Reviews & Analysis

The transition to low-carbon energy resources necessitates resilient power grids capable of handling low-inertia system dynamics. This Perspective proposes an Internet-inspired power system set-up composed of independent, asynchronous compartments able to balance energy across the entire grid.

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.

This Perspective examines the potential of large language models (LLMs) in sixth-generation radiocommunications (6G) networks, highlighting cloud LLM fundamentals, telecom-specific adaptations, edge-device implementation techniques and multi-agent deployments.

Indium selenides, InSe and In₂Se₃, exhibit high electron mobility, high thermal velocity, thickness-tunable bandgaps and unique phase-dependent ferroelectric properties. Addressing their challenges of scalable synthesis, phase control and oxidation could be the basis for next-generation, low-power computing.

Decommissioned power semiconductor devices often still have useful life, creating opportunities to reuse rather than discard them. This Perspective outlines how careful screening and creative upcycling, including artificial intelligence-assisted assessment and circuit reconstruction, can extend device lifetimes while reducing waste and supporting a circular and lower carbon power electronics industry.

Transistors, the foundation of modern electronics, are typically rigid, planar and 2D, which limits their integration with soft, irregular, 3D biological systems. This Perspective highlights the rise of hydrogel transistors in overcoming these challenges and how they provide an unprecedented opportunity for next-generation 3D, programmable and living bioelectronics.

The Internet of Bodies, an evolution of the Internet of Things, involves devices that interact intimately with the human body. Organic electrochemical transistors are well suited for these applications owing to their integrated sensing–memory–computing functions as well as high biocompatibility.

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.

Bayesian electronics harness the randomness of noisy sensor data to quantify uncertainty and make predictions at low computational cost. This Perspective shows how they can be realized to improve reliability and reduce energy in wearable devices, smart industrial sensors and autonomous robots

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.

In this Viewpoint, four professors at Yonsei University discuss next-generation communications and networking at the university through world-class faculty, cutting-edge research infrastructure and strong global partnerships. By integrating computing, communications and artificial intelligence (AI), Yonsei University fosters pioneering research, real-world prototyping, and active student engagement, shaping the future of AI-native 6G networks in Korea and worldwide.

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.