surface-science

Nature Communications, Published online: 22 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74794-3 Dynamic control of surface textures is limited by static or coarse-patterned approaches, restricting their application in programmable object manipulation and information encoding. This study achieved reversible, spatiotemporally programmable surface wrinkling on a photothermal liquid crystal elastomer bilayer, …

Nature Communications, Published online: 20 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74654-0 Probing nanoscale light-matter interactions requires simultaneous access to optical anisotropy and ultrahigh spatial resolution. Here, authors develop torsional force microscopy-infrared imaging, enabling near-nanometer optical imaging and direction-resolved mapping of local optical responses.

Scientific Reports, Published online: 18 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-57808-4 Porous bioactive glass-based scaffolds containing CRT glass and hydroxyapatite: morphological and structural analysis (Part I)

The post Electron beams rearrange atoms in a 3D crystal appeared first on MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering .

Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 17 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00965-2 Dhaneesh Kumar describes a method to enable the surface imaging of complex molecules.

Nature Communications, Published online: 17 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74540-9 Highly active ruthenium-based catalysts for acidic water oxidation typically suffer from rapid dissolution. Here, the authors design a ruthenium-manganese host-guest architecture where surface hydroxyls buffer oxidative charge, enabling stable electrolysis at industrial currents.

Physicists love simplifying idealizations , and this is especially true in the physics of materials.  The simplest decent model for metals, for example, is the ideal Fermi gas , where we neglect the existence of atoms entirely and just model the electrons as noninteracting particles in some box.  One step up from there, the Sommerfeld model , assumes that the electrons are in a perfectly periodic…

Nature Electronics, Published online: 16 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41928-026-01660-x A one-pixel device that is made of layers of twisted dichroic materials and ring-grating-like electrodes—and is integrated on the tip of an optical fibre—can be used to simultaneously resolve the mode, polarization, wavelength and intensity of input light in one-shot measurements.

Researchers in the United States have built a technology that boosts the performance of electron microscopes. Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley physicists’ new technique offers detailed images of the small molecules and cell structures that are crucial to understanding biology and disease. They have adapted the phase-contrast technique to cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), which has about […]

Nature Communications, Published online: 15 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74459-1 The authors develop a polarization reversal method to distinguish intrinsic and interfacial pyroelectric effects in ferroelectric films and clarify their material-specific dominance. It enables the development of better thermal energy harvesters and sensors.

This record-breaking crystal can transform from mirror-like to glass-like, opening the door to tiny optical chips, AR displays, and smart contact lenses. Creating truly “invisible” wearable technology such as smart contact lenses and ultrathin augmented reality glasses will require a radical rethink of how optical devices are built. Instead of relying on conventional bulky components, [...]

Scientific Reports, Published online: 13 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-57035-x FusionDiff: a dual-path diffusion-based framework for few-shot authenticity analysis of ceramic microstructures

Nature Communications, Published online: 13 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74224-4 The design and synthesis of molecules featuring both boron and silicon moieties hold significant promise for delivering unique reactivity patterns and material properties. Herein, the authors report a titaniumcatalyzed selective hydroboration of the C(sp3)–Si bonds in silacyclobutanes for the synthesis of boryl-…

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 12 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41557-026-02175-w Extreme reactivity has long hindered the study of linear atomic carbon chains (carbyne). Now it has been shown that transmetallation of suitable precursors overcomes stability issues, delivering 1D Au|Cn|Au junctions that sustain high currents through a cumulene ⋯C=C=C=C⋯ valence structure with 12 or more carbon atom…

A very recent experimental study [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 123 (10) e2524790123] demonstrated that non-functionalized graphene (Gr) supported on silicon(111) catalyzed the decomposition of small sulfur-containing compounds under ultra-high vacuum. Accompanying density functional theory (DFT) calculations identify grain boundary defects (GBDs) and interfacial defects as the active sites. Func…