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Strong interactions between excitons are a characteristic feature of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, determining important excitonic properties, such as exciton lifetime, coherence, and photon-emission efficiency. Rhenium disulfide (ReS2), a member of the 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) family, has recently attracted great attention due to its unique excitons that exhibit excellent polarization selectivity and coherence features. However, an in-depth understanding of exciton-exciton interactions in ReS2 is still lacking. Here we used ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy to study exciton-exciton interactions in monolayer (1L), bilayer (2L), and triple layer ReS2. We directly measure the rate of exciton-exciton annihilation, a representative Auger-type interaction between excitons. It decreases with increasing layer number, as observed in other 2D TMDs. However, while other TMDs exhibit a sharp weakening of exciton-exciton annihilation between 1L and 2L, such behavior was not observed in ReS2. We attribute this distinct feature in ReS2 to the relatively weak interlayer coupling, which prohibits a substantial change in the electronic structure when the thickness varies. This work not only highlights the unique excitonic properties of ReS2 but also provides novel insight into the thickness dependence of exciton-exciton interactions in 2D systems. 

The discovery of topological Hall effect (THE) has important implications for next‐generation high‐density nonvolatile memories, energy‐efficient nanoelectronics, and spintronic devices. Both real‐space topological spin configurations and two anomalous Hall effects (AHE) with opposite polarity due to two magnetic phases have been proposed for THE‐like feature in SrRuO₃(SRO) films. In this work, SRO thin films with and without THE‐like features are systematically Investigated to decipher the origin of the THE feature. Magnetic measurement reveals the coexistence of two magnetic phases of different coercivity (H_c) in both the films, but the hump feature cannot be explained by the two channel AHE model based on these two magnetic phases. In fact, the AHE is mainly governed by the magnetic phase with higherH_c. A diffusive Berry phase transition model is proposed to explain the THE feature. The coexistence of two Berry phases with opposite signs over a narrow temperature range in the high Hc magnetic phase can explain the THE like feature. Such a coexistence of two Berry phases is due to the strong local structural tilt and microstructure variation in the thinner films. This work provides an insight between structure/micro structure and THE like features in SRO epitaxial thin films.

 

A variety of mechanisms are reported to play critical roles in contributing to the high carrier/electron mobility in oxide/SrTiO₃(STO) heterostructures. By using La_0.95Sr_0.05TiO₃(LSTO) epitaxially grown on different single crystal substrates (such as STO, GdScO₃, LaAlO₃, (LaAlO₃)_0.3(Sr₂AlTaO₆)_0.7, and CeO₂buffered STO) as the model systems, the formation of a conducting substrate surface layer (CSSL) on STO substrate is shown at relatively low growth temperature and high oxygen pressure (725 °C, 5 × 10^–4 Torr), which contributes to the enhanced conductivity of the LSTO/STO heterostructures. Different from the conventional oxygen vacancy model, this work reveals that the formation of the CSSL occurs when growing an oxide layer (LSTO in this case) on STO, while neither annealing nor the growth of an Au layer alone at the exact same growth condition generates the CSSL in STO. It demonstrates that the oxide layer actively pulls oxygen from STO substrate at given growth conditions, leading to the formation of the CSSL. The observations emphasize the oxygen transfer across film/substrate interface during the synthesis of oxide heterostructures playing a critical role in functional properties.

 

Surface recombination is a major bottleneck for realizing highly efficient micro/nanostructure solar cells. Here, parametric studies of the influence of Si microwire (SiMW) surface‐facet orientation (rectangular with flat‐facets, {110}, {100} and circular), with a fixed height of 10 µm, diameter (D= 1.5–9.5 µm), and sidewall spacing (S= 2.5–8.5 µm), and mesh‐grid density (1–16 mm⁻²) on recombination and carrier collection in SiMW solar cells with radial p‐n junctions are reported. An effective surface passivation layer composed of thin thermally grown silicon dioxide (SiO₂) and silicon nitride (SiN_x) layers is employed. For a fixedDof 1.5 µm, tight SiMW spacing results in improved short‐circuit current density (J_sc= 30.1 mA cm⁻²) and sparse arrays result in open‐circuit voltages (V_oc= 0.552 V) that are similar to those of control Si planar cells. For a fixedS, smallerDresults in better light trapping at shorter wavelengths and higherJ_scwhile largerDexhibits better light trapping at larger wavelengths and a higherV_oc. With a mesh‐grid electrode the power conversion efficiency increases to 15.3%. These results provide insights on the recombination mechanisms in SiMW solar cells and provide general design principles for optimizing their performance.

 

Intracellular access with high spatiotemporal resolution can enhance the understanding of how neurons or cardiomyocytes regulate and orchestrate network activity and how this activity can be affected with pharmacology or other interventional modalities. Nanoscale devices often employ electroporation to transiently permeate the cell membrane and record intracellular potentials, which tend to decrease rapidly with time. Here, one reports innovative scalable, vertical, ultrasharp nanowire arrays that are individually addressable to enable long‐term, native recordings of intracellular potentials. One reports electrophysiological recordings that are indicative of intracellular access from 3D tissue‐like networks of neurons and cardiomyocytes across recording days and that do not decrease to extracellular amplitudes for the duration of the recording of several minutes. The findings are validated with cross‐sectional microscopy, pharmacology, and electrical interventions. The experiments and simulations demonstrate that the individual electrical addressability of nanowires is necessary for high‐fidelity intracellular electrophysiological recordings. This study advances the understanding of and control over high‐quality multichannel intracellular recordings and paves the way toward predictive, high‐throughput, and low‐cost electrophysiological drug screening platforms.