Advanced Materials

Surface tension of self-assembled metal nanodroplets can be applied to overcome the deformation barriers of strain-engineered nanomembranes and produce extremely nanoscale tubes. Aggregated nanoparticles stress nanomembranes and subsequently integrate on the walls of rolled-up nanotubes, which can speed up the tubular engines owing to the enhanced electrocatalytic activity.

A super-resolution optical storage technique enabled by DNA nanotechnology and the design of resonance energy transfer (RET) networks are demonstrated. The enhancement in storage density stems from non-linear interactions between excitons on the nanostructured RET circuits, which permit large-scale multiplexing with a small set of addressing wavelengths and a single output channel.

Stoichiometric SrVO₃ thin films grown by hybrid molecular beam epitaxy are demonstrated, meeting the stringent requirements of an ideal bottom electrode material. They display an order of magnitude lower room temperature resistivity and superior chemical stability, compared to the commonly employed SrRuO₃, as well as atomically smooth surfaces. Excellent structural compatibility with perovskite and related structures renders SrVO₃ a high performance electrode material with the potential to promote the creation of new functional oxide electronic devices.

Titania woodpile photonic crystals are fabricated by a combination of stimulated-emission depletion direct laser writing and a novel titania double-inversion procedure. The procedure relies on atomic-layer deposition which is also used to fine-tune the template geometry to maximize the gapsize. Angle- and polarization-resolved transmittance spectroscopy and a comparison with theory provide evidence for the first complete photonic bandgap in the visible.

Triplet harvesting with 100% efficiency is obtained via thermal assisted delayed fluorescence (TADF). The key role played by intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), lone pair electrons, and molecular structure in achieving this high efficiency in a series of ICT molecules is elucidated. Results show the complex photophysics of efficient TADF materials and give clear guidelines for designing new emitters.