Pub Date : 2026-08-03DOI: 10.1038/s44287-026-00324-4
Rachel Won
Synergistic integration of a resonant RF antenna and a microring electro-optic modulator breaks the size–efficiency trade-off in monolithic photonic RF receivers, supporting diverse communications, radar and electronic warfare applications.
{"title":"Enhancing RF-to-optical conversion with dual-resonance photonic integration","authors":"Rachel Won","doi":"10.1038/s44287-026-00324-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44287-026-00324-4","url":null,"abstract":"Synergistic integration of a resonant RF antenna and a microring electro-optic modulator breaks the size–efficiency trade-off in monolithic photonic RF receivers, supporting diverse communications, radar and electronic warfare applications.","PeriodicalId":501701,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering","volume":"3 8","pages":"473-473"},"PeriodicalIF":34.8,"publicationDate":"2026-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-07-30DOI: 10.1038/s44287-026-00323-5
Miranda L. Vinay
A biomimetic tactile system combines spiking neural networks and large language models to unite reflex-like perception with cognitive reasoning. By processing touch through dual pathways, the approach enables robots to recognize, interpret and respond to familiar and unfamiliar stimuli efficiently.
{"title":"Dual-pathway artificial skin for human-like touch and reasoning","authors":"Miranda L. Vinay","doi":"10.1038/s44287-026-00323-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44287-026-00323-5","url":null,"abstract":"A biomimetic tactile system combines spiking neural networks and large language models to unite reflex-like perception with cognitive reasoning. By processing touch through dual pathways, the approach enables robots to recognize, interpret and respond to familiar and unfamiliar stimuli efficiently.","PeriodicalId":501701,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering","volume":"3 8","pages":"474-474"},"PeriodicalIF":34.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-07-29DOI: 10.1038/s44287-026-00314-6
Xuan Dong, Jiali Huo, Ying Xiong, Yee Sin Ang, Hue Thi Bich Do, Dmitrii Gromyko, Guangxin Liu, Michel Bosman, Kah-Wee Ang, Lay Kee Ang, Cheng-Wei Qiu, Zhaogang Dong, Lin Wu
Photon-driven electron excitation is a foundational mechanism underpinning the interaction between light and matter in quantum materials, including van der Waals materials, Dirac and Weyl semi-metals, topological insulators and other emergent phases. These enable next-generation optoelectronic, energy conversion and quantum information technologies. However, translating this mechanistic understanding into an engineering implementation is hindered by excitation efficiency, environmental stability and scalable fabrication. In this Review, we provide a mechanistic perspective on key photon-driven electron-excitation processes based on energy flow pathways, including electron–hole generation in semiconductors, high-mobility electron transport in semi-metals, photoemission from metals and low-dimensional materials, and light-induced thermoelectric effects. We examine engineering strategies to enhance the efficiency of these processes, including interface control, material selection and compatible integration. By bridging fundamental mechanisms with device-level metrics, this Review offers a unified framework and practical roadmap for advancing scalable, multifunctional optoelectronic devices that integrate sensing, data storage and computation. This Review explores photon-driven electron excitations in quantum materials, connecting semiconductor photogeneration, semi-metal transport, photoemission and thermoelectric conversion to device-level trade-offs. It highlights cross-mechanism benchmarking, presenting a roadmap towards complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible optoelectronics for integrated sensing, memory, computation and emerging photonic technologies.
{"title":"Photon-driven electron excitations in quantum materials","authors":"Xuan Dong, Jiali Huo, Ying Xiong, Yee Sin Ang, Hue Thi Bich Do, Dmitrii Gromyko, Guangxin Liu, Michel Bosman, Kah-Wee Ang, Lay Kee Ang, Cheng-Wei Qiu, Zhaogang Dong, Lin Wu","doi":"10.1038/s44287-026-00314-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44287-026-00314-6","url":null,"abstract":"Photon-driven electron excitation is a foundational mechanism underpinning the interaction between light and matter in quantum materials, including van der Waals materials, Dirac and Weyl semi-metals, topological insulators and other emergent phases. These enable next-generation optoelectronic, energy conversion and quantum information technologies. However, translating this mechanistic understanding into an engineering implementation is hindered by excitation efficiency, environmental stability and scalable fabrication. In this Review, we provide a mechanistic perspective on key photon-driven electron-excitation processes based on energy flow pathways, including electron–hole generation in semiconductors, high-mobility electron transport in semi-metals, photoemission from metals and low-dimensional materials, and light-induced thermoelectric effects. We examine engineering strategies to enhance the efficiency of these processes, including interface control, material selection and compatible integration. By bridging fundamental mechanisms with device-level metrics, this Review offers a unified framework and practical roadmap for advancing scalable, multifunctional optoelectronic devices that integrate sensing, data storage and computation. This Review explores photon-driven electron excitations in quantum materials, connecting semiconductor photogeneration, semi-metal transport, photoemission and thermoelectric conversion to device-level trade-offs. It highlights cross-mechanism benchmarking, presenting a roadmap towards complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible optoelectronics for integrated sensing, memory, computation and emerging photonic technologies.","PeriodicalId":501701,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering","volume":"3 8","pages":"523-540"},"PeriodicalIF":34.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Power can be harvested in space today. The real challenge is building, operating and certifying a complete energy system in orbit — under extreme conditions, with no one nearby to repair it. Whether space joins the world’s energy supply will depend on that challenge, not just on generation.
{"title":"Space energy is infrastructure, not just generation","authors":"Qi Wang, Zhengguang Liu, Yixun Xue, Chenhui Lin, Defeng Sun, Wenchuan Wu, Hongbin Sun","doi":"10.1038/s44287-026-00317-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44287-026-00317-3","url":null,"abstract":"Power can be harvested in space today. The real challenge is building, operating and certifying a complete energy system in orbit — under extreme conditions, with no one nearby to repair it. Whether space joins the world’s energy supply will depend on that challenge, not just on generation.","PeriodicalId":501701,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering","volume":"3 8","pages":"469-470"},"PeriodicalIF":34.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-07-15DOI: 10.1038/s44287-026-00312-8
Charles Guan, Lydia J. Lin, Sunho Lee, Whitney S. Griggs
Functional ultrasound imaging (fUSI) offers a non-invasive, high-resolution path to brain–computer interfacing (BCI) but moving from laboratory prototypes to clinical use demands solutions to technical, clinical and scalability challenges. This Comment examines those challenges and outlines directions for bringing fUSI-BCIs out of the lab.
{"title":"Scaling ultrasonic brain computer interfaces beyond the lab","authors":"Charles Guan, Lydia J. Lin, Sunho Lee, Whitney S. Griggs","doi":"10.1038/s44287-026-00312-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44287-026-00312-8","url":null,"abstract":"Functional ultrasound imaging (fUSI) offers a non-invasive, high-resolution path to brain–computer interfacing (BCI) but moving from laboratory prototypes to clinical use demands solutions to technical, clinical and scalability challenges. This Comment examines those challenges and outlines directions for bringing fUSI-BCIs out of the lab.","PeriodicalId":501701,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering","volume":"3 8","pages":"467-468"},"PeriodicalIF":34.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704536","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Topolectrical circuits are electrical networks that encode topological band theory. Their physical behaviour is set by how the components are wired together, not by where they are placed. This wiring-centred design delivers defect tolerance, directional signal flow without bulky magnetic parts, and amplified response at boundaries. Conventional electronics obtain these only by adding isolators, feedback or calibration after the circuit is laid out. In this Review, we identify which capabilities are engineering-ready and which remain confined to the laboratory. We cover the underlying physics, the resulting sensors and engineering applications, and cross-disciplinary uses in quantum simulation, artificial intelligence-assisted design and curved-space geometries. We then examine how co-integration with memristive devices makes the platform adaptive and history-dependent. We close with the hardware routes towards deployable electronics, from monolithic chips to flexible substrates and body-worn systems. Topolectrical circuits route signals one way without magnets and keep working when components fail. These capabilities come from how the components are wired together, not from added parts. This Review covers their physics, applications across sensing, wireless power and communications, and the path towards integrated, flexible and adaptive electronics.
{"title":"Engineering topolectrical circuits","authors":"Yuxin Jiang, Wenhao Li, Weixuan Zhang, Ce Shang, Yihao Yang, Xiangdong Zhang, Ching Hua Lee, Ronny Thomale","doi":"10.1038/s44287-026-00308-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44287-026-00308-4","url":null,"abstract":"Topolectrical circuits are electrical networks that encode topological band theory. Their physical behaviour is set by how the components are wired together, not by where they are placed. This wiring-centred design delivers defect tolerance, directional signal flow without bulky magnetic parts, and amplified response at boundaries. Conventional electronics obtain these only by adding isolators, feedback or calibration after the circuit is laid out. In this Review, we identify which capabilities are engineering-ready and which remain confined to the laboratory. We cover the underlying physics, the resulting sensors and engineering applications, and cross-disciplinary uses in quantum simulation, artificial intelligence-assisted design and curved-space geometries. We then examine how co-integration with memristive devices makes the platform adaptive and history-dependent. We close with the hardware routes towards deployable electronics, from monolithic chips to flexible substrates and body-worn systems. Topolectrical circuits route signals one way without magnets and keep working when components fail. These capabilities come from how the components are wired together, not from added parts. This Review covers their physics, applications across sensing, wireless power and communications, and the path towards integrated, flexible and adaptive electronics.","PeriodicalId":501701,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering","volume":"3 8","pages":"493-509"},"PeriodicalIF":34.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-07-01DOI: 10.1038/s44287-026-00303-9
Cheng Feng, Jianhua Pei, Zhijin Qin, Kaibin Huang, Dusit Niyato, Geoffrey Ye Li, Yi Wang, Ping Wang, Chongqing Kang
Future cyber–physical systems face a gap between surging data traffic and finite resources under stringent latency and reliability demands. Throughput-driven and latency-driven communication systems assign the same scheduling priority to all packets regardless of their relevance to the downstream task, which can undermine decision quality. Conversely, goal-oriented communications transmit only goal-relevant information, protecting control systems from destabilization due to indiscriminate data flooding. In this Review, we analyse how goal-oriented communications reshape cyber–physical system design across four tiers: networked sensing and control, decision-making, distributed intelligence and multimodal intelligence. The analysis reveals that task-level metrics, such as control error, inference accuracy and decision utility, rather than bit-level communication metrics, are key to ensuring reliable sensing, control and decision-making. We reframe cyber–physical communication from bit-level optimization toward task-oriented design, where communication decisions are driven by downstream task requirements. Finally, we posit a framework that will enable engineers and researchers to build intelligent cyber–physical systems. This framework will power smarter grids, safer autonomous vehicles and more adaptive industrial automation. This Review shows that transmitting targeted, goal-oriented bits rather than more data reshapes communication–performance trade-offs across four tiers of cyber-physical complexity, from control stability to multimodal intelligence.
{"title":"Goal-oriented communications for future cyber–physical systems","authors":"Cheng Feng, Jianhua Pei, Zhijin Qin, Kaibin Huang, Dusit Niyato, Geoffrey Ye Li, Yi Wang, Ping Wang, Chongqing Kang","doi":"10.1038/s44287-026-00303-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44287-026-00303-9","url":null,"abstract":"Future cyber–physical systems face a gap between surging data traffic and finite resources under stringent latency and reliability demands. Throughput-driven and latency-driven communication systems assign the same scheduling priority to all packets regardless of their relevance to the downstream task, which can undermine decision quality. Conversely, goal-oriented communications transmit only goal-relevant information, protecting control systems from destabilization due to indiscriminate data flooding. In this Review, we analyse how goal-oriented communications reshape cyber–physical system design across four tiers: networked sensing and control, decision-making, distributed intelligence and multimodal intelligence. The analysis reveals that task-level metrics, such as control error, inference accuracy and decision utility, rather than bit-level communication metrics, are key to ensuring reliable sensing, control and decision-making. We reframe cyber–physical communication from bit-level optimization toward task-oriented design, where communication decisions are driven by downstream task requirements. Finally, we posit a framework that will enable engineers and researchers to build intelligent cyber–physical systems. This framework will power smarter grids, safer autonomous vehicles and more adaptive industrial automation. This Review shows that transmitting targeted, goal-oriented bits rather than more data reshapes communication–performance trade-offs across four tiers of cyber-physical complexity, from control stability to multimodal intelligence.","PeriodicalId":501701,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering","volume":"3 8","pages":"475-492"},"PeriodicalIF":34.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-06-26DOI: 10.1038/s44287-026-00309-3
Zhen Xu, Rachel Won
Zhen Xu, Li Ka Shing Endowed Professor of Biomedical Engineering and professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery at the University of Michigan, speaks to Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering about the journey that led to her success in inventing and advancing histotripsy to help patients, and shares her vision as the mid-career winner of the 2026 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature. Zhen Xu reflects on the journey that led to her success in inventing and advancing histotripsy to help patients, and shares her vision as the mid-career winner of the 2026 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature.
{"title":"Making the impossible possible","authors":"Zhen Xu, Rachel Won","doi":"10.1038/s44287-026-00309-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44287-026-00309-3","url":null,"abstract":"Zhen Xu, Li Ka Shing Endowed Professor of Biomedical Engineering and professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery at the University of Michigan, speaks to Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering about the journey that led to her success in inventing and advancing histotripsy to help patients, and shares her vision as the mid-career winner of the 2026 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature. Zhen Xu reflects on the journey that led to her success in inventing and advancing histotripsy to help patients, and shares her vision as the mid-career winner of the 2026 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature.","PeriodicalId":501701,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering","volume":"3 8","pages":"471-472"},"PeriodicalIF":34.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-06-25DOI: 10.1038/s44287-026-00310-w
Miranda L. Vinay
Stark effect-induced bandgap tuning in black phosphorus (BP) provides precise control over carrier density and switching behaviour, enabling adjustable amplifier gain and bandwidth, facilitating compact binary and ternary logic implementations, and advancing BP transistor arrays for next-generation circuit applications.
{"title":"Harnessing the Stark effect for advanced circuit design with black phosphorus","authors":"Miranda L. Vinay","doi":"10.1038/s44287-026-00310-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44287-026-00310-w","url":null,"abstract":"Stark effect-induced bandgap tuning in black phosphorus (BP) provides precise control over carrier density and switching behaviour, enabling adjustable amplifier gain and bandwidth, facilitating compact binary and ternary logic implementations, and advancing BP transistor arrays for next-generation circuit applications.","PeriodicalId":501701,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering","volume":"3 7","pages":"405-405"},"PeriodicalIF":34.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148434165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-06-23DOI: 10.1038/s44287-026-00302-w
Christopher Pantayatiwong Liu, Maria Pagliaro, Anastasiia Semenova, Grace Lindquist, Alessandro Lavacchi, Plamen Atanassov, Ilia Valov
Alkaline water electrolysis supplies most installed water-electrolyser capacity, yet the technology and its perceived limits have not fundamentally changed in a century. Rather than inherent chemistry, we argue that these limits are the consequence of traditional operating conditions at near-atmospheric pressure, low current density, and steady state. The performance gap with proton exchange membrane systems persists across a coupled hierarchy of losses: kinetic and ohmic losses at the electrodes and separator in concentrated KOH; shunt and reverse currents along the manifolds of bipolar stacks; and power-conversion, compression and thermal-management losses at the plant level. In this Review, we outline how closing this gap calls for coordinated advances in electrode and separator materials, stack architecture, power electronics and plant-level integration, evaluated under realistic industrial conditions of concentrated alkali, elevated temperature and pressure, and dynamic loads. By pursuing these advances, we can rebuild alkaline electrolysis from first principles into a flexible workhorse for low-carbon hydrogen production. Alkaline water electrolysis dominates global water-electrolyser capacity, but its architecture has remained largely unchanged for a century. This Review examines how losses at the cell, stack and system levels conventionally limit efficiency, and highlights how rethinking these constraints can unlock substantial gains for industrial hydrogen production.
{"title":"Rethinking alkaline water electrolysis under industrial conditions","authors":"Christopher Pantayatiwong Liu, Maria Pagliaro, Anastasiia Semenova, Grace Lindquist, Alessandro Lavacchi, Plamen Atanassov, Ilia Valov","doi":"10.1038/s44287-026-00302-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44287-026-00302-w","url":null,"abstract":"Alkaline water electrolysis supplies most installed water-electrolyser capacity, yet the technology and its perceived limits have not fundamentally changed in a century. Rather than inherent chemistry, we argue that these limits are the consequence of traditional operating conditions at near-atmospheric pressure, low current density, and steady state. The performance gap with proton exchange membrane systems persists across a coupled hierarchy of losses: kinetic and ohmic losses at the electrodes and separator in concentrated KOH; shunt and reverse currents along the manifolds of bipolar stacks; and power-conversion, compression and thermal-management losses at the plant level. In this Review, we outline how closing this gap calls for coordinated advances in electrode and separator materials, stack architecture, power electronics and plant-level integration, evaluated under realistic industrial conditions of concentrated alkali, elevated temperature and pressure, and dynamic loads. By pursuing these advances, we can rebuild alkaline electrolysis from first principles into a flexible workhorse for low-carbon hydrogen production. Alkaline water electrolysis dominates global water-electrolyser capacity, but its architecture has remained largely unchanged for a century. This Review examines how losses at the cell, stack and system levels conventionally limit efficiency, and highlights how rethinking these constraints can unlock substantial gains for industrial hydrogen production.","PeriodicalId":501701,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering","volume":"3 8","pages":"510-522"},"PeriodicalIF":34.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148704543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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