Search

In some materials electrons can behave hydrodynamically, exhibiting phenomena associated with classical viscous fluids. In this theory work, the authors show that the symmetries of the crystal lattices in which the electrons reside can lead to additional unique hydrodynamic effects.

A full theoretical understanding of plasmon decay into hot carriers will help in applications such as solar cells or photocatalysis. Here, the authors present a quantized plasmon model to calculate the hot-carrier distribution from plasmon decay and show its sensitivity to the band structure of the host metal.

Ultrafast spectroscopy measurements present a new direct non-equilibrium energy transfer mechanism across a metal–semiconductor interface, without charge transfer, opening up a new avenue for plasmonic energy conversion.

The dynamical axion quasiparticle, which is directly analogous to the hypothetical fundamental axion particle, is observed in two-dimensional MnBi₂Te₄, and has implications for quantum chromodynamics, cosmology and string theory.

Experiments show how the magnetic order in antiferromagnets can be manipulated through lattice vibrations excited by a laser. This induces a large and reversible magnetic moment at very high speed.

Hybridization of dark optical cavity modes with vibrational states of molecules can alter chemical reactions. Here, the authors use ab-initio methods to shine light on the associated mechanism and highlight the role of the optical mode to redistribute the vibrational energy.

Flat band materials can host unconventional superconductivity governed by electronic wavefunction winding rather than dispersion. This work shows quantum geometry assisted enhancement of flat band superconductivity under microwave absorption, demonstrated in twisted bilayer graphene.

A good way to identify microscopic conduction regimes where current flow deviates from Ohm’s law is still lacking. Here, the authors identify Sondheimer oscillations as a quantitative probe of the length scale of relaxing electron scattering in studying the non-ohmic electron flow of WP₂ crystals.

Quantitative understanding of the spatial localization of hot carriers has been elusive. Here Corteset al. spatially map hot-electron-driven reduction chemistry with 15 nm resolution as a function of time and electromagnetic field polarization for different plasmonic nanostructures.

Quantum geometry and electron–phonon coupling are two fundamental concepts in condensed matter physics that govern many correlated ground states. Now a generalized theory connects these two ideas.

The development of advanced polymer electrochemical liquid cells for transmission electron microscopy allows direct monitoring of the atomic dynamics of electrified solid–liquid interfaces during copper-catalysed CO₂ electroreduction reactions.

In moiré materials, structural relaxation phenomena can lead to unexpected and novel material properties. Here, the authors characterize an unconventional non-local relaxation process in twisted double trilayer graphene, in which an energy gain in one domain of the moiré lattice is paid for by a relaxation that occurs in the other.

Magnons—quanta of spin waves—have potential applications in signal processing technology. But it is challenging to obtain coupling between different magnons. Now a study achieves this by demonstrating nonlinear magnon mixing in an antiferromagnet.

Inducing coherent interactions between distinct magnon modes—collective excitations of magnetic order—has been challenging. A canted antiferromagnet has demonstrated coherent magnon upconversion induced by terahertz laser pulses.

Detection of an axial Higgs mode by quantum pathway interference reveals an unconventional charge density wave phase in RTe₃.

Photonic quantum computation via bulk optical nonlinearities presents challenges, due to the weakness of nonlinearity and the difficulties in doing without feed-forward control. Here, the authors propose an all-unitary approach that is based on a triply-resonant cavity with a time-dependent drive.

Here, advanced scanning transmission electron microscopy techniques are used to image the atomic structure at the interface between 2D MoS₂ and 3D Au nanoislands, revealing a moiré superlattice and illustrating the potential for (opto-)electronic moiré engineering at the 2D/3D interface.

Defects in hexagonal boron nitride exhibit room-temperature quantum emission, but their unknown structural origin challenges their technological utility. A combination of optical and electron microscopy helps to distinguish at least four classes of defects and correlate them with local strain.

Understanding the role of plasmon excitation is crucial for the realization of hot carrier devices. Here, the authors report internal quantum efficiency measurements in photoexcited gold gallium nitride Schottky diodes and elucidate the roles of surface plasmon excitation, hot carrier transport, and carrier injection in device performance.

When interactions between electrons in a material are strong, they can start to behave hydrodynamically. Spatially resolved imaging of current flow in a three-dimensional material suggests that electron–electron interactions are mediated by phonons.

Plasmons in sub-nm cavities can enable chemical processes within plasmonic hotspots. Here the authors use surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to track hot-electron-induced chemical reduction processes in aromatic molecules, thus enabling observation of redox processes at the single-molecule level.

Knowledge of the electron-gas dynamics in nanometric hot spots is of importance for hot-carrier technologies. Here Lozan et al. present a theoretical and experimental analysis of the spatio-temporal dynamics of hot electrons in a nano-focusing surface-plasmon polariton taper.

Scanning atomic electron tomography is demonstrated to determine the 3D atomic positions and defects of Re-doped MoS₂ monolayers and other 2D materials, providing picometre precision atomic coordinates that can be used as direct input to DFT to reveal more accurate electronic band structures of these systems.

Electrons in strongly interacting materials can flow collectively, exhibiting hydrodynamic phenomena such as viscous flow. This Review highlights recent experimental advances, including high-quality materials growth, that have enabled these observations and surveys the spatially resolved theoretical frameworks necessary to interpret and predict these phenomena.

This Perspective provides a broad introduction to topological materials science, with a particular focus on semimetals.

Van der Waals magnetic materials are composed of atomically thin magnetically ordered layers stacked together. Here, aiming to control magnetism locally, Klein et al use an electron beam to create small regions where van der Waals layers are orientated perpendicular to the rest of the sample.

Axion fields provide a unique way to understand large quantized electromagnetic responses in topological insulators and dynamics in Weyl semimetals. This Review discusses the theory of axion fields in condensed matter, their experimental realization and their application in next-generation devices.

Variations in unconventional superconductors are increasing in number and diversity in recent years, and so it is increasingly important to develop analytical methods to distinguish and categorise their different features. Here, the authors study two types of collective modes of the order parameter unique to time-reversal symmetry breaking superconductors and propose using them to identify these exotic states.

Natural photosynthetic systems harvest light to perform selective chemistry on atmospheric molecules such as CO₂. This Review discusses the implementation of bioinspired concepts in engineered light harvesting and catalysis.