Nature Materials contents: February 2013 Volume 12 Number 2 pp89-171

Advertisement How to maximise nanopatterning performance of your FIB-SEM? Visit Raith and learn how ELPHY MultiBeam's FLEXposureTM patterning modes improve FIB-SEM lithography. TABLE OF CONTENTS February 2013 Volume 12, Issue 2 Editorial Research Highlights News and Views Letters Articles Corrigendum Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Attending the Photonics West meeting in San Francisco? Visit Nature Photonics at the Nature Publishing Group booth #5326 to: - Take part in our prize draw - Browse and take free sample copies of leading journals from NPG, including Nature and Nature Photonics - Save up to 30% on personal subscriptions   Editorial Top Beware the impact factor   p89 doi:10.1038/nmat3566 The journal impact factor is a good predictor of the quality of journals as measured by citations to primary research articles. It is, however, a poor indicator of citations to specific papers or of the future performance of individual researchers. Research Highlights Top Inclined droplets | Hydrogen generation | Charge configuration | Bulk suppression | Quantum jumps News and Views Top Memristors: Going active   pp93 - 94 Wei Lu doi:10.1038/nmat3524 The spiking phenomena associated with neural activity are characterized by an impressive degree of efficiency. The fabrication of a neuristor consisting of nanoscale components represents a step towards implementing such devices in integrated circuit applications. See also: Letter by Pickett et al. Structural glasses: Flying to the bottom   pp94 - 95 Giorgio Parisi and Francesco Sciortino doi:10.1038/nmat3540 It has been shown that glasses prepared by physical vapour deposition have extraordinary stability. A computer algorithm that mimics such a process has now identified the optimal deposition temperature and the glasses' structural features. See also: Article by Singh et al. Cell membranes: Glycans' imprints   pp96 - 97 Jay T. Groves doi:10.1038/nmat3555 Networks of glycans template multiphase lipid membranes, either by stabilizing large domains at the characteristic length scale of the network if inhomogeneous, or by suppressing macroscopic phase separation if homogeneous. See also: Letter by Subramaniam et al. Quantum information: Best of both worlds   pp97 - 98 Nan Zhao and Jörg Wrachtrup doi:10.1038/nmat3531 Both electronic and nuclear spins have their pros and cons for quantum information processing. A silicon-based hybrid electronic-nuclear system can make the best of both properties. See also: Letter by Morley et al. Photonic crystals: Sustainable sensors from silk   pp98 - 100 Jennifer MacLeod and Federico Rosei doi:10.1038/nmat3552 A biocompatible method for fabricating three-dimensional photonic crystals opens up unique opportunities for structurally coloured biodegradable materials, but also for implantable biosensing and targeted therapeutics on the microscale. Material witness: Watching ice spin   p100 Philip Ball doi:10.1038/nmat3556 Electrocatalysis: Interfacing electrochemistry   pp101 - 102 Nenad M. Markovic doi:10.1038/nmat3554 Electrocatalysis lies at the heart of the chemical phenomena that take place at electrochemical interfaces. In the future it will be the key to driving technological innovations that are urgently needed to deliver reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly energy. Nature Materials JOBS of the week PhD positions in Materials Chemistry University of Liverpool Non-tenure track professor in energy or nanoscale materials Dongguk University Experimental Biomimetic Nanocomposite Materials DWI at RWTH Aachen University - Germany Multiple openings in micro / nanofabrication, materials, biology and clinical research The Pennsylvania State University Postdoctoral fellow in Nanomedicine Ian Wark Research Institute More Science jobs from Nature Materials EVENT PR'13: International conference on photorefractive effects, materials and devices 09.07.13 Winchester, UK More science events from Letters Top Quantum control of hybrid nuclear–electronic qubits   pp103 - 107 Gavin W. Morley, Petra Lueders, M. Hamed Mohammady, Setrak J. Balian, Gabriel Aeppli, Christopher W. M. Kay, Wayne M. Witzel, Gunnar Jeschke and Tania S. Monteiro doi:10.1038/nmat3499 Solid-state spin qubits offer promise as building blocks for quantum computers. Now, efficient quantum control is demonstrated over hybrid nuclear–electronic qubits in bismuth-doped silicon, as a consequence of the strong hyperfine interactions in this system. See also: News and Views by Zhao & Wrachtrup Experimental demonstration of a unidirectional reflectionless parity-time metamaterial at optical frequencies   pp108 - 113 Liang Feng, Ye-Long Xu, William S. Fegadolli, Ming-Hui Lu, José E. B. Oliveira, Vilson R. Almeida, Yan-Feng Chen and Axel Scherer doi:10.1038/nmat3495 A critical component for chip-scale integrated photonics would be a non-reciprocal optical waveguide allowing light to travel in only one direction while reflecting it in the opposite one. Inspired by concepts of parity-time-symmetric quantum theories, a periodically modulated dielectric waveguide displaying unidirectional reflection is now demonstrated, reflecting light at telecom frequencies in only one direction. A scalable neuristor built with Mott memristors   pp114 - 117 Matthew D. Pickett, Gilberto Medeiros-Ribeiro and R. Stanley Williams doi:10.1038/nmat3510 Emulating the spiking phenomena associated with neural activity in technological devices offers the promise of drastically improving their efficiency and scale. The fabrication of a neuristor that consists of nanoscale Mott memristors provides a step towards making such devices practical for integrated circuit applications. See also: News and Views by Lu Bonding-induced thermal conductance enhancement at inorganic heterointerfaces using nanomolecular monolayers   pp118 - 122 Peter J. O’Brien, Sergei Shenogin, Jianxiun Liu, Philippe K. Chow, Danielle Laurencin, P. Hubert Mutin, Masashi Yamaguchi, Pawel Keblinski and Ganpati Ramanath doi:10.1038/nmat3465 The poor thermal conductance of interfaces is a significant bottleneck to the integration of nanoscale devices in a range of applications. Now, the thermal conductance at metal/dielectric heterointerfaces is significantly enhanced by the introduction of an organic nanomolecular monolayer. A hybrid computational–experimental approach for automated crystal structure solution   pp123 - 127 Bryce Meredig and C. Wolverton doi:10.1038/nmat3490 Determining crystal structures from diffraction experiments can be labour intensive and prone to errors. A hybrid approach combining experimental diffraction data, statistical symmetry information and first principles-based algorithmic optimization is now proposed to automatically solve crystal structures. Glycans pattern the phase behaviour of lipid membranes   pp128 - 133 Anand Bala Subramaniam, Guido Guidotti, Vinothan N. Manoharan and Howard A. Stone doi:10.1038/nmat3492 The exterior surface of cell membranes in eukaryotes is surrounded by glycans. It is now found that the spatial configuration of these polysaccharide molecules controls the phase behaviour of multiphase lipid membranes—either by stabilizing ordered lipid domains or by suppressing macroscopic lipid phase separation—and that this glycan-induced patterning is thermally reversible. See also: News and Views by Groves Articles Top Transition from slow Abrikosov to fast moving Josephson vortices in iron pnictide superconductors   pp134 - 138 Philip J. W. Moll, Luis Balicas, Vadim Geshkenbein, Gianni Blatter, Janusz Karpinski, Nikolai D. Zhigadlo and Bertram Batlogg doi:10.1038/nmat3489 The layered iron pnictide superconductors are known for their unconventional electronic properties and high critical temperatures. Now, SmFeAs(O,F) is shown to undergo a transition from pinned Abrikosov-like to mobile Josephson-like vortices as the system is cooled below its critical temperature. Ultrastable glasses from in silico vapour deposition   pp139 - 144 Sadanand Singh, M. D. Ediger and Juan J. de Pablo doi:10.1038/nmat3521 Glasses with extraordinary kinetic stability have been made in the laboratory by physical vapour deposition. A computational algorithm that mimics such a deposition process now reveals that deposition at the temperature at which the configurational entropy vanishes leads to ultrastable glasses that are truly amorphous, pack uniformly and have energies that are equivalent to those of equilibrium supercooled liquids. See also: News and Views by Parisi & Sciortino Atomic mechanism and prediction of hydrogen embrittlement in iron    pp145 - 151 Jun Song and W. A. Curtin doi:10.1038/nmat3479 Hydrogen embrittlement in metals has proved problematic for designing strong and reliable structural materials. Direct molecular dynamics simulations now reveal a ductile-to-brittle transition caused by the suppression of dislocation emission at the crack tip due to the aggregation of hydrogen. Tailored exciton diffusion in organic photovoltaic cells for enhanced power conversion efficiency   pp152 - 157 S. Matthew Menke, Wade A. Luhman and Russell J. Holmes doi:10.1038/nmat3467 Photoconversion in organic photovoltaic cells, which relies on charge generation at donor/acceptor interfaces, is limited by short exciton-diffusion-lengths. Diluting an electron donor into a wide-energy-gap host material has now led to an ~50% increase in exciton diffusion length and enhanced power conversion efficiencies in planar heterojunction cells compared with optimized devices with an undiluted donor layer. Resonant light trapping in ultrathin films for water splitting   pp158 - 164 Hen Dotan, Ofer Kfir, Elad Sharlin, Oshri Blank, Moran Gross, Irina Dumchin, Guy Ankonina and Avner Rothschild doi:10.1038/nmat3477 Semiconductor photoelectrodes for solar hydrogen production by water photoelectrolysis require stable and abundant visible-light absorbers such as iron oxide. Although this material suffers from poor transport properties for efficient charge-carrier generation and collection, these drawbacks can now be addressed by using resonant light trapping in ultrathin films designed as optical cavities. Self-assembled nanoparticle arrays for multiphase trace analyte detection   pp165 - 171 Michael P. Cecchini, Vladimir A. Turek, Jack Paget, Alexei A. Kornyshev and Joshua B. Edel doi:10.1038/nmat3488 Nanoplasmonic structures that can detect trace analytes via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy typically require sophisticated nanofabrication techniques. Self-assembly of gold nanoparticles into close-packed arrays at liquid/liquid and liquid/air interfaces is now used for the detection of multi-analytes from aqueous, organic or air phases. Corrigendum Top Josephson supercurrent through a topological insulator surface state   p171 M. Veldhorst, M. Snelder, M. Hoek, T. Gang, V. K. Guduru, X. L. Wang, U. Zeitler, W. G. van der Wiel, A. A. Golubov, H. Hilgenkamp and A. Brinkman doi:10.1038/nmat3541 Top Advertisement Want access to the best research in materials science and technology? Nature Materials provides cutting-edge research across the entire spectrum of materials science and technology. Recommend Nature Materials to your library using our library recommendation form.   Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available here. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on natureevents.com. For event advertising opportunities across the Nature Publishing Group portfolio please contact natureevents@nature.com More Nature Events

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