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Iron is one of the most abundant trace elements in the human body, however, detection at a single-cell level with redox status is challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate magnetometry of neurons with a microscale magnetometer using a superconducting flux qubit, and Fe (III) ions in the cells are identified at a single-cell level spatial resolution.
The generation of spin-current is integral for the successful development of spintronic devices however the orbital counterpart is also expected to be potentially advantageous. Here, using Ni/Ti bilayers, in combination with tight binding calculations, the authors investigate the spin torque efficiency that occurs as a result of the orbital Hall effect, observing that orbital currents can propagate over longer distances than the spin currents.
Optical Ising machines provide a promising approach to solve complex optimization problems and hence are of broad interest in physics society. This paper constructs a nonlinear optical Ising machine with spatial light modulators to find distinct phase transitions, which demonstrates a platform for solving optimization problem in more efficient way.
Efforts to understand skyrmion behaviour often overlook the interaction potentials but these are key to improve predictive modelling. Here, the authors use an Iterative Boltzmann Inversion technique to construct potentials for skyrmion-skyrmion and skyrmion-boundary interactions from a single experimental measurement, finding the two interactions are exponentially repulsive.
Optical rectification describes a nonlinear optical process that can be exploited by nanoantennas to convert optical radiation to a DC voltage, acting as a type of detector. Here, the authors consider optical rectification in a metallic tunnel junction, finding that current theory cannot account for experimental results on photon-assisted tunneling under infrared illumination, unless temperature effects are included.
Numerous results support that networks representing the structure of complex systems can be accompanied by hidden metric spaces. The present paper introduces a framework for embedding directed networks into hyperbolic spaces using dimension reduction techniques and a universal conversion method between Euclidean and hyperbolic node coordinates.
Revived interest in proton-boron fusion has been fuelled by new laser matter interaction schemes with several possible applications. The authors report on a tabletop laser experiment that observes proton-boron fusion with an emphasis on the secondary cross-section peak around 150 keV.
This study analyzes the way car traffic networks collapse by connecting classical traffic flow descriptors with percolation theory: The maximum average car traffic flow in a network and the maximum number of congested clusters occur at the same moment, precluding the network percolation.
Manipulating binary digits of information (bits) is a prerequisite for reliable memory utilization. The authors present a dynamical framework in which a reinforcement learning agent harnesses the physics of simple multi-bit mechanical models to restore their memory, suggesting new optimal system designs.
UTe2 receives significant attention as it may be an example of a spin-triplet superconductor but many features of this material are still to be fully understood. Here, the authors use muon spin rotation to investigate the existence of low-temperature magnetic clusters in single crystals of UTe2 and discuss the potential relationship with the temperature dependent behaviour of the specific heat.
The physics of NiO under applied pressure has long been debated and the material has been a key contributor to our understanding of Mott insulators and strongly correlated materials more generally. Here, the authors perform high-pressure X-ray diffraction measurements reporting a pressure-induced structural phase transition for NiO, which they suggest is linked with the metal-insulator transition of this system.
A variety of complex networked systems, in biology, technology, and more, have the danger of falling into a potential stable state with abnormal activity, even if they are now at a normally functioning state. This manuscript shows how supporting the activity of a small fraction of nodes can make the system safe by eliminating the undesired state.
The intrusion and extrusion of non-wetting liquids has many industrial applications and understanding how the underlying dynamics that govern the interaction of a given liquid and a nanoporous material can help refine performance. Here, using molecular dynamics simulations, the authors consider the impact of pore connectivity on the water intrusion of hydrophobic nanopores finding that the depth of small interconnecting secondary channels plays a crucial role for the wetting/dewetting properties.
Antiferromagnetic systems are prospective materials for spintronic applications due to increased stability and speed of the magnetisation dynamics. Here, the authors use torque magnetometry and an easy-plane anisotropic model to investigate and understand the magnetic anisotropy of the non-collinear antiferromagnet EuCo2As2.
Bacteria often reside within complex microenvironments through which they have to navigate efficiently. This paper presents an experimental study of bacterial motility and dispersion within ordered and disordered arrays of obstacles as a proxy to a realistic porous medium and established a bacterial mean free path as the determining factor for bacterial navigation.
Highly charged ions (HCIs) have opened up various research frontiers in fundamental physics, such as recent proposals for atomic clocks based on heavy HCIs with many electrons. This paper demonstrates a laser spectroscopic method using an electron beam ion trap plasma with a quasi-Zeeman-free low magnetic field to deepen understanding of their hyperfine structure.
Integrated electro-optic frequency combs are important components for future applications in optical communications, and these often require an efficient modulation mechanism. The authors demonstrate power-efficient lithium niobite phase modulators for electro-optic comb generation by implementing a 4x multi-pass configuration via mode multiplexing allowing for an experimental 15x reduction in power consumption; they demonstrate a broadband comb spectrum with 47 lines at 25-GHz comb spacing.
Meta-mirrors may help realize ultra-stable lasers for high-precision metrology, for applications like gravitational wave detection and quantum optics. The authors experimentally realize a new type of microstructured meta-mirror and use it to form a Fabry-Perot cavity with low thermal noise and a high finesse of 12,000.
Cells use pH gradients to drive the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), but the physicochemical mechanisms that can produce pH gradients in non-equilibrium settings are poorly understood. The authors here theoretically and experimentally investigate the formation of a pH gradient in an acid-base reaction system, driven by a heat flow, providing insights on how crude non-equilibrium systems can feed chemical gradients exploitable by life.
Floquet theory describes transient states driven by a light-matter interaction and could potentially be used to engineer the band structure and the topology of solid-state systems. Here, the authors investigate coherent photoemission from a gold surface caused by a strong surface plasmon polariton excitation, which could be used to realize surface plasmon polariton driven Floquet effects in nanostructures.
