CMP Journal 2026-07-06
Statistics
Nature Materials: 1
Nature Nanotechnology: 3
Nature Materials
Twist-angle-controlled anomalous gating in bilayer graphene/BN heterostructures
Original Paper | Electronic properties and devices | 2026-07-05 20:00 EDT
Gaia Maffione, Liam S. Farrar, Maëlle Kapfer, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Hervé Aubin, Dominique Mailly, Rebeca Ribeiro-Palau
Anomalous gating effects–such as ineffective electrostatic control and strong hysteresis in resistance–have been observed in graphene-based systems encapsulated in boron nitride (BN) and linked to a possible ferroelectric state. However, their origin, stability and reproducibility remain under debate. Here we show, using dual-gated, dynamically rotatable van der Waals heterostructures based on bilayer graphene encapsulated in BN, that the angular alignment between the two BN layers–rather than the presence of a moiré superlattice with graphene–is the key parameter governing these effects. The relevant alignment between the two BN layers, to observe the anomalous gating effect at room temperature, lies between approximately 15° and 45°, with no evidence of the expected 60° periodicity. Both gate ineffectiveness and hysteresis are highly sensitive to small angular changes, which we classify into three distinct regimes. Our results clarify the conditions necessary to reproduce these phenomena and pave the way for theoretical investigation of their microscopic origins.
Electronic properties and devices, Electronic properties and materials
Nature Nanotechnology
Spectral visualization of excitonic pair breaking at individual impurities in Ta2Pd3Te5
Original Paper | Electronic properties and materials | 2026-07-05 20:00 EDT
Lianzhi Yang, Deguang Wu, Hanbo Zhang, Zeyu Jiang, Xuelian Sun, Yao Zhang, Xiutong Deng, Chao Zhang, Tianyou Zhai, Wenhao Zhang, Youguo Shi, Rui Wang, Chaofei Liu, Ying-Shuang Fu
Excitonic insulators host the condensates of bound electron-hole pairs, offering a platform for studying correlated bosonic quantum states and for next-generation device applications. However, how macroscopic coherence emerges from locally collapsed pairing remains elusive. Here, using scanning tunnelling spectroscopy, we report the impurity-induced pair breaking in the excitonic insulator Ta2Pd3Te5. Individual Te vacancies generate a pair of spectral peaks within the excitonic gap. Their energies depend sensitively on the defect configurations and are continuously tunable using tip electric field, indicating controllable impurity scatterings. Spectral mapping shows spatially anisotropic and electronically coupled electron-hole components of the subgap states. These observations, together with mean-field modelling, suggest an excitonic pair-breaking origin. In the strongly electron-hole-imbalanced region, a secondary pair-breaking effect, manifesting an additional pair of subgap states with distinctly lower energies, emerges and displays the interplay of pairing breakings with different excitonic order parameters. Our findings demonstrate the spectroscopic fingerprint of local excitonic depairing at the atomic level, offering a crucial clue to the critical behaviour across excitonic condensation.
Electronic properties and materials, Surfaces, interfaces and thin films
Clocked stepping of an artificial protein walker along a DNA track
Original Paper | Nanobiotechnology | 2026-07-05 20:00 EDT
Patrik Nilsson, Neil O. Robertson, Nils Gustafsson, Roberta B. Davies, Chu Wai Liew, Aaron Lyons, Ralf Eichhorn, Cassandra S. Niman, Gerhard A. Blab, Elizabeth H. C. Bromley, Andrew E. Whitten, Anthony P. Duff, Ivan N. Unksov, Jason P. Beech, Peter Jönsson, Till Böcking, Birte Höcker, Derek N. Woolfson, Nancy R. Forde, Heiner Linke, Paul M. G. Curmi
Molecular motors are fundamental to life because they transduce free energy into mechanical work, a capability rooted in the chemical and structural complexity of their constituent proteins. Although motors based on small molecules and DNA have been developed, the creation of an artificial protein motor has remained an elusive goal in synthetic biology. Here we report the realization of an artificial, externally controlled protein motor, termed Tumbleweed (TW). TW was engineered using a modular design strategy that combines proteins with well-characterized properties to produce emergent motor function and directionality. TW comprises three ‘legs’, each containing a ligand-gated DNA-binding domain that enables selective interaction with specific sites along a DNA track. Using single-molecule fluorescence assays in conjunction with a programmable microfluidic device, we show that TW takes directional 16 nm steps along a designed DNA substrate in response to a defined sequence of ligand inputs. Moreover, both the timing and direction of stepping can be precisely controlled on a timescale of seconds. This approach provides a versatile platform for engineering dynamic and sophisticated protein-based nanomachines, as well as for probing the physical principles governing protein walkers with precisely defined architectures.
Nanobiotechnology
Charged grain boundaries limit short-circuit endurance in garnet solid-state battery electrolytes
Original Paper | Batteries | 2026-07-05 20:00 EDT
Hyunwon Chu, Thomas Defferriere, Proloy Nandi, Waldemar Kaiser, Lukas M. Wolz, Fran Kurnia, Kun Joong Kim, Willis O’Leary, Thomas Altantzis, Johan Verbeeck, David A. Egger, Sara Bals, Johanna Eichhorn, Harry L. Tuller, Jennifer L. M. Rupp
Grain boundaries in lithium lanthanum zirconate solid-state electrolytes feature elevated electronic conduction and act as preferential sites for the nucleation of electrically isolated lithium metal during galvanostatic cycling in battery cells. However, the origin of local electronic conductivity variations remains unresolved. Here we show that lithium lanthanum zirconate grain boundaries carry ionic built-in charge, with lithium vacancies accumulating at the interface generating localized electric potentials (-0.15 V at 20 °C). This potential alters carrier distributions near the grain boundary, impeding ionic transport and increasing electronic conduction by a factor of 30 compared with bulk. This imbalance initiates internal lithium metal nucleation during cell operation and accelerates short-circuit failure. To mitigate charge build-up, we propose tailoring the processing oxygen activity and dopant stoichiometry, precisely tuning atomic-scale chemistry and interfacial potential. These modifications homogenize ionic transport and reduce electronic leakage, enabling the intrinsic critical current density to 1 mA cm-2. Our findings uncover how local defect landscapes shape charge transport and provide a pathway for chemically guided optimization of inorganic solid-state electrolytes at the nanoscale.
Batteries, Electrochemistry, Energy storage