Materials Sciences and Engineering Research Highlights

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High-Entropy Alloys Design and Origin of Properties

Vacancy-Mediated Order in Refractory High-Entropy Alloys

Optical detection and manipulation of spontaneous gyrotropic electronic order

Layered material TiSe2 spontaneously develops a gyrotropic electronic order at low temperatures. Left-handed and right-handed domains are formed.

Robust Metallized-DNA Meta-atoms

Demonstrated robust optical response of metallized-DNA self-assembled metamaterials having realistic disorder and surface roughness.

Topological Electronic Control by Quantum Periodic Motion

Imposing vibrational coherence into topological states may become a universal light control principle for reinforcing protected quantum transport.

Illustration of topological control by quantum periodic motion

Dark-state-based low-loss dual-response metasurfaces

Hybrid dark-state metasurfaces achieved separate implementation of resonance and electromagnetic response, enabling more versatile and configurable metamaterials.

Determining the Edge Termination of h-BN Nanosheets

Identifying the functional groups that passivate the edges of exfoliated h-BN nanosheets will facilitate the development of this important 2D nanomaterial.

Unexpected Discharge Mechanism in Selenium Batteries

Advanced TEM, SSNMR, and electroanalytical techniques revealed that the sodiation mechanism of selenium in microporous carbon is unexpectedly inhomogeneous, both spatially and in terms of composition. These combined findings highlight the complex phenomenology of electrochemical phase transformations in nanoconfined materials, which may profoundly differ from their “free” counterparts.

Illustration of sodiation in a selenium battery

Optical detection and manipulation of spontaneous gyrotropic electronic order

Discovery of an extremely rare electronic order. Chirality realized by a spontaneous ordering of the quantum mechanical electronic charge density. Optical induction of quantum matter. Circularly polarized light can control electronic chirality, which is closely related to topological properties.

Topological Quantum Switching via Light-Driven Raman Coherence

A topological switching principle is established by periodically driven, Raman phonon oscillations.
Time-dependence of such periodic driving is revealed which is needed for topological transistors and THz quantum gate applications.