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.

Defects in solid-state systems are responsible for much of what we take for granted in modern society, with applications ranging from electronics and lasers, to metallic alloys with tailored properties, and the unique characteristics of gemstones. As we enter the age of quantum technology, solid-state defects are also having their say, with substantial research focused on using their properties for fundamental tests of quantum mechanics, storage of quantum information, and investigations of quantum decoherence. Two of the most exciting prospects of quantum technology are the creation of computers that take advantage of quantum rather than classical laws to outperform current devices, and the realization of highly sensitive magnetometers limited only by quantum uncertainty. In pursuit of these two goals, many proposals and proof-of-principle experiments have been performed in the solid-state, which required location of defects very close to the host crystal’s surface. This article reviews recent work on creation of nitrogen-vacancy centers near the diamond surface and experiments toward the realization of these goals.

Advances in nanotechnology have enabled the opportunity to fabricate nanoscale optical devices and chip-scale systems in diamond that can generate, manipulate, and store optical signals at the single-photon level. In particular, nanophotonics has emerged as a powerful interface between optical elements such as optical fibers and lenses, and solid-state quantum objects such as luminescent color centers in diamond that can be used effectively to manipulate quantum information. While quantum science and technology has been the main driving force behind recent interest in diamond nanophotonics, such a platform would have many applications that go well beyond the quantum realm. For example, diamond’s transparency over a wide wavelength range, large third-order nonlinearity, and excellent thermal properties are of great interest for the implementation of frequency combs and integrated Raman lasers. Diamond is also an inert material that makes it well suited for biological applications and for devices that must operate in harsh environments.

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond offers the opportunity to develop quantum technologies that leverage the defect’s atom-like properties using established engineering techniques from the semiconductor industry. While many NV center applications are motivated by the remarkable properties of isolated NV centers in bulk diamond, realizing these technologies requires addressing a number of device and materials engineering challenges unique to creating and controlling individual semiconductor spins. We review recent advances in interfacing NV centers with on-chip electronics that enable control over the defect’s spin and orbital degrees of freedom and review fabrication techniques for creating single NV centers with nanometer-scale placement accuracies. We also discuss efforts, motivated by the success of diamond NV center applications, to identify defect spins with similar properties to the NV center in more technologically mature semiconductors such as SiC.