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Photonic memristor arrays fabricated from hexagonal boron nitride/silicon heterostructures provide a scalable, silicon-compatible solution for artificial vision systems, featuring broad spectral reconfigurability and promising performance characteristics.

The authors realize s helicity switching of hybrid skyrmions in [Pt/Co]₃/Ru/[Co/Pt]₃ multilayers using spin-orbit torque and thermal effects, enabling motion reversal. This method advances skyrmion-based spintronic devices for data storage and quantum computing.

Polar skyrmions are a topological polarization texture. While they have now been detected in numerous material systems, near universally these have required careful strain engineering. Here, Xue, Zhang, Zheng, Tong, Wang and coauthors observe polar skyrmions in the van der Waals ferroelectric CuInP2S6, without strain-engineering.

An asymmetric self-assembled monolayer improves the efficiency of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells compared with symmetric self-assembled monolayers, resulting in a certified power conversion efficiency of up to 34.58%.

Molecular self-assembly can be influenced by a number of external factors, though solvent effects are less commonly explored. Here, the authors present a three-armed metallopeptide complex that has a folded monomeric conformation in organic solvent, but can self-assemble in water into a supramolecular gel.

The direct synthesis of uniform polycrystalline hexagonal boron nitride films facilitates complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor integration for scalable memristive electronics, showcasing transfer-free hexagonal boron nitride memristors that exhibit high yield, reliability, multistate operation and low noise.

The large-scale synthesis of insulating hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) plays an important role for the development of 2D electronics. Here, the authors report the oxygen-assisted chemical vapor deposition of wafer-scale single-crystal monolayer hBN films by merging aligned hexagonal hBN islands.

Strong magnetic interfacial coupling in van der Waals heterostructures provides a new platform for discovering novel physics and effects. Here, the authors report the formation of skyrmion lattice in the WTe₂/Fe₃GeTe₂ van der Waals heterostructure and a Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction with a large energy density of 1.0 mJm⁻².

It remains challenging to integrate topological insulators (TI) with magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) for spintronics applications. Here, the authors achieve a large tunneling magnetoresistance ratio and a low switching current density in a TI-MTJ device at room temperature, very promising for TI-driven magnetic memory.

The authors present a feasible strategy of anion-induced strain engineering to regulate the lattice structure and properties of super-elongated BiFeO₃ epitaxial films, revealing the correlations among lattice distortion, local electronic hybridization, and multiferroic properties.

Here, the authors fabricate hybrid van der Waals heterostructures based on 2D tessellations of DNA origami thin films, graphene and boron nitride, showing that the DNA films can induce periodic superlattices at the interface and modulate the electronic properties of the samples.

Recently there has been a surge of interest in using magnons, the quasi-particles of spin-waves in magnetic systems, for information processing, driven by the potentially very low energy consumption. Here, by adjusting the magnetic compensation in a ferrimagnet, Li et al demonstrate magnon–magnon coupling, and controllable spin wave mediated spin current transmission.

Ultraflat metal foils are important for the growth of high quality 2D materials, but their fabrication remains challenging. Here, the authors report a surface-acoustic-wave-assisted annealing method to flatten the surface of commercial Cu foils, leading to the growth of 2D graphene and hexagonal boron nitride with enhanced anti-corrosion properties.

A power conversion efficiency of 33.89% is achieved in perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells by using a bilayer passivation strategy to enhance electron extraction and suppress recombination.

Layered thio- and seleno-phosphate ferroelectrics show promise for next-generation memory but have thermal stability issues. Using the electric field-driven phase transition in antiferroelectric CuCrP2S6, the authors introduce a robust memristor, emphasizing the potential of van der Waals antiferroelectrics in advanced neuromorphic computing.

Current-driven dynamic atomic rearrangements in layered In₂Se₃ are visualized. The authors identify an intralayer ‘unzipping’ and interlayer ‘zipping’ phase-transition pathway in which bond formation across the van der Waals gaps drives bond cleavage within covalent layers.

Graphdiyne membranes with an extended two-dimensional network structure and ordered one-dimensional channels achieve an ultra-high water/NaCl selectivity and superior salt rejection.

High-quality wafer-scale single-crystal monolayer graphene is achieved on sapphire substrate, by epitaxially growing graphene at the Cu(111)/sapphire interface and then detaching Cu film via immersion in liquid nitrogen and rapid heating.

Xue Zhang, Jing Yu Liu and colleagues report SLC20A2 mutations in familial idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (IBGC, also known as Fahr disease). These mutations impair the function of the type III phosphate transporter encoded by SLA20A2 and may disturb phosphate homeostasis in the body.

The mechanism of ferroelectric resistance switching is still under debate. Here, the authors propose an interfacial engineering approach to demonstrate its origin and find that it is governed by three independent variables: polarization, barrier change, and initial barrier.

Imperfections can greatly alter a material’s properties. Here, the authors investigate the influence of point defects on the electronic structure, charge-carrier mobility and optical absorption of molybdenum disulphide prepared by mechanical exfoliation, physical and chemical vapour deposition.

This research reveals a previously unrecognized yet potentially widespread biological pathway of methylmercury detoxification, which may exert important controls on the net production and bioaccumulation of the methylmercury toxin in aquatic food webs.

We fabricated silicon heterojunction back-contact solar cells using laser patterning, producing cells that exceeded 27% power-conversion efficiency.

Hydrogen gas can drive detachment of protective surface oxides from metal substrates and this process is accelerated at moderately elevated temperatures relevant to applications. Here the authors use environmental transmission electron microscopy to monitor associated void coalescence processes and clarify roles that diffusion and hydrogen-vacancy complexes play.

Aluminum-ion batteries require stable and efficient cathodes for reversible Al-complex ion insertion. Here, an TiNbCTx MXene is used as a cathode, achieving reversible capacity of 194 mAh·g⁻¹ at 0.2 A·g⁻¹, with 800-cycle stability.

Large-scale 2D hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) grown via chemical vapour deposition (CVD) has strategic importance for various applications of 2D materials. Here, the authors analyse the structural and electrical properties of commercially available CVD hBN from 9 popular suppliers and compare the results with mechanically exfoliated hBN and in-house CVD hBN.

The unexpected crystalline silicon epitaxial growth and interfacial nanotwins formation remain a challenging issue for silicon heterojunction technology. Here, the authors design a hybrid interface by tuning pyramid apex-angle to improve c-Si/a-Si:H interfacial morphology in silicon solar cells.

Improvements in the power conversion efficiency of silicon heterojunction solar cells would consolidate their potential for commercialization. Now, Lin et al. demonstrate 26.81% efficiency devices using a p-doped nanocrystalline silicon and low-sheet-resistance transparent conductive oxide contact layer.

Nanoporous carbon composite membranes exhibit 100% salt rejection and high water flux due to the interfacial sieving effect and the fast transport of vapour in carbon pores, respectively.

Thin-film transistors with a high electron mobility and operational stability can be fabricated from solution-processed multilayer channels composed of ultrathin layers of indium oxide, zinc oxide nanoparticles, ozone-treated polystyrene and compact zinc oxide.

The authors examine the spin polaron pair dissociation at interfacial charge transfer states for various organic solar cells at working conditions through a joint of magneto-photocurrent experiments and coherent spin-mixing analyses. In this work, they unveil the relationship between photophysical quantities and photovoltaic performance.

The proton insertion mechanism in α-molybdenum trioxide remains incompletely elucidated. Herein, the authors uncover a three-proton intercalation mechanism within α-molybdenum trioxide using a specially designed electrolyte, which endows α-molybdenum trioxide with an improved specific discharge capacity.

Silicon heterojunction solar cells are expected to increase their market share in the near future. Qu et al. identify an embedded nanotwin structure at the crystalline silicon/hydrogenated amorphous silicon interface of silicon heterojunction cells that limits the device performance and devise an approach to suppress its formation.

High-integration-density 2D–CMOS hybrid microchips for memristive applications are made demonstrating in-memory computation and electrical response suitable for the implementation of spiking neural networks representing an advance towards integration of 2D materials in microelectronic products and memristive applications.

Forming charge transfer excitons (CTEs) exclusively within perovskite structures remains as an unexplored issue. Here, the authors report the establishment of CTEs for demonstrating broad light emission within quasi-2D perovskite heterostructures, presenting “intermolecular-type” excited states.

The Fermi arcs, topological surface states of Weyl semimetals can enable the intriguing spin control and facilitate topological spintronics. Here the authors report the spin-orbit torque at the interface of WTe₂/Py and attribute it to the enhanced spin accumulation by the spin-momentum locking effect of the Fermi arcs of WTe₂.

The Brassica rapa Genome Sequencing Project Consortium reports the draft genome of the B. rapa accession Chiifu-401-42, an inbred Chinese cabbage line. The B. rapa genome should provide a useful reference genome for the Brassica species, which include many important oil and vegetable crops.

Most work on nonreciprocal transport is limited to cryogenic temperatures due to the low Rashba spin splitting energy. Here, the authors report a nonreciprocal charge transport behavior up to room temperature in semiconductor α-GeTe with coexisting the surface and bulk Rashba states.

Electric field controlled magnetism provides an energy efficient way for the operations in the spintronic devices. Here the authors show strain induced, reversible, nonvolatile electric field control of magnetization and magnetoresistance in a magnetic tunnel junction on a ferroelectric substrate at room temperature and zero magnetic field.