Nature Materials contents: December 2014 Volume 13 Number 12 pp 1073-1164

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Visit Nature Materials at the Nature Publishing Group booth #110 to: Browse and take free sample copies of leading journals from NPG, including Nature and Nature Materials Subscribe at discounted conference rates     Editorial Top Chalcogenides fill the gap   p1073 doi:10.1038/nmat4163 Two-dimensional semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides can complement graphene in applications where a sizeable natural energy bandgap is required. Recent studies aim at bringing these materials to a higher level of maturity. Research Highlights Top Butterfly-inspired gratings | Protease probe | Cooperative coupling | Vacant holes | Current from intraband transitions News and Views Top Heterojunctions in 2D semiconductors: A perfect match   pp1075 - 1076 Georg S. Duesberg doi:10.1038/nmat4127 Three independent groups report the growth of two-dimensional heteromaterials with seamless vertical or lateral interfaces. The one-layer-thick transition metal dichalcogenides thus form heterojunctions with built-in device function. See also: Letter by Huang et al. | Article by Gong et al. 2D crystal semiconductors: Intimate contacts   pp1076 - 1078 Debdeep Jena, Kaustav Banerjee & Grace Huili Xing doi:10.1038/nmat4121 High electrical contact resistance had stalled the promised performance of two-dimensional layered devices. Low-resistance metal-semiconductor contacts are now obtained by interfacing semiconducting MoS2 layers with the metallic phase of this material. See also: Article by Kappera et al. Biomineralization: Crystals competing for space   pp1078 - 1079 Nico A. J. M. Sommerdijk & Maggie Cusack doi:10.1038/nmat4147 Analysis of the growth patterns of calcitic prisms within the shell of the fan mollusc Pinna nobilis shows that growth can be predicted using grain theory and that the organic casings of the prisms set the thermodynamic boundaries. See also: Letter by Bayerlein et al. Electromagnetic metamaterials: Simplicity unlocks complexity   pp1080 - 1081 Luca Dal Negro doi:10.1038/nmat4146 By carefully selecting only two elemental 'building block materials' at the nanoscale, it is possible to digitally design composite electromagnetic media with properties vastly different from their individual constituents and suitable for performing complex optical functions. See also: Article by Della Giovampaola & Engheta Nanophotonics: Hyperbolic phonon–polaritons   pp1081 - 1083 Zubin Jacob doi:10.1038/nmat4149 Hexagonal boron nitride nanostructures are shown to sustain phonon–polariton modes with comparable performances to plasmon–polariton modes in graphene but with lower losses. Material witness: The force of shape   p1083 Philip Ball doi:10.1038/nmat4142 Nature Materials JOBS of the week Post-doc: Exp. Condensed Matter Physics - 2D Materials Georgia State University PhD position: "with focus on Sorption induced deformations of nano / microporous materials" ETH Zurich Professor, Synthesis of Soft Materials The Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago Post-doctoral position in Biomedical Research Case Western Reserve University Postdoctoral Research Associate Position In Stem Cell Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute More Science jobs from Nature Materials EVENT The Energy & Materials Research Conference - EMR2015 25.02.15 Madrid, Spain More science events from Letters Top Giant spin splitting of the two-dimensional electron gas at the surface of SrTiO3   pp1085 - 1090 A. F. Santander-Syro, F. Fortuna, C. Bareille, T. C. Rödel, G. Landolt, N. C. Plumb, J. H. Dil & M. Radović doi:10.1038/nmat4107 Two-dimensional electron gases forming at oxide interfaces and surfaces host a range of interesting properties. Photoelectron spectroscopy measurements now reveal a very large spin splitting of the surface electronic states of SrTiO3. Giant bandgap renormalization and excitonic effects in a monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductor   pp1091 - 1095 Miguel M. Ugeda, Aaron J. Bradley, Su-Fei Shi, Felipe H. da Jornada, Yi Zhang, Diana Y. Qiu, Wei Ruan, Sung-Kwan Mo, Zahid Hussain, Zhi-Xun Shen, Feng Wang, Steven G. Louie & Michael F. Crommie doi:10.1038/nmat4061 Transition metal dichalcogenides are attracting widespread attention for their appealing optoelectronic properties. Using a combination of numerical and experimental techniques, the exciton binding energy is now determined for MoSe2 on graphene. Lateral heterojunctions within monolayer MoSe2–WSe2 semiconductors   pp1096 - 1101 Chunming Huang, Sanfeng Wu, Ana M. Sanchez, Jonathan J. P. Peters, Richard Beanland, Jason S. Ross, Pasqual Rivera, Wang Yao, David H. Cobden & Xiaodong Xu doi:10.1038/nmat4064 Physical vapour transport is now used to grow single-atomic-layer lateral MoSe2/WSe2 heterojunctions, enabling the development of in-plane architectures for optoelectronic applications based on these semiconducting materials. See also: News and Views by Duesberg Self-similar mesostructure evolution of the growing mollusc shell reminiscent of thermodynamically driven grain growth   pp1102 - 1107 Bernd Bayerlein, Paul Zaslansky, Yannicke Dauphin, Alexander Rack, Peter Fratzl & Igor Zlotnikov doi:10.1038/nmat4110 The morphology and mesostructure of the prismatic layer of a growing mollusc shell is observed by means of high-resolution synchrotron-based tomography and is shown to be fully predicted by classical theories of normal grain growth. See also: News and Views by Sommerdijk & Cusack Ultrasoft microgels displaying emergent platelet-like behaviours   pp1108 - 1114 Ashley C. Brown, Sarah E. Stabenfeldt, Byungwook Ahn, Riley T. Hannan, Kabir S. Dhada, Emily S. Herman, Victoria Stefanelli, Nina Guzzetta, Alexander Alexeev, Wilbur A. Lam, L. Andrew Lyon & Thomas H. Barker doi:10.1038/nmat4066 Deformable synthetic microgel particles bearing molecular-recognition motifs for fibrin fibres are shown to augment clotting in vitro and mimic in vivo clot contraction, thus recapitulating the functions of natural platelets. Articles Top Digital metamaterials   pp1115 - 1121 Cristian Della Giovampaola & Nader Engheta doi:10.1038/nmat4082 Inspired by Boolean binary algebra, an approach to design electromagnetic metamaterials with desired permittivity by using just two elemental building blocks is demonstrated analytically and numerically. See also: News and Views by Dal Negro Extreme electronic bandgap modification in laser-crystallized silicon optical fibres   pp1122 - 1127 Noel Healy, Sakellaris Mailis, Nadezhda M. Bulgakova, Pier J. A. Sazio, Todd D. Day, Justin R. Sparks, Hiu Y. Cheng, John V. Badding & Anna C. Peacock doi:10.1038/nmat4098 The electronic band structure in silicon optical fibres can be engineered by continuous laser irradiation during the crystallization of the fibres. A reduction of the bandgap down to 0.59 eV is demonstrated. Phase-engineered low-resistance contacts for ultrathin MoS2 transistors   pp1128 - 1134 Rajesh Kappera, Damien Voiry, Sibel Ebru Yalcin, Brittany Branch, Gautam Gupta, Aditya D. Mohite & Manish Chhowalla doi:10.1038/nmat4080 Non-optimal electrical contacts can significantly limit the performance of MoS2-based thin-film transistors. Transformation of semiconducting MoS2 into its metallic phase is now shown as a viable strategy to decrease the metal–MoS2 contact resistance. See also: News and Views by Jena et al. Vertical and in-plane heterostructures from WS2/MoS2 monolayers   pp1135 - 1142 Yongji Gong, Junhao Lin, Xingli Wang, Gang Shi, Sidong Lei, Zhong Lin, Xiaolong Zou, Gonglan Ye, Robert Vajtai, Boris I. Yakobson, Humberto Terrones, Mauricio Terrones, Beng Kang Tay, Jun Lou, Sokrates T. Pantelides, Zheng Liu, Wu Zhou & Pulickel M. Ajayan doi:10.1038/nmat4091 Vapour growth of WS2/MoS2 two-dimensional materials at low and high temperature allows the synthesis of in-plane lateral heterojunctions and vertically stacked bilayers, respectively, with atomically sharp interfaces. See also: News and Views by Duesberg In situ detection of hydrogen-induced phase transitions in individual palladium nanocrystals   pp1143 - 1148 Andrea Baldi, Tarun C. Narayan, Ai Leen Koh & Jennifer A. Dionne doi:10.1038/nmat4086 In situ electron energy-loss spectroscopy in an environmental transmission electron microscope reveals that palladium nanocrystals undergo sharp phase transitions during hydrogen absorption and desorption, and that surface effects dictate the size dependence of the hydrogen absorption pressures. Current-induced transition from particle-by-particle to concurrent intercalation in phase-separating battery electrodes   pp1149 - 1156 Yiyang Li, Farid El Gabaly, Todd R. Ferguson, Raymond B. Smith, Norman C. Bartelt, Joshua D. Sugar, Kyle R. Fenton, Daniel A. Cogswell, A. L. David Kilcoyne, Tolek Tyliszczak, Martin Z. Bazant & William C. Chueh doi:10.1038/nmat4084 Investigation of the individual state-of-charge of particles in the phase-separating battery electrode lithium iron phosphate reveals that the fraction of active particles is highly dependent on cycle rate and direction. The findings could lead to enhanced current uniformity and cycle life in other electrode systems. Oligopeptide complex for targeted non-viral gene delivery to adipocytes   pp1157 - 1164 Young-Wook Won, Partho Protim Adhikary, Kwang Suk Lim, Hyung Jin Kim, Jang Kyoung Kim & Yong-Hee Kim doi:10.1038/nmat4092 An adipocyte-targeting gene-carrier complex is shown to selectively transfect mature adipocytes by binding to the protein prohibitin and to lead to the metabolic recovery and to more than 20% body-weight reduction in obese mice. Top Advertisement Announcing the Nature Index: A global indicator of high-quality research The Nature Index tracks the affiliations of high-quality scientific articles. Updated monthly, the Nature Index presents research outputs by institution and country. Use the Nature Index to interrogate publication patterns and to benchmark research performance.  Access the Nature Index free online.      Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. 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