Resonant energy transfer among naturally available bio materials for white light emission.

In this work we have studied the fluorescence of natural dyes and generated nearly pure white light with chromaticity intensity (CIE) coordinate (0.35,0.35).

Engineering the Impact of Phonon Dephasing on the Coherence of a WSe_{2} Single-Photon Source via Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics.

Emitter dephasing is one of the key issues in the performance of solid-state single-photon sources. Among the various sources of dephasing, acoustic phonons play a central role in adding decoherence to the single-photon emission. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to tune and engineer the coherence of photons emitted from a single WSe_{2} monolayer quantum dot via selectively coupling it to a spectral cavity resonance.

Interlayer Fermi Polarons of Excited Exciton States in Quantizing Magnetic Fields.

The study of exciton polarons has offered profound insights into the many-body interactions between bosonic excitations and their immersed Fermi sea within layered heterostructures. However, little is known about the properties of exciton polarons with interlayer interactions. Here, through magneto-optical reflectance contrast measurements, we experimentally investigate interlayer Fermi polarons for 2s excitons in WSe/graphene heterostructures, where the excited exciton states (2s) in the WSe layer are dressed by free charge carriers of the adjacent graphene layer in the Landau quantization regime.

Quaternized chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol anion exchange membrane enhanced by functionalized attapulgite clay with an ionic "chain-ball" surface structure.

Biomass chitosan has garnered considerable interest for alkaline anion exchange membranes (AEMs) due to its eco-friendly and sustainable characteristics, low reactant permeability and easily modifiable nature, but it still faces the trade-off between high hydroxide conductivity and sufficient mechanical properties. Herein, a novel functionalized attapulgite clay (f-ATP) with a unique ionic "chain-ball" surface structure was prepared and incorporated with quaternized chitosan (QCS)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix to fabricate high-performance composite AEMs. Due to the strengthened interfacial bonding between f-ATP nanofillers and the QCS/PVA matrix, composite membranes are synergistically reinforced and toughened, achieving peak tensile strength and elongation at break of 24.

Reproducible graphene synthesis by oxygen-free chemical vapour deposition.

Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) synthesis of graphene on copper has been broadly adopted since the first demonstration of this process. However, widespread use of CVD-grown graphene for basic science and applications has been hindered by challenges with reproducibility and quality. Here we identify trace oxygen as a key factor determining the growth trajectory and quality for graphene grown by low-pressure CVD.

Van der Waals polarity-engineered 3D integration of 2D complementary logic.

Vertical three-dimensional integration of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors holds great promise, as it offers the possibility to scale up logic layers in the z axis. Indeed, vertical complementary field-effect transistors (CFETs) built with such mixed-dimensional heterostructures, as well as hetero-2D layers with different carrier types, have been demonstrated recently. However, so far, the lack of a controllable doping scheme (especially p-doped WSe (refs.

Observation of phonon Stark effect.

Stark effect, the electric-field analogue of magnetic Zeeman effect, is one of the celebrated phenomena in modern physics and appealing for emergent applications in electronics, optoelectronics, as well as quantum technologies. While in condensed matter it has prospered only for excitons, whether other collective excitations can display Stark effect remains elusive. Here, we report the observation of phonon Stark effect in a two-dimensional quantum system of bilayer 2H-MoS.

On the quality of commercial chemical vapour deposited hexagonal boron nitride.

The semiconductors industry has put its eyes on two-dimensional (2D) materials produced by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) because they can be grown at the wafer level with small thickness fluctuations, which is necessary to build electronic devices and circuits. However, CVD-grown 2D materials can contain significant amounts of lattice distortions, which degrades the performance at the device level and increases device-to-device variability. Here we statistically analyse the quality of commercially available CVD-grown hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) from the most popular suppliers.

Graphite/h-BN van der Waals heterostructure as a gate stack for HgTe quantum wells.

Two-dimensional topological insulators have attracted much interest due to their potential applications in spintronics and quantum computing. To access the exotic physical phenomena, a gate electric field is required to tune the Fermi level into the bulk band gap. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a promising alternative gate dielectric due to its unique advantages such as flat and charge-free surface.

Effect of Alaska pollock-gelatin sheet on repair strength and regeneration of nerve.

The aim of the study was to investigate the repair strength and the biocompatibility of Alaska pollock-derived gelatin (ApGltn) sheet for nerve repair. Cadaveric digital nerves were repaired with double suture, single suture + ApGltn sheet, single suture + fibrin glue, single suture, ApGltn sheet and fibrin. Maximum failure loads were measured (20 nerves each).

Tunable exciton valley-pseudospin orders in moiré superlattices.

Excitons in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have offered an attractive platform for optoelectronic and valleytronic devices. Further realizations of correlated phases of excitons promise device concepts not possible in the single particle picture. Here we report tunable exciton "spin" orders in WSe/WS moiré superlattices.

Mechanical properties of hydrated electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers.

Polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers are a promising material for biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility, slow degradation rate, and thermal stability. We electrospun PCL fibers onto a striated substrate with 12 μm wide ridges and grooves and determined their mechanical properties in an aqueous solution with a combined atomic force/inverted optical microscopy technique. Fiber diameters, D, ranged from 27 to 280 nm.

Electric-field tunable Type-I to Type-II band alignment transition in MoSe/WS heterobilayers.

Semiconductor heterojunctions are ubiquitous components of modern electronics. Their properties depend crucially on the band alignment at the interface, which may exhibit straddling gap (type-I), staggered gap (type-II) or broken gap (type-III). The distinct characteristics and applications associated with each alignment make it highly desirable to switch between them within a single material.

The Defects Genome of Janus Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

2D Janus Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted much interest due to their exciting quantum properties arising from their unique two-faced structure, broken-mirror symmetry, and consequent colossal polarization field within the monolayer. While efforts are made to achieve high-quality Janus monolayers, the existing methods rely on highly energetic processes that introduce unwanted grain-boundary and point defects with still unexplored effects on the material's structural and excitonic properties Through high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (HRSTEM), density functional theory (DFT), and optical spectroscopy measurements; this work introduces the most encountered and energetically stable point defects. It establishes their impact on the material's optical properties.

Physiomimetic Fluidic Culture Platform on Microwell-Patterned Porous Collagen Scaffold for Human Pancreatic Islets.

Pancreatic islet transplantation is one of the clinical options for certain types of diabetes. However, difficulty in maintaining islets prior to transplantation limits the clinical expansion of islet transplantations. Our study introduces a dynamic culture platform developed specifically for primary human islets by mimicking the physiological microenvironment, including tissue fluidics and extracellular matrix support.

Rational Design of Nitride Phosphor-In-Glass with Robust Stability and Photoluminescence Performance.

Phosphor-in-glass represents a promising avenue for merging the luminous efficiency of high-quality phosphor and the thermal stability of a glass matrix. Undoubtedly, the glass matrix system and its preparation are pivotal factors in achieving high stability and preserving the original performance of embedded phosphor particles. In contrast to the well-established commercial YAlO:Ce oxide phosphor, red nitride phosphor, which plays a critical role in high-quality lighting, exhibits greater structural instability during the high-temperature synthesis of inorganic glasses.

Unzipping hBN with ultrashort mid-infrared pulses.

Manipulating the nanostructure of materials is critical for numerous applications in electronics, magnetics, and photonics. However, conventional methods such as lithography and laser writing require cleanroom facilities or leave residue. We describe an approach to creating atomically sharp line defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) at room temperature by direct optical phonon excitation with a mid-infrared pulsed laser from free space.

Non-covalent planarizing interactions yield highly ordered and thermotropic liquid crystalline conjugated polymers.

Controlling the multi-level assembly and morphological properties of conjugated polymers through structural manipulation has contributed significantly to the advancement of organic electronics. In this work, a redox active conjugated polymer, TPT-TT, composed of alternating 1,4-(2-thienyl)-2,5-dialkoxyphenylene (TPT) and thienothiophene (TT) units is reported with non-covalent intramolecular S⋯O and S⋯H-C interactions that induce controlled main-chain planarity and solid-state order. As confirmed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, these intramolecular interactions influence the main chain conformation, promoting backbone planarization, while still allowing dihedral rotations at higher kinetic energies (higher temperature), and give rise to temperature-dependent aggregation properties.

Enhancing the supercapacitive performance of a carbon-based electrode through a balanced strategy for porous structure, graphitization degree and N,B co-doping.

Regarding carbon-based electrodes, simultaneously establishing a well-defined meso-porous architecture, introducing abundant hetero-atoms and improving the graphitization degree can effectively enhance their capacitive performance. However, it remains a significant challenge to achieve a good balance between defects and graphitization degree. In this study, the porous structure and composition of carbon materials are co-optimised through a 'dual-function' strategy.

Evolution of the flat band and the role of lattice relaxations in twisted bilayer graphene.

Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene exhibits correlated phenomena such as superconductivity and Mott insulating states related to the weakly dispersing flat band near the Fermi energy. Such a flat band is expected to be sensitive to both the moiré period and lattice relaxations. Thus, clarifying the evolution of the electronic structure with the twist angle is critical for understanding the physics of magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene.

Molecular machines working at interfaces: physics, chemistry, evolution and nanoarchitectonics.

As a post-nanotechnology concept, nanoarchitectonics combines nanotechnology with advanced materials science. Molecular machines made by assembling molecular units and their organizational bodies are also products of nanoarchitectonics. They can be regarded as the smallest functional materials.

Elementary excitations of single-photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride.

Single-photon emitters serve as building blocks for many emerging concepts in quantum photonics. The recent identification of bright, tunable and stable emitters in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has opened the door to quantum platforms operating across the infrared to ultraviolet spectrum. Although it is widely acknowledged that defects are responsible for single-photon emitters in hBN, crucial details regarding their origin, electronic levels and orbital involvement remain unknown.

High-Mobility Compensated Semimetals, Orbital Magnetization, and Umklapp Scattering in Bilayer Graphene Moiré Superlattices.

Twist-controlled moiré superlattices (MSs) have emerged as a versatile platform for realizing artificial systems with complex electronic spectra. The combination of Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene (BLG) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) can give rise to an interesting MS, which has recently featured a set of unexpected behaviors, such as unconventional ferroelectricity and the electronic ratchet effect. Yet, the understanding of the electronic properties of BLG/hBN MS has, at present, remained fairly limited.

Stark Effects of Rydberg Excitons in a Monolayer WSe P-N Junction.

The enhanced Coulomb interaction in two-dimensional semiconductors leads to tightly bound electron-hole pairs known as excitons. The large binding energy of excitons enables the formation of Rydberg excitons with high principal quantum numbers (n), analogous to Rydberg atoms. Rydberg excitons possess strong interactions among themselves as well as sensitive responses to external stimuli.