Much of the motivation for exploring nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond in the past decade has been for their potential as a solid-state alternative to trapped ions for quantum computing. In this area, the NV center has exceeded expectations and even shown an unprecedented capability to perform certain quantum processing and storage operations at room temperature. The ability to operate in ambient conditions, combined with the atom-like magnetic Zeeman sensitivity, has also led to intensive investigation of NV centers as nanoscale magnetometers. Thus, aside from room-temperature solid-state quantum computers, the NV could also be used to image individual spins in biological systems, eventually leading to a new level of understanding of biomolecular interactions in living cells.

The use of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond as a single spin sensor or magnetometer has attracted considerable interest in recent years because of its unique combination of sensitivity, nanoscale resolution, and room temperature operation. These properties, together with long-term photostability of the NV fluorescence and the inherent biocompatibility of diamond, make the NV system ideal for applications in biology. This article focuses on the role of the NV center in biological applications from optical tracking to nanoscale sensing.

Structured lead zirconium titanate (PZT)–epoxy composites are prepared by dielectrophoresis. The piezoelectric and dielectric properties of the composites as a function of PZT volume fraction are investigated and compared with the corresponding unstructured composites. The effect of poling voltage on piezoelectric properties of the composites is studied for various volume fractions of PZT composites. The experimentally observed piezoelectric and dielectric properties have been compared with theoretical models. Dielectrophoretically structured composites exhibit higher piezoelectric voltage coefficients compared to 0–3 composites. Structured composites with 0.1 volume fraction of PZT have the highest piezoelectric voltage coefficient. The flexural strength and bending modulus of the structured and random composites were analyzed using three-point bending tests.

Ce0.35Zr0.65−xRExO2 (RE = Y and La; x = 0 and 0.10) and Ce0.35Zr0.50Y0.075La0.075O2 were prepared by a coprecipitation method. The textures, structures, oxygen storage capacity (OSC), and redox properties of all samples were investigated using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area characterization, x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra, temperature-programmed technique, and oxygen pulse reaction. The results showed that the fresh Ce0.35Zr0.65O2 has cubic phase, 434 μmol/g of OSC, 82 m2/g of surface area, and good redox properties; after aging at 1000 °C, Ce0.35Zr0.65O2 still has cubic phase, 418 μmol/g of OSC, and 50 m2/g of surface area; when Y3+ or La3+ is added to CeO2–ZrO2, the aged Ce0.35Zr0.65−xRExO2 (RE = Y and La; x = 0 and 0.10) still remains cubic phase, high OSC, and large surface area (47 m2/g); when Y3+ and La3+ are simultaneously added into CeO2–ZrO2, a stable solid solution with cubic phase is formed and has 459 μmol/g of OSC; and the aged Ce0.35Zr0.50Y0.075La0.075O2 reaches to 60 m2/g of surface area and has 390 μmol/g of OSC.

The exotic features of quantum mechanics have the potential to revolutionize information technologies. Using superposition and entanglement, a quantum processor could efficiently tackle problems inaccessible to current-day computers. Nonlocal correlations may be exploited for intrinsically secure communication across the globe. Finding and controlling a physical system suitable for fulfilling these promises is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond has recently emerged as one of the leading candidates for such quantum information technologies thanks to its combination of atom-like properties and solid-state host environment. We review the remarkable progress made in the past years in controlling electrons, atomic nuclei, and light at the single-quantum level in diamond. We also discuss prospects and challenges for the use of NV centers in future quantum technologies.

Biological materials are effectively synthesized, controlled, and used for a variety of purposes in Nature—in spite of limitations in energy, quality, and quantity of their building blocks. Whereas the chemical composition of materials in the living world plays some role in achieving functional properties, the way components are connected at different length scales defines what material properties can be achieved, how they can be altered to meet functional requirements, and how they fail in disease states and other extreme conditions. Recent work has demonstrated this using large-scale computer simulations to predict materials properties from fundamental molecular principles, combined with experimental work and new mathematical techniques to categorize complex structure-property relationships into a systematic framework. Enabled by such categorization, we discuss opportunities based on the exploitation of concepts from distinct hierarchical systems that share common principles in how function is created, even linking music to materials science.

We report high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observation of a high density of dislocations with edge components (∼1016 m−2) in nanocrystalline (NC) body-centered cubic (bcc) Mo prepared by high-pressure torsion. We also observed for the first time of the ½<111> and <001> pure edge dislocations in NC Mo. Crystallographic analysis and image simulations reveal that the best way using HRTEM to study dislocations with edge components in bcc systems is to take images along <110> zone axis, from which it is possible to identify ½<111> pure edge dislocations, and edge components of ½<111> and <001> mixed dislocations. The <001> pure edge dislocations can only be identified from <100> zone axis. The high density of dislocations with edge components is believed to play a major role in the reduction of strain rate sensitivity in NC bcc metals and alloys.