Using group theory and first principles calculations, it is shown that an analogue of the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction that allows the antisymmetric exchange spin coupling in magnets exists in ferroelectrics.

A light-induced topological phase transition is realized in the Dirac semimetal ZrTe5 by coherently driving symmetry-breaking phonons.

Nanoporous tripeptide crystals mechanically deform upon water evaporation due to the strengthening of the water hydrogen bonding inside the pores, which causes the distortion of the surrounding supramolecular network, creating stresses that extend through the crystal lattice and result in actuation.

Chinese researchers demonstrate quantum computational advantage with photons at room temperature.

An elaborate DNA origami tubular nanodevice encapsulating antigens and adjuvants protects mice from cancer through tumour-specific immunomodulation.

Stress fibres form a fully integrated meshwork with the submembranous contractile actin cortex that generates and propagates traction forces across the entire cell.

The discovery of the spin Hall effect1 enabled the efficient generation and manipulation of the spin current. More recently, the magnetic spin Hall effect2,3 was observed in non-collinear antiferromagnets, where the spin conservation is broken due to the non-collinear spin configuration. This provides a unique opportunity to control the spin current and relevant device performance with controllable

Two-dimensional electrons confined to GaAs quantum wells are hallmark platforms for probing electron–electron interactions. Many key observations have been made in these systems as sample quality has improved over the years. Here, we present a breakthrough in sample quality via source-material purification and innovation in GaAs molecular beam epitaxy vacuum chamber design. Our samples display an ultra-high

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-00962-z.

In nature, bone adapts to mechanical forces it experiences, strengthening itself to match the conditions placed upon it. Here we report a composite material that adapts to the mechanical environment it experiences—varying its modulus as a function of force, time and the frequency of mechanical agitation. Adaptation in the material is managed by mechanically responsive ZnO, which controls a crosslinking

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-00956-x.

Liquid-metal networks have been developed that can be stretched to extreme deformations with minimal change in electrical resistance, ushering in approaches for breathable and integrated soft and stretchable electronic devices.

Actomyosin machinery endows cells with contractility at a single-cell level. However, within a monolayer, cells can be contractile or extensile based on the direction of pushing or pulling forces exerted by their neighbours or on the substrate. It has been shown that a monolayer of fibroblasts behaves as a contractile system while epithelial or neural progentior monolayers behave as an extensile system

Stretchable electronic circuits are critical for soft robots, wearable technologies and biomedical applications. Development of sophisticated stretchable circuits requires new materials with stable conductivity over large strains, and low-resistance interfaces between soft and conventional (rigid) electronic components. To address this need, we introduce biphasic Ga–In, a printable conductor with high

Stretchable electronics find widespread uses in a variety of applications such as wearable electronics, on-skin electronics, soft robotics and bioelectronics. Stretchable electronic devices conventionally built with elastomeric thin films show a lack of permeability, which not only impedes wearing comfort and creates skin inflammation over long-term wearing but also limits the design form factors of

In the flourishing field of soft robotics, strategies to embody communication and collective motion are scarce. Here we report the synchronized oscillations of thin plastic actuators by an approach reminiscent of the synchronized motion of pendula and metronomes. Two liquid crystalline network oscillators fuelled by light influence the movement of one another and display synchronized oscillations in-phase

Active materials are capable of converting free energy into mechanical work to produce autonomous motion, and exhibit striking collective dynamics that biology relies on for essential functions. Controlling those dynamics and transport in synthetic systems has been particularly challenging. Here, we introduce the concept of spatially structured activity as a means of controlling and manipulating transport

Sir John Meurig Thomas, who was one of the leading materials and catalytic scientists of his generation, sadly died in November 2020, aged 87.

The notion of higher-order topological insulators has endowed materials with topological states beyond the first order. Particularly, a three-dimensional (3D) higher-order topological insulator can host topologically protected 1D hinge states, referred to as the second-order topological insulator, or 0D corner states, referred to as the third-order topological insulator. Similarly, a 3D higher-order

Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene exhibits intriguing quantum phase transitions triggered by enhanced electron–electron interactions when its flat bands are partially filled. However, the phases themselves and their connection to the putative non-trivial topology of the flat bands are largely unexplored. Here we report transport measurements revealing a succession of doping-induced Lifshitz transitions

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread to nearly every corner of the globe, causing societal instability. The resultant coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) leads to fever, sore throat, cough, chest and muscle pain, dyspnoea, confusion, anosmia, ageusia and headache. These can progress to life-threatening respiratory insufficiency, also affecting the heart, kidney, liver

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-00950-3.

Resonant ultrafast excitation of infrared-active phonons is a powerful technique with which to control the electronic properties of materials that leads to remarkable phenomena such as the light-induced enhancement of superconductivity1,2, switching of ferroelectric polarization3,4 and ultrafast insulator-to-metal transitions5. Here, we show that light-driven phonons can be utilized to coherently manipulate

Moiré superlattices in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterostructures can host novel correlated quantum phenomena due to the interplay of narrow moiré flat bands and strong, long-range Coulomb interactions1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. However, microscopic knowledge of the atomically reconstructed moiré superlattice and resulting flat bands is still lacking, which is critical for fundamental understanding

Topological aspects of the geometry of DNA and similar chiral molecules have received a lot of attention, but the topology of their electronic structure is less explored. Previous experiments revealed that DNA can efficiently filter spin-polarized electrons between metal contacts, a process called chiral-induced spin selectivity. However, the underlying correlation between chiral structure and electronic

Endosomal escape remains a fundamental barrier hindering the advancement of nucleic acid therapeutics. Taking inspiration from natural phospholipids that comprise biological membranes, we report the combinatorial synthesis of multi-tailed ionizable phospholipids (iPhos) capable of delivering messenger RNA or mRNA/single-guide RNA for gene editing in vivo. Optimized iPhos lipids are composed of one

Efforts to obtain high-strength graphene sheets by near-room-temperature assembly have been frustrated by the misalignment of graphene layers, which degrades mechanical properties. While in-plane stretching can decrease this misalignment, it reappears when releasing the stretch. Here we use covalent and π–π inter-platelet bridging to permanently freeze stretch-induced alignment of graphene sheets,

Iron–chromium and nickel–chromium binary alloys containing sufficient quantities of chromium serve as the prototypical corrosion-resistant metals owing to the presence of a nanometre-thick protective passive oxide film1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Should this film be compromised by a scratch or abrasive wear, it reforms with little accompanying metal dissolution, a key criterion for good passive behaviour. This

Snap-through buckling is commonly used in nature for power-amplified movements. While natural examples such as Utricularia and Dionaea muscipula can autonomously reset their snapping structures, bio-inspired analogues require external mediation for sequential snap events. Here we report the design principles for self-repeating, snap-based polymer jumping devices. Transient shape changes during the

Many questions in basic biology and medicine require the ability to visualize the function of specific cells and molecules inside living organisms. In this context, technologies such as ultrasound, optoacoustics and magnetic resonance provide non-invasive imaging access to deep-tissue regions, as used in many laboratories and clinics to visualize anatomy and physiology. In addition, recent work has

Deposition of a one-atom-thick layer of Ag or Cu on Au electrodes proves to be an effective strategy to tune the band alignment and conductivity of molecular junctions.

Understanding chemical bonding and conductivity at the electrode–molecule interface is key for the operation of single-molecule junctions. Here we apply the d-band theory that describes interfacial interactions between adsorbates and transition metal surfaces to study electron transport across these devices. We realized bimetallic Au electrodes modified with a monoatomic Ag adlayer to connect α,ω-alkanoic

Periodic nano- or microscale structures are used to control light, energy and mass transportation. Colloidal organization is the most versatile method used to control nano- and microscale order, and employs either the enthalpy-driven self-assembly of particles at a low concentration or the entropy-driven packing of particles at a high concentration. Nonetheless, it cannot yet provide the spontaneous

Among physical stimulation modalities, magnetism has clear advantages, such as deep penetration and untethered interventions in biological subjects. However, some of the working principles and effectiveness of existing magnetic neurostimulation approaches have been challenged, leaving questions to be answered. Here we introduce m-Torquer, a magnetic toolkit that mimics magnetoreception in nature. It

Despite progress in solid-state battery engineering, our understanding of the chemo-mechanical phenomena that govern electrochemical behaviour and stability at solid–solid interfaces remains limited compared to at solid–liquid interfaces. Here, we use operando synchrotron X-ray computed microtomography to investigate the evolution of lithium/solid-state electrolyte interfaces during battery cycling

An immune cell population enriched in inflamed gut tissue is shown to play a role in driving CD44+ intestinal organoid proliferation, while also regulating extracellular matrix deposition and remodelling in a synthetic hydrogel platform.

Over the last few years, there has been a shift towards the use of three-dimensional multicellular structures that more closely recapitulate native tissues and organs as tools to understand development, physiology and pathology.

Two-dimensional superconductors have been produced via a mild intercalation-assisted, exfoliation approach, providing large-size, high-quality single layers with the ease and versatility of liquid-phase processing.

Automated extrusion-based bioprinting has been shown to enable human kidney organoid generation with improved throughput, quality control and scale, representing an important step towards macro-scale kidney tissue engineering.

Linking π-conjugated, electron-deficient ligands into atomically precise large single crystals of conducting 2D metal–organic frameworks can allow the determination of intrinsic electrical conductivity and charge transport mechanism.

Ferroelectricity in bulk crystals of hafnium oxide demonstrates that these properties are not limited to films prepared by thin-film deposition techniques.

HfO2, a simple binary oxide, exhibits ultra-scalable ferroelectricity integrable into silicon technology. This material has a polymorphic nature, with the polar orthorhombic (Pbc21) form in ultrathin films regarded as the plausible cause of ferroelectricity but thought not to be attainable in bulk crystals. Here, using a state-of-the-art laser-diode-heated floating zone technique, we report the Pbc21

Topological spin textures have attracted much attention both for fundamental physics and spintronics applications. Among them, antiskyrmions possess a unique spin configuration with Bloch-type and Néel-type domain walls owing to anisotropic Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in the non-centrosymmetric crystal structure. However, antiskyrmions have thus far only been observed in a few Heusler compounds

The basement membrane (BM) is a special type of extracellular matrix and presents the major barrier cancer cells have to overcome multiple times to form metastases. Here we show that BM stiffness is a major determinant of metastases formation in several tissues and identify netrin-4 (Net4) as a key regulator of BM stiffness. Mechanistically, our biophysical and functional analyses in combination with

Moiré superlattices of two-dimensional van der Waals materials have emerged as a powerful platform for designing electronic band structures and discovering emergent physical phenomena. A key concept involves the creation of long-wavelength periodic potential and moiré bands in a crystal through interlayer electronic hybridization or atomic corrugation when two materials are overlaid. Here we demonstrate

Metal fluorides, promising lithium-ion battery cathode materials, have been classified as conversion materials due to the reconstructive phase transitions widely presumed to occur upon lithiation. We challenge this view by studying FeF3 using X-ray total scattering and electron diffraction techniques that measure structure over multiple length scales coupled with density functional theory calculations

Microtubule instability stems from the low energy of tubulin dimer interactions, which sets the growing polymer close to its disassembly conditions. Molecular motors use ATP hydrolysis to produce mechanical work and move on microtubules. This raises the possibility that the mechanical work produced by walking motors can break dimer interactions and trigger microtubule disassembly. We tested this hypothesis

Hybrid materials constructed from the assembly of inorganic building blocks and organic linkers have shown unique properties and applications. Superstructures of semiconductor magic-sized nanoclusters linked by diamines now join this class of materials.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-00925-4.

A multifunctional device produces a much-improved thermoelectric-driven transverse voltage by exploiting a thermoelectric current to drive an anomalous Hall effect in a ferromagnet.

Using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering, a new experimental window is opened on fundamental magnetic excitations in mesoscopic ferromagnets.

Spin excitations of magnetic thin films are the founding element for magnetic devices in general. While spin dynamics have been extensively studied in bulk materials, the behaviour in mesoscopic films is less known due to experimental limitations. Here, we employ resonant inelastic X-ray scattering to investigate the spectrum of spin excitations in mesoscopic Fe films, from bulk-like films down to

Metal chalcogenide magic-sized nanoclusters have shown intriguing photophysical and chemical properties, yet ambient instability has hampered their extensive applications. Here we explore the periodic assembly of these nanoscale building blocks through organic linkers to overcome such limitations and further boost their properties. We designed a diamine-based heat-up self-assembly process to assemble

When a temperature gradient is applied to a closed circuit comprising two different conductors, a charge current is generated via the Seebeck effect1. Here, we utilize the Seebeck-effect-induced charge current to drive ‘transverse’ thermoelectric generation, which has great potential for energy harvesting and heat sensing applications owing to the orthogonal geometry of the heat-to-charge-current conversion2

Dissipationless currents from topologically protected states are promising for disorder-tolerant electronics and quantum computation. Here, we photogenerate giant anisotropic terahertz nonlinear currents with vanishing scattering, driven by laser-induced coherent phonons of broken inversion symmetry in a centrosymmetric Dirac material ZrTe5. Our work suggests that this phononic terahertz symmetry switching

Two-dimensional (2D) crystals are promising materials for developing future nano-enabled technologies1,2,3,4,5,6. The cleavage of weak, interlayer van der Waals bonds in layered bulk crystals enables the production of high-quality 2D, atomically thin monolayers7,8,9,10. Nonetheless, as earth-abundant compounds, metal oxides are rarely accessible as pure and fully stoichiometric monolayers owing to

Large reversible shear strain has been achieved by electric-field-driven bipolar switching in a hybrid ferroelectric, facilitating development of shape-memory-type actuators with outstanding figures of merit.

Use of polymer and small-molecule semiconductors with relatively poor miscibility helps the long-term stability of the morphology and photovoltaic performance of bulk heterojunction films used in organic solar cells.

Grain boundary (GB) migration plays an important role in modifying the microstructures and the related properties of polycrystalline materials, and is governed by the atomistic mechanism by which the atoms are displaced from one grain to another. Although such an atomistic mechanism has been intensively investigated, it is still experimentally unclear as to how the GB migration proceeds at the atomic