We report the observation of an unexpected phase transition at high magnetic fields between the spin-flop and spin-flip transitions in the d-electron antiferromagnetic metal V5S8. High-precision magnetic, thermal and electrical transport measurements enable the transitions to be tracked up to fields as high as 35 T and at temperatures down to the milli-kelvin range revealing three distinct magnetic quantum phase transitions. We present a model that finds agreement with our observation of a triad of spin transitions involving two sublattices with frustrated inter-and intra-sublattice spin couplings.

Abstract This article explores the electric field-dependent spin transport in (NiFe, Co)/PVDF(120 nm)/Fe3O4 multiferroic spin valve junctions (MFSVJs) by modulating the electric polarization of PVDF and its corresponding interfacial potential barriers. This approach enables to realize four distinct and stable resistance states at room temperature, a critical feature for spintronic device applications aiming for low-power and higher data storage capacity. Quasi-static current-voltage and dynamic polarization - electric field measurements reveal the formation of an additional Schottky-type barrier at the PVDF/Fe3O4 interface during the upward polarization state of PVDF, attributed to modifications in the electrostatic potential. The presence of this Schottky barrier under upward polarization and its absence under downward polarization, enhances asymmetry within the MFSVJs, significantly affecting both charge and spin transport properties, which further evolve with varying electric field amplitudes. Further, both electroresistance (ER) and electro-magnetoresistance (EMR) are found to increase with decreasing junction areas and a notable ER of +133% and EMR of +141% are observed in a NiFe/PVDF/Fe3O4 MFSVJ with a junction area of 0.5 mm2.

Structural shadowing effects of satellite components on ionospheric electric field measurements

Relevance of pyridinylpyrazine bridged Cd(II) dimer for the trace detection of Al3+ and 4-nitroaniline in aqueous medium and electrical conductivity measurement

Nb2SiTe4, a representative two-dimensional (2D) ferroelastic semiconductor, becomes research focus due to its high carrier mobility, ambipolar carrier transport, exceptional ferroelasticity and third harmonic generation response, rendering potential applications in ambipolar transistors, mid-infrared (MIR) detection, controllable electronic devices and tunable anisotropic all-optical devices. In this work, high-pressure lattice vibrational and electrical transport characteristics of Nb2SiTe4 were comprehensively explored up to 37.1 GPa using a diamond anvil cell (DAC) in conjunction with in situ Raman spectroscopy and electrical conductivity measurements in different hydrostatic environments. Upon non-hydrostatic pressurization, Nb2SiTe4 underwent metallization at 5.5 GPa owing to the rapid compression of the interlayer distance, followed by an electronic transition at 21.6 GPa triggered by the enhanced electron-phonon coupling. Nevertheless, the metallization and electronic transition of the specimen were delayed by ∼2.0 GPa under hydrostatic conditions due to the influence of deviatoric stress. Upon decompression to ambient conditions, the resumable Raman spectra and semiconducting characteristics elucidated the reversibility of the phase transition with the existence of residual stress in different hydrostatic environments. Our systematic high-pressure research studies on Nb2SiTe4 not only advance the in-depth understanding of its physicochemical behaviours in other 2D ferroelastic semiconductors but are also beneficial in steering its underlying applications in electronic and photonic devices.

In-situ microscale cold welding using a focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope.

In-situ assessment of machinability and chip formation through the dynamic contact electrical resistance measurement method (DyCERM)

Electrical characterisation of conductive hydrogels for biomedical applications.

3a, 6a-Diaza-1,4-diphosphapentalenes (RR'DDP) containing thienyl and alkyl peripheral substituents were synthesized (R, R' = {(5-ethylthienyl-2), Me} (6), {(thienyl-2), n-Bu} (7)). Interaction of 1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene (TCNB) with DDP 6 in any stoichiometry produces sandwich complex of the composition DDP-TCNB-DDP. Estimation of the HOMO-LUMO gap from the onset of optical absorption gives value of 1.34 eV. The study of the electron density topology showed that each TCNB molecule is an acceptor of 0.44e in the crystal while each DDP molecule in stack is charged + 0.22e. The energy of intermolecular interactions between the donor and acceptor molecules is 8.2 kcal/mol. We demonstrate for the first time the photoconductivity of a representative of a new class of charge-transfer complexes based on diazadiphosphapentalenes. Electrical measurements of single crystals of the (RR'DDP)/TCNB complex (R, R' = {(thienyl-2), Me} showed that the photocurrent under 1 Sun-irradiation is close to 1.5 nA, and the photosensitivity reaches 70. Complexation of TCNB with diazadiphosphapentalene 7 containing n-butyl peripheral substituents does not result in the formation of a stable complex. Analysis of ten representatives of diazadiphosphapentalenes showed that steric effects and the flexibility of peripheral substituents play a decisive role in complexation with TCNB.

From a theoretical perspective, ion transport through micrometer or nanometer-sized pores under a cross-pore electric field can be described well by the Hall equation, involving only the bulk conductivity, if the solution is not too dilute. For dilute solutions, it is predicted that the surface conduction will become important, especially in nanopores. Nonetheless, this remains unsupported by experiments, especially for micropores, where the experimentally observed ion conductance is intuitively thought to be dominated by bulk conduction. Herein, our electrical measurements of ion transport through silicon nitride pores having diameters ranging from sub-µm up to a few µm show that the surface conduction can be significant and non-negligible in such large pore systems, especially at solution concentrations lower than 1 mM. In the latter case, the observed surface conductivity of the order of 1 nS can dominate over the bulk contribution, yielding a Dukhin length comparable to or even larger than the pore size and a Dukhin number up to 10. The surface conduction can be further enhanced by covering the silicon nitride surface with two-dimensional (2D) crystals such as graphene, graphene oxide, or monolayer titania sheets. The resulting surface conductivity is seen to increase upon increasing the solution concentration and can be increased by up to one or two orders of magnitude. Our observations provide insights into ion transport in micropore systems and suggest the possibility of exploiting surface conduction in such large pores for new technologies that were previously believed to apply only to nanopores.

Achieving dynamic control over stereostructures and electronic properties of rigid molecules remains a significant challenge due to the delicate balance between stability and flexibility. Here, the construction of butterfly-shaped molecular junctions stabilized by moderate-strength boron-nitrogen (B←N) coordination between boraacenes and pyridines is reported. By leveraging the pivot-like flexibility of B←N bonds, molecular conductance switching with on/off ratios exceeding 100 is achieved through force-driven dynamic transitions between distinct stacking conformations. Single-molecule electrical measurements combined with first-principle calculations identify distinct charge transport mechanisms-through-space and through-bond-associated with the butterfly-wing open and closed configurations. Furthermore, external factors like electric fields and substituent effects modulate π-π interactions and charge transport properties. The introduction of destructive quantum interference effects can be achieved by replacing molecular units. The findings demonstrate that B←N coordination serves as a dynamically tunable linkage, offering a pathway to design molecular platforms with multifunctional units, customized stereo-conformations, and quantum effects.

This study investigates the influence of arc discharge current on the morphological, electrical, and plasma characteristics of carbon nanoparticles synthesized via submerged plasma arc discharge in deionized water. Arc currents of 40 A, 70 A, and 100 A were applied to graphite electrodes, and the resulting nanostructures were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), current-voltage (I–V) electrical measurements, and ionization energy analysis derived from time-resolved arc current behavior. The findings demonstrate that increasing the arc current significantly alters the morphology of the carbon products, transitioning from predominantly spherical carbon nano-onions (CNOs) at 40 A to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) at 100 A. Concurrently, I–V characterization reveals an increasing trend in electrical resistance, rising from ~20 kΩ at 40 A to ~90 kΩ at 100 A, suggesting a strong correlation between nanostructure geometry and macroscopic conductivity. Ionization energy distributions derived from arc current dynamics further reveal a transition from continuous energy profiles at 40 A to highly discrete peaks at 100 A, indicating a shift in plasma species and energy transfer mechanisms. These discrete ionization profiles at higher currents are proposed to facilitate anisotropic carbon growth, favoring CNT formation through directed energy delivery and ion-assisted crystallization. This work elucidates the coupled roles of arc current, plasma behavior, and nanoparticle morphology in determining the structure and electrical properties of carbon nanomaterials synthesized via arc discharge.

Since the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity, studying the upper critical field and its anisotropy has been crucial for understanding the superconducting mechanism and guiding applications. Here, we perform in situ high-pressure angular-dependent electrical transport measurements on Pr4Ni3O10 single crystals using a custom diamond anvil cell (DAC) rotator, confirming its anisotropic superconductivity. The anisotropy parameter γ, derived from the upper critical fields (μ0Hc2) for H⊥ab and H//ab, is approximately 1.6, decreasing with increasing temperature and approaching 1 near Tc. Comparing effective mass anisotropy and interblock distance in cuprates and iron-based superconductors (FeSCs) reveals that Pr4Ni3O10 single-crystal superconductors are consistent with a two-band model, where intralayer quantum confinement within the unit cell induces interlayer coherence, thereby leading to three-dimensional (3D) superconductivity. This study not only establishes the existence of weakly anisotropic superconductivity in bulk Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates but also provides critical insight into the role of dimensionality in high-temperature superconductivity.

ABSTRACT Laser‐induced graphene (LIG) is a novel, low‐cost material with excellent electrical properties that has recently gained increasing attention in bioengineering for both sensing and actuation applications. However, its integration into light microscopy‐compatible platforms for in vitro biological studies, such as lab‐on‐chip systems, is often hindered by complex and potentially invasive techniques for transferring it into final substrates. In this work, we propose a novel approach for the direct fabrication of LIG on polystyrene substrates using commercial polyimide adhesive tape, CO 2 laser irradiation, and a simple peel‐off process, enabling the production of fully in vitro‐compatible devices. The material is comprehensively characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, electrical resistivity measurements, finite element method (FEM) simulations, and machine learning based analysis. The resulting LIG electrodes are integrated into a muscle‐on‐chip microfluidic device, where they successfully generated electrical stimuli, inducing contractions in differentiated myotubes. These contractions are monitored by time‐lapse microscopy and quantitatively assessed using video analysis, demonstrating the tissue response in phase with electrical stimulation.

Complementary responses to identical stimuli, essential to biological sensory processing, are rarely realized in solid-state systems. Here, we report such behavior in the van der Waals (vdW) complex-anion thiophosphate LiInP2Se6, where two specimens with distinct defect landscapes exhibit opposing photoconductive responses under identical illumination when integrated as top-gate dielectrics in monolayer MoS2 field-effect transistors (FETs). These contrasting behaviors are supported by density functional theory, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and electrical measurements. Leveraging this intrinsic contrast, we construct a low-power and miniaturized photonic circuit that converts looming light stimuli into electrical spikes, where spike timing encodes the velocity of the approaching object. The response profile emulates the dynamics of lobula giant movement detector (LGMD) neurons in insects, positioning complex anion 2D thiophosphates as a compelling platform for neuromorphic vision.

The oxygen stoichiometry is key to tune functional properties of advanced oxides and has motivated numerous studies of the oxygen off-stoichiometry diagram, aiming to determine and control structural and functional (electronic/ionic, electrochemical, optical) properties, as well as the oxygen storage capacity. Here, a novel approach is developed, allowing to project selected oxygen chemical potential regions onto a single thin film sample with unprecedented control. Therefore, a specifically designed electrochemical cell geometry is deployed, resulting in a well-defined, in-plane oxygen concentration gradient, whose endpoints can be flexibly controlled via thepO2 and applied overpotentials, and which is independent of variations in the materials electrical resistivity. This allows for an unparalleled study of materials properties as continuous function of the oxygen content using spatially resolved tools (spectroscopic, diffraction, microscopy, etc.) and thereby greatly reduces experimental efforts while avoiding sample-to-sample variability, multi-step treatments, degradation effects, etc. This work presents the proof-of-concept of in-plane oxygen gradients, based on spatially resolved ex/in situ and novel fixed-energy X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES), X-ray diffraction, ellipsometry, and electrical measurements in hyper-stoichiometric La2NiO4+δ and sub-stoichiometric (La, Sr)FeO3-δ thin films. It demonstrates the readiness and wide applicability of this innovative approach, highly relevant for fundamental as well as applied research.

Abstract Partial shading highly impacts the performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems that causes power loss. Reconfiguration algorithms are one of the solutions to overcome the consequences of partial shading. The reconfiguration method electrically rearranges the interconnections between the PV modules without altering its physical position. Generally, these methods require higher number of measurement devices for the attainment of reconfiguration pattern. This work proposes a image processing based reconfiguration methods without electrical measurements. Two types of image processing methods such as thermal image processing and tag camera image processing are developed and validated in this work. The proposed work has been validated in both simulation and experimental setup on the 2.4 kW PV system which is constructed using 16 numbers of monocrystalline modules. The validation is done under eleven realistic shading scenarios. The attainment of reconfiguration pattern is compared between both measurement-based reconfiguration and image processing-based reconfiguration. The results are shows that, the image processing attains accurate reconfiguration pattern as same as the measurement-based method. Also, this paper provides a comparative analysis of six proposed reconfiguration methods of Two-Step Reconfiguration (TSR), Couple Matching Algorithm (CMA), Thermal Image Processing-Based Two-Step Reconfiguration (T-TSR), Thermal Image Processing-Based Couple Matching Algorithm (T-CMA), Tag Camera Image Processing-Based Two-Step Reconfiguration (Tag-TSR), and Tag Camera Image Processing-Based Couple Matching Algorithm (Tag-CMA) in terms of power generation, power enhancement ratio, and mismatch losses.

Abstract The response characteristics of Rydberg atoms to electric fields serve as a fundamental basis for investigating atomic physical properties and enabling high-precision, self-calibrated electric field measurements. In studies involving low-frequency, strong electric fields acting on Rydberg atoms, or enhancing radio-frequency electric field measurement performance, researchers commonly place built-in electrodes inside the atomic vapor cell and apply voltages to generate the desired electric field. Our team experimentally observed an electric field bias between the electrodes, which compromises subsequent research outcomes. This paper analyzes the physical mechanism of the electric field bias induced by the built-in electrodes. And it proposes that the electric field bias originates from an inter-electrodes potential difference caused by asymmetric photoelectron emission, which results from differential cesium (Cs) atom adsorption densities on the electrodes’ surfaces when coupling laser photons irradiate them. The specific research work conducted in this study comprises the following components. Firstly, the laser transmission path within the atomic vapor cell was illustrated through experiments and simulations, elucidating that a portion of laser photons reach the surface of the electrodes due to scattering effects. Secondly, the adsorption behavior of Cs atoms onto copper electrodes was modeled and analyzed. The work function of the electrodes was calculated, and simulation cases confirmed that the work function of copper electrodes falls below the photon energy of the coupling laser after the adsorption of Cs atoms. This induces the photoelectric effect, resulting in a potential difference between the two electrode plates and generating a bias electric field. Finally, the influence of coupling laser parameters (power, polarization angle and beam position) on the bias phenomenon was investigated. A correlation between the electric field bias and the laser parameters was observed. Based on these findings, a correction method for the electric field bias was proposed, which reduces the electric field measurement error by 59.84%.

Abstract In this work, a wire-to-grid electroaerodynamic thruster is experimentally investigated in a low-pressure environment. The study explores the influence of electrode gap d and ambient pressure p on thrust density T / A , thrust-to-power ratio T / P , and corona current i c . A dedicated test rig is designed to operate within a low-pressure chamber, which is equipped with diagnostics for thrust and electrical measurements. Experimental results are compared with a revised physical model. The findings validate the theoretical framework and reveal that thruster performance is highly sensitive to both pressure and electrode spacing. Overall performance degrades with decreasing pressure, while optimal values of T / A and T / P require a trade-off in the selection of gap. Measurements of ignition and breakdown voltages further define the operational envelope, showing an expansion with increasing pressure.

Indium-doped SnTe (Sn1−xInxTe) provides a model platform for exploring the emergence of superconductivity within a topological crystalline insulator. Here, we present a systematic investigation of the structural, transport, and thermodynamic properties of high-quality single crystals with 0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5. All compositions up to x = 0.4 form a single-phase cubic structure, enabling a controlled study of the superconducting state. Electrical resistivity and specific heat measurements reveal a bulk, fully gapped s-wave superconducting phase whose transition temperature increases monotonically with In concentration, reaching Tc ≈ 4.7 K at x = 0.5. Analysis of the electronic specific heat and McMillan formalism shows that the electron–phonon coupling constant λel-ph systematically increases with doping, while the Debye temperature systematically decreases, resulting in the lattice softening. This behavior, together with the observed evolution of the normal-state resistivity exponent from Fermi-liquid (n ≈ 2.04) toward non-Fermi-liquid values (n ≈ 1.72), demonstrates a clear crossover from weak to strong interaction with increasing In content. These results establish Sn1−xInxTe as a tunable superconducting system in which coupling strength can be continuously controlled, offering a promising platform for future studies on the interplay between phonon-mediated superconductivity and crystalline topological band structure.