemporal resolution, revealing the best catalytic sites and the most effective sites for depositing an oxygen evolution catalyst.
- Justin B. Sambur
- , Tai-Yen Chen
- & Peng Chen
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Letter |
Radiative heat transfer in the extreme near field
Nanoscale radiative heat transfer between both dielectric and metal surfaces separated by gaps as small as two nanometres is characterized by large gap-dependent heat transfer enhancements that are accurately modelled by the theoretical framework of fluctuational electrodynamics and has important implications for technological design.
- Kyeongtae Kim
- , Bai Song
- & Pramod Reddy
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Letter |
Extra adsorption and adsorbate superlattice formation in metal-organic frameworks
Metal-organic frameworks have a porous structure that has useful applications in gas adsorption; here, small-angle X-ray scattering is used to visualize the process of adsorption as gas pressure increases, revealing that adsorbate molecules interact across pore walls in a way that allows extra adsorbate domains to be created in the framework and to form superlattices, before the adsorbate settles down into a more uniform distribution.
- Hae Sung Cho
- , Hexiang Deng
- & Osamu Terasaki
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Letter |
Vibrational spectroscopy in the electron microscope
Recent advances in electron microscopy are shown to allow vibrational spectroscopy at high spatial resolution in a scanning transmission electron microscope, and also to enable the direct detection of hydrogen.
- Ondrej L. Krivanek
- , Tracy C. Lovejoy
- & Peter A. Crozier
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Letter |
Enantiomer-specific detection of chiral molecules via microwave spectroscopy
Microwave spectroscopy is used to map the sign of an electric dipole Rabi frequency — which depends directly on the chirality of the molecule — onto the phase of emitted microwave radiation, thereby determining the chirality of cold gas-phase molecules.
- David Patterson
- , Melanie Schnell
- & John M. Doyle
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Letter |
Mapping molecular motions leading to charge delocalization with ultrabright electrons
An ultrabright femtosecond electron source is used to monitor the molecular motions in the organic salt (EDO-TTF)2PF6 as it undergoes its photo-induced insulator-to-metal phase transition.
- Meng Gao
- , Cheng Lu
- & R. J. Dwayne Miller