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The authors provide experimental evidence that Eu substitution in the spacer layer of Nd_1-xEu_xNiO₂ thin films enhances the superconducting gap, driving the system toward a strong-coupling regime. The Eu substitution also introduces exchange coupling between Eu 4f magnetic moments and Ni 3d_x²−y² electrons, leading to magnetic-field-enhanced “re-entrant” superconductivity.

Superconductivity is studied in the molecular solid K₃C₆₀ when it is pressurized and illuminated with short laser pulses. Similarities with the non-illuminated case show that superconductivity exists at higher temperatures than previously thought.

A new platform making use of hexagonal boron nitride interfaced with the molecular superconductor κ-(BEDT-TTF)₂Cu[N(CN)₂]Br is demonstrated for realizing cavity-altered materials, confirmed by magnetic force microscopy and nano-optical measurements.

Floquet engineering is emerging as a tool to control quantum materials. Here it is applied using non-resonant optical fields to coherently dress Hubbard excitons in Sr₂CuO₃, driving wavefunction rotations between bright and dark states.

The nature of the insulator-metal phase transition in VO₂ remains elusive. Using pump-probe spectroscopy and near-field imaging, O’Callahan et al. study the ultrafast dynamics of many micro-crystals and find an inhomogeneous response, highlighting the importance of microscopic perturbations to the transition.

Despite exhibiting ferroelectric features, SrTiO₃ fails to display long-range polar order at low temperatures due to quantum fluctuations. An ultrafast X-ray diffraction experiment now probes polar dynamics of this material at the nanometre scale.

By measuring terahertz photon echoes, multidimensional spectroscopy demonstrates that interlayer tunnelling in a cuprate superconductor remains largely unaffected by electronic disorder, even near the phase transition.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

The authors report ultrafast transport measurements on the photo-excited superconducting state in K₃C₆₀. They observe characteristic superconducting nonlinear current-voltage responses.

There is evidence that K₃C₆₀ can host a photo-induced superconducting state. Now, resonant excitation at low frequencies allows this phenomenon at room temperature and low pumping fluence.

Nonlinear phononics is a method for creating transient structural changes in solids, but its effect is limited to the region of optical excitation. Now, coupling to a propagating polariton allows nonlinear phononics to drive a nonlocal response.

Josephson plasma solitons are a kind of excitation predicted to occur in cuprate superconductors subject to strong electromagnetic fields. By using intense radiation from a free-electron laser, these modes are now demonstrated experimentally in the copper oxide material La_1.84Sr_0.16CuO₄.

Mode-selective vibrational excitations can be used to transiently induce a range of phenomena in strongly correlated states of matter. It is now shown that by exciting apical oxygen distortions in the cuprate system YBa₂Cu₃O_6.5, an unusual photoconductive effect is induced both at low and at high temperatures.

Femtosecond X-ray diffraction and ab initio density functional theory calculations are used to determine the crystal structure of YBa₂Cu₃O_6.5 undergoing optically driven, nonlinear lattice excitation above the transition temperature of 52 kelvin, under which conditions the electronic structure of the material changes in such a way as to favour superconductivity.

By exciting high-temperature K₃C₆₀ with mid-infrared pulses, a large increase in carrier mobility is obtained, accompanied by the opening of a gap in the optical conductivity; these same signatures are observed at equilibrium when cooling K₃C₆₀ below the superconducting transition temperature of 20 kelvin, which could be an indication of light-induced high-temperature superconductivity.

Light can be used to directly excite phonon modes in condensed matter. Simultaneously exciting several modes in an antiferromagnetic rare-earth orthoferrite drives behaviour that mimics the application of a magnetic field.

Ultrashort mid-infrared laser pulses can drive atoms far from their equilibrium positions in LiNbO₃, exciting high phonon harmonics and providing a way to map the interatomic potential.

Ultrafast magnetic field steps are generated by light-induced quenching of supercurrents in a YBa₂Cu₃O₇ superconductor. They exhibit millitesla amplitude, picosecond rise times and slew rates approaching 1 GT s^–1.

A time-dependent magnetic field expulsion was measured in optically driven YBa₂Cu₃O_6.48 above the equilibrium superconducting transition temperature and all the way to room temperature. 

Scientists demonstrate that strong single-cycle terahertz pulses can switch off interlayer superconductivity in a cuprate superconductor while leaving in-plane superconductivity unaltered. The effect may prove useful for studying and controlling the behaviour of future ultrafast nanoelectronics.

Ultrafast spectroscopy reveals the many-body effects behind the metallization of a one-dimensional Mott insulator. Unlike in ultracold gases, these femtosecond excitation studies of quantum dynamics occur at room temperature.

A transient topological response in graphene is driven by a short pulse of light. When the Fermi energy is in the predicted band gap the Hall conductance is around two conductance quanta. An ultrafast detection technique enables the measurement.

Intense light pulses can induce symmetry breaking, as for the generation of ferroelectricity in SrTiO₃. Using ultrafast X-ray diffuse scattering at a free-electron laser, nonlinear phonon interactions that occur on such mid-IR excitation are observed, with a theory for the dynamics presented.

All-optical, mode-selective manipulation of the crystal lattice can be used to enhance and stabilize ferromagnetism in YTiO₃ well above its equilibrium ordering temperature and for many nanoseconds, enabling dynamic engineering of practically useful non-equilibrium functionalities in fluctuating electronic systems.

Keith Caldecott, Bert de Vries, Sherif El-Khamisy, Gianpiero Cavalleri and colleagues identify homozygous TDP2 mutations in individuals with intellectual disability, seizures and ataxia. Their follow-up studies suggest that TDP2 is required to maintain normal transcription in response to the DNA double-strand breaks induced by abortive TOP2 activity.

Integrating an electronic device with a cavity can cause the electrons to couple to photons strongly enough to form hybrid modes. Now, the cavity effects induced by intrinsic graphite gates are shown to modify the low-energy properties of graphene.

Light can interact with the electrons in a crystalline solid, which in turn generates lattice vibrations or phonons. A related phenomenon was proposed 40 years ago in which it is the ions in the crystal rather than the electrons that mediate the interaction. This effect, known as ionic Raman scattering, is now observed experimentally.

Evidence for light-induced superconductivity in K₃C₆₀ was limited to optical methods due to the short lifetime of the phase. Extending the lifetime from picoseconds to nanoseconds now allows measurement of its negligible electrical resistance.

The authors analyze rare coding variants in 1990 individuals with congenital kidney anomalies, finding diagnostic variants in 14.1% of cases. They identify two new causal genes, ARID3A and NR6A1, along with 38 candidate genes, providing evidence for shared genetics with other developmental disorders.

The observation that atomic disorder emerges exceptionally fast during laser-induced melting of crystalline bismuth prompts fresh thinking about the nature of this phase transition.

Ultrafast pulses of terahertz radiation are used to excite individual vibrational modes in a magnetoresistive manganite. In a system such as this, with strongly correlated electrons, even subtle changes of crystal structure can have a profound effect on material properties, and this is indeed what they see: the activated vibration is sufficient to drive the material from a stable insulating phase to a metastable metallic one.

Terahertz radiation propagating through ferroelectric lithium tantalate (LiTa03) couples to lattice vibrations, resulting in phonon-polariton waves. The new X-ray diffraction technique makes it possible to follow directly the absolute displacements of ions in the lattice that underlie the propagation of these waves.

The control over phase transitions in complex oxides offers the possibility to control their electronic and structural properties. The discovery of a new route to ultrafast photoswitching of manganites via high-energy ‘hidden’ excited states offers the possibility of phase transitions free from thermal effects.

Large-amplitude, infrared-active vibrations excited in a LaAlO₃ substrate induce magnetic order melting in a NdNiO₃ film. The melt front initiated at the interface propagates in the film at supersonic speeds, likely to be driven by electronic processes.

Josephson plasma waves — electromagnetic waves propagating between layered superconductors — lie at the basis of a broad variety of phenomena. Now, parametric amplification of such waves has been shown by tuning the phase between pump and seed waves.

Genome-wide analysis identifies variants associated with the volume of seven different subcortical brain regions defined by magnetic resonance imaging. Implicated genes are involved in neurodevelopmental and synaptic signaling pathways.

Epilepsy is a brain network disorder with associated genetic risk factors. Here, the authors show that spatial patterns of transcriptomic vulnerability co-vary with structural brain network alterations in focal and generalized epilepsy.

High-speed imaging gives us a fascinating insight into ultrafast changes in materials. By combining the speed of optical pulses and the short wavelength of X-ray pulses, imaging with 50-nm spatial and 10-ps temporal resolution is possible, with scope to go much further.

The hippocampus in mammalian brain varies in size across individuals. Here, Hibar and colleagues perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis to find six genetic loci with significant association to hippocampus volume.

In this largest whole-exome sequencing study of epilepsies to date, the Epi25 Collaborative identified extremely rare variants that confer risk for diverse epilepsy subtypes, highlighting roles in synaptic transmission and neuronal excitability.

Genome-wide association meta-analyses identify 26 risk loci for epilepsy, including 19 loci specific to genetic generalized epilepsy. Prioritized candidate genes implicate synaptic processes and overlap with targets of antiseizure medications.