Review Articles

Emerging bioelectronic technologies enable real-time monitoring and precise modulation of plant physiology and environmental conditions. These technologies have the potential to accelerate basic plant science research and transform sustainable agriculture.

This Review provides a holistic view of sustainable gas, liquid and solid insulating materials, focusing on substitution, benign degradation, recycling, reuse and resource conversion to support net zero power systems.

Interconnect architectures are vital frameworks that allow disparate components, such as cores and memory, to communicate. This Review provides an overview of the development of key interconnect components, such as metals, diffusion barriers and intermetal dielectrics, and how they can offer more efficient and sustainable performance.

Active-matrix digital microfluidics (AM-DMF) presents a highly scalable and programmable platform for handling microscale liquid samples. Wang et al. describe advances in AM-DMF chip design, circuit optimization and functional integration and discuss its considerable commercial potential for automated high-throughput biomedical sample manipulation.

Information security remains a vital concern for communications technology, and quantum key distribution may offer the highest security theoretically possible. This Review discusses the performance limitations, high costs and practical security concerns for quantum key distribution to scale to a global level.

Cyber–physical–human systems (CPHSs) integrate layers of physical components, computation and communication, and humans — in smart buildings, for example. This Review addresses the modelling and control of CPHSs, particularly of the human layer using game theory and opinion dynamics.

Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor-integrated silicon photonics offers a scalable path to high-bandwidth, low-energy optical interconnects for data centres and artificial intelligence/high-performance computing. This Review surveys device maturity, multimaterial and 3D integration, electronics co-design and packaging trends and maps a path towards comb-enabled dense wavelength-division multiplexing, petabit bandwidth and sub-picojoule per bit efficiency.

Intrinsically stretchable transistors with high mobility, robustness, low-voltage operation and scalable fabrication are key for integrated circuits to advance skin-like soft electronics and to enable stable, conformal interfaces for bioelectronics, wearable technology and adaptive human–machine interfaces.

This Review discusses the design and functionality of neuromorphic olfactory perception chips, focusing on key technologies, including sensing materials, device structures and signal processing algorithms. The authors also highlight the practical applications and future prospects of these chips in various fields.

Ferroelectric switching behaviour can more closely emulate the temporal dynamics of biological neurons and synapses for neuromorphic computing. This Review clarifies the mechanism of two-terminal and three-terminal ferroelectric devices and highlights their potential for efficient in-memory and in-sensor applications.

Skin-conformal electronics enable intuitive, real-time gesture recognition through seamless integration of conformal sensing and intelligent processing. Reliable and precise human–machine interactions gain thus transformative potential in health care, robotics, immersive applications and other dynamic environments.

Extended reality (XR) promises to blend real and virtual objects and people in the metaverse. This Review overviews an XR workflow and eight key XR technologies for achieving immersive experiences in both professional settings and everyday life.

This Review provides an overview of non-biomimetic, biomimetic and neuromorphic approaches to bio-interactive prosthetics. Kim et al. highlight the advantages and challenges of artificial nerve systems for reducing computational complexity, improving biocompatibility and restoring natural sensory and motor functions in patients with neurological deficits.

The shrinking dimensions, the increased structural complexity and the 3D stacking of silicon-based semiconductor devices are intensifying challenges in thermal dissipation. This Review explores thermal management materials, integration challenges and characterization methods, and proposes a road map for efficient heat dissipation solutions in 3D integration.

The growing interest in robotics in daily life has increased the demand for intuitive interfaces for human–robot interaction (HRI). This Review examines the potential, challenges and innovations of bio-signal analysis to enhance HRI and facilitate broader applications.

This Review outlines the co-development of triboelectric nanogenerators and field-effect transistors into tribotronic transistors and droplet energy generators, which can harvest energy from small mechanical motion to power the Internet of Things.

Digitalization is increasing the cyber threat to microgrids. This Review discusses the vulnerabilities of cyber–physical microgrids and examines the cyberattack detection methods and mitigation strategies being developed to increase the cybersecurity of microgrid control.

This Review discusses the integration of solar electric vehicles into energy systems, highlighting their potential to enhance energy efficiency, reduce emissions and support transport decarbonization through innovations in photovoltaics, batteries and energy management, while outlining key challenges and a roadmap for sustainable adoption.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) facilitate the integration of green hydrogen and intermittent renewable energy into the energy and transport systems. This Review examines progress and challenges in increasing HFCV adoption and realizing sustainable energy and transport systems based on green hydrogen.

Pain is a profound and unresolved health challenge, and current interventions are not sufficient for safe and effective pain management. Bioelectronics presents solutions for monitoring the symptoms of pain and treating these symptoms in a targeted manner.