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Three-dimensional nanofabrication allows for the precise tailoring of curvature of magnetic nanowires, and therefore the local symmetry breaking. Here, Ruiz-Gomez et al use this control to study the interaction of domain walls with local curvature, engineering potential wells and shift registers.

Magnetic vortices in thin ferromagnetic films possess a core with out-of-plane magnetization whose polarity can be manipulated by magnetic fields or currents for technological applications. Here, the authors demonstrate local control of the core polarity in NiFe films via an imprinted maze domain pattern.

Bloch oscillations—oscillatory motions of wave packets in periodic potentials acting under constant forces—have been observed in semiconductor superlattices and photonic waveguide arrays. Here, the authors extend these ideas to plasmonics to observe Bloch oscillations and discrete diffraction.

In the band theory of solids, the topological properties of Bloch bands are characterized by geometric phases. For cold atoms moving in a one-dimensional optical potential the geometric phase can be measured directly using Bloch oscillations and Ramsey interferometry.

Bloch oscillations (BO) are intrinsically related to the geometry and topological properties of the underlying band structure. Here, Di Liberto et al. predict a unique topological effect manifested in the BOs of higher-order topological insulators through the interplay of non-Abelian Berry curvature and quantized Wilson loops.

Synthetic dimensions can introduce band properties without a periodic structure in real space, but they have largely been studied in linear systems. A study using an optical resonator has now shown non-linear soliton states in synthetic frequency space.

The experimental demonstration of many-body signal amplification in a solid-state, room-temperature quantum sensor is reported.

Photonic crystals (PhCs) are artificial periodic materials that can be used to manipulate the flow of light. Here, the authors report the realization of asymmetric PhCs based on in-plane hyperbolic phonon polaritons in perforated α-MoO₃, showing low-symmetry deep-subwavelength Bloch modes that are robust against lattice rearrangement in specific directions.

Bloch wavefunctions of two types of hole in gallium arsenide are reconstructed by measuring the polarization of light emitted by collisions of electrons and holes accelerated by a terahertz laser.

The Bloch–Siegert shift—a strong-field phenomenon that implies a failure of the rotating-wave approximation—is observed in the polariton dispersion diagram of a two-dimensional electron gas system inside a high-Q terahertz photonic crystal cavity.

By forcing electron–hole pairs onto closed trajectories attosecond clocking of delocalized Bloch electrons is achieved, enabling greater understanding of unexpected phase transitions and quantum-dynamic phenomena.

The intrinsic nature and dynamics of a Bloch point has not been verified so far. Here, Im et al. report the realization and dynamical character of steady-state Bloch points in the magnetic vortex cores in asymmetrically shaped Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ nanodisks.

Terahertz waveforms with peak fields of 72 MV cm⁻¹ and a central frequency of 30 THz drive interband polarization in bulk GaSe off-resonantly and accelerate excited electron–hole pairs, inducing dynamical Bloch oscillations. This results in the emission of phase-stable, high-harmonic transients over the whole frequency range of 0.1–675 THz.

The interaction of waves with periodic structures is a feature central to many areas of physics from quantum mechanics to acoustics. Here, the authors numerically and experimentally demonstrate the presence of Rayleigh-Bloch waves in the regime above the first cut-off using acoustic gratings.

An ensemble of spins from nitrogen–vacancy centres in diamonds is prepared in a spin-squeezed state.

Polar skyrmions are nanoscale topological structures of electric polarizations. Their collective modes, dubbed as “skyrons”, are discovered by the terahertz-field-excitation, femtosecond x-ray diffraction measurements and advanced modeling.

In this work, the authors show that photonic topological lattices with dissipative couplings could exhibit non-Abelian dynamics and geometric phases that are in sharp contrast to those arising in typical energy-conserving systems.

A purpose-built implantable system based on biomimetic epidural electrical stimulation of the spinal cord reduces the severity of hypotensive complications in people with spinal cord injury and improves quality of life.

The phase of a collection of spins is measured with a sensitivity ten times beyond the limit set by the quantum noise of an unentangled ensemble of ⁸⁷Rb atoms. A cavity-enhanced probe of an optical cycling transition is employed to mitigate back-action associated with state-changing transitions induced by the probe.

Synthetic dimensions allow photons and gauge fields to interact in photonic emulators. Now a study with fast-gain lasers shows that gain-driven coherence enables robust light flow in frequency space, establishing it as a viable platform for lattice emulation.

Information leaked by a quantum system into its environment causes decoherence but if it is recorded then it can be used to infer the quantum state. Ficheux et al. monitor the relaxation and dephasing of a qubit and show that this allows all three components of the qubit to be probed simultaneously.

Excitons in atomically thin crystals couple strongly with light. Here, the authors observe lattice polaritons in a tunable open optical cavity at room temperature, with an imprinted photonic lattice strongly coupled to excitons in a WS₂ monolayer.

High-order harmonic generation in solids could develop into a compact, coherent, short-wavelength source. This study shows that two-colour noncollinear wave mixing in silica significantly enhances HHG efficiency over single-color methods, offering a novel pathway for advancing all-solid XUV sources.

Authors investigate graphene/cobalt and graphene/nickel interfaces, and observe a non-zero Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction that they attribute to the Rashba effect; calculations suggest the effect can be enhanced in van der Waals heterostructures.

Here, authors construct a moving potential barrier in a synthetic temporal lattice. They unveil the selection rules for choosing potential moving speed as well as the conditions to achieve transparent moving potentials and refraction.

State-of-the-art simulations of disorder-induced trapping of light in inverted opals provides a basis for a definitive identification, and potential use, of the three-dimensional Anderson localization of light.

A major advantage of antiferromagnets for applications is the lack of stray fields and insensitivity to magneto-electric perturbations, however, this also makes electric control of AFMs challenging. Here, focusing on a non-collinear AFM, Mn₃Ge/Sn, Wu et al demonstrate fast domain wall motion, with remarkably low current density, and extend our understanding of spin-transfer torques that drive this to noncollinear antiferromagnetic systems.

In this work, electron diffraction is used to measure the disorder parameter, Debye-Waller factors, and deformation electron density of FePd alloys. Chemical disorder raises atomic displacements but minimally alters deformation electron density.

Linear topological systems can be characterized using invariants such as the Chern number. This concept can be extended to the nonlinear regime, giving rise to nonlinearity-induced topological phase transitions.

Photonic crystals can steer, shape, and sculpture the flow of photons. Here, the author fabricate a deep-subwavelength photonic crystal slab that supports ultra-confined phonon polaritons, by patterning a nanoscale hole array in h-BN.

Diamond quantum magnetometry is utilized to directly read the vorticity of antiferromagnetic spin textures through coupled multi-polar emergent magnetic charge distributions.

The critical temperature of superconductors is proportional to the particle coupling energy, but this is different to conventional superfluids where this coupling is small. Here, the authors establish a relation between superconductivity and superfluidity and the topological properties of their band structures.

Mobile impurities can be useful probes of quantum states. Here, the authors theoretically identify polarons formed on the edge of topological insulating states, termed chiral polarons, that can be used to probe topological matter.

So-called photonic-crystal-excitonic-lattice polaritons can be observed by coupling excitons and Bloch waves in a periodic arrangement of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. The effect can be tuned by using an electric field. These hybrid states may allow slow-light-enhanced nonlinear effects and enable observation of macroscopic coherence phenomena in solid-state systems.

Although magnetic tomography has been used in the past to determine the 3D magnetization of materials its application to thin films remains challenging. Here the authors reconstruct the magnetization of a thin film, enabling the measurement of topological charges of magnetic singularities.

Chiral topological materials have been predicted to host orbital angular momentum monopoles, which can be useful for orbitronics applications. Now such monopoles have been imaged in chiral materials.

Dynamic localization is a method of confining light. Here the authors demonstrate higher-order dynamic localization of photons in a synthetic temporal mesh lattice and discuss the idea of tunable temporal cloaking by combining different-order localizations.

Trapped ions are promising for electrometry but limited by their weak intrinsic spin coupling to electric fields. Now it is shown that using a magnetic field gradient enhances sensitivity and enables precise measurements across subhertz to kilohertz frequencies.

Quantum computers require precise control and addressing of individual qubits in a register, but this is impeded by cross-talk between them. Here, in an eight-qubit trapped-ion register, Piltz et al. present an approach to obtain cross-talk of the order of 10⁻⁵, surpassing current thresholds for quantum gates.

Artificial photonic graphene, a honeycomb array of evanescently coupled waveguides, has proven to be a useful tool for investigating graphene physics in various optical settings. Here, Song et al.demonstrate pseudospin-mediated vortex generation and topological charge flipping in otherwise uniform optical beams.

Flat band materials can host unconventional superconductivity governed by electronic wavefunction winding rather than dispersion. This work shows quantum geometry assisted enhancement of flat band superconductivity under microwave absorption, demonstrated in twisted bilayer graphene.