Open Access

The plasma diagnostic and control (D&C) system for a future tokamak demonstration fusion reactor (DEMO) will have to provide reliable operation near technical and physics limits, while its front-end components will be subject to strong adverse effects within the nuclear and high temperature plasma environment. The ongoing developments for the ITER D&C system represent an important starting point for progressing towards DEMO. [...]

In this work, we present a new application for the line shapes of emission induced by reflected hydrogen atoms. Optical properties of the solids in contact with the plasma could be effectively measured at the wavelength of Balmer lines: time-resolved measurements of reflectance and polarization properties of mirrors are performed using the wavelength separation of the direct and reflected signals [...]

Magnetic interactions underpin a plethora of magnetic states of matter, hence playing a central role both in fundamental physics and for future spintronic and quantum computation devices. The Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, ${{\bf{D}}}_{{ij}}\cdot ({{\bf{S}}}_{i}\times {{\bf{S}}}_{j})$, being chiral and driven by relativistic effects, leads to the stabilization of highly-noncollinear spin textures such as skyrmions, which thanks to their topological nature are promising building blocks for magnetic data storage and processing elements. [...]

Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) microfluidic devices promise versatile and precise processing of biological samples. However, this prospect has been realized so far only for rigid spherical particles and remains limited for biological cells due to the complexity of cell dynamics and deformation in microfluidic flow [...]

Reducing CO2 emissions has become a worldwide research topic. Of all the sources of CO2 emissions, power plants burning fossil fuels, especially coals, account for a very large portion. [...]

Quantum entanglement involving coherent superpositions of macroscopically distinct states is among the most striking features of quantum theory, but its realization is challenging because such states are extremely fragile. Using a programmable quantum simulator based on neutral atom arrays with interactions mediated by Rydberg states, we demonstrate the creation of “Schrödinger cat” states of the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) type with up to 20 qubits. [...]

Polarization reversal is the most fundamental physical process in ferroelectrics and directly or indirectly influences all functional properties of these materials. While this process is influenced by various intrinsic material’s properties and external boundary conditions, arguably one of the most dominant parameters is the material’s crystallographic structure [...]

Metal-air batteries provide a most promising battery technology given their outstanding potential energy densities, which are desirable for both stationary and mobile applications in a “beyond lithium-ion” battery market. Silicon- and iron-air batteries underwent less research and development compared to lithium- and zinc-air batteries [...]

The presence of fungi in pristine Antarctic soils is of particular interest because of the diversity of this microbial group. However, the extreme conditions that coexist in Antarctica produce a strong selective pressure that could lead to the evolution of novel mechanisms for stress tolerance by indigenous microorganisms. [...]

RationaleIsotopic signatures of N2O can help distinguish between two sources (fertiliser N or endogenous soil N) of N2O emissions. The contribution of each source to N2O emissions after N‐application is difficult to determine. [...]