Faraday microscopy and magnetic force microscopy with circularly polarized picosecond optical pulses are used to investigate domain switching in a ferromagnetic Pt/Co/Pt thin film. A stochastic model explains the nucleation and growth of magnetic domains, taking into account light helicity and the relative magnetization of neighbouring domains.

Single-atom alloys can exhibit unique catalytic properties. Here, using reactivity measurements, atomic-scale imaging, simulation and spectroscopic analysis, it is shown that 1 atom% addition of Pt to Cu nanoparticles substantially decreases deactivation in single-atom alloys via sintering. A general predictive model of catalyst stabilization is developed.

Phase-change memories require effective ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selectors to eliminate leakage currents. A charge-triggered switching mechanism is identified in amorphous elemental selenium and shown to make it an effective OTS selector that can achieve a leakage current of 4 × 10⁻¹² A.

Antiferroelectrics possess an antipolar ground state, and can be electrically driven into a polar phase. This Perspective discusses the history of these systems, defines these materials, surveys different types of antiferroelectricity and presents an outlook on future research pathways.

The weak contact between the oxide electrode and molecular layer in inverted perovskite solar cells is prone to deformation, limiting long-term device stability. A bulk nano-heterointerface is designed to strengthen the binding force between molecules and spherical silicon oxide nanoparticles, increasing the interfacial contact area and improving the operational stability of perovskite solar cells.

Reconfigurable chip-to-free-space interfaces based on thin-film lithium niobate microrings generate on-demand nonlinear structured light, including tunable optical vortices, optical skyrmions and spatiotemporal vortex pulses.

For conventional voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) switching, a small variation in the pulse widths of the order of several picoseconds can cause switching failure. Now, VCMA-driven static magnetization switching is demonstrated, which is largely insensitive to pulse widths within certain thresholds.

Introducing cost-effective CaO removes aluminium impurities in magnesium vapour with over 90% efficiency, enabling the affordable, large-scale production of high-purity magnesium with low aluminium.

Atomic-level changes to molecular junctions are found to tune the thermal conductance of the junctions by a factor of two. These observations, performed using high-resolution calorimetric scanning tunnelling probes, show how single atoms can influence and control phonon transport in molecular junctions.

Gene correction in the lung is achieved with inhalable mRNA lipid nanoparticles containing an amino acid-derived ionizable lipid identified from screening and structure–function optimization studies.

Authors whose research paper is accepted for publication at Nature Materials now have the option to include the reviewers’ comments and their rebuttal letters with their publication.

Heterogeneous microstructure engineering has become a powerful strategy for optimizing properties and performance of metallic alloys.

We discuss altermagnetic multiferroics, materials hosting distinct advantages for low-power spintronic devices, including a zero net magnetization that eliminates stray fields, a momentum-dependent spin splitting enabling controllable spin currents and an intrinsic strong magnetoelectric coupling originating from the spin space symmetry.

As artificial intelligence tools continue to develop, their impact is growing.

Metasurfaces and metamaterials (or meta-optics) and their optoelectronic hybrid integration are set to drive the next era of computing, sensing and communications. As electronic systems reach fundamental limits, optical-enabled artificial intelligence emerges as a way forward, with meta-optics enabling speed, efficiency and scalability. We argue the need for comprehensive national innovation strategies to exploit the value of meta-optics in the photonics industry.

The ability to make porous extended structures in a predictable manner is now a mature and useful concept for materials scientists to solve real-world problems.