Intrinsic supercurrent non-reciprocity coupled to the crystal structure of a van der Waals Josephson barrier.

Non-reciprocal electronic transport in a spatially homogeneous system arises from the simultaneous breaking of inversion and time-reversal symmetries. Superconducting and Josephson diodes, a key ingredient for future non-dissipative quantum devices, have recently been realized. Only a few examples of a vertical superconducting diode effect have been reported and its mechanism, especially whether intrinsic or extrinsic, remains elusive. Here we demonstrate a substantial supercurrent non-reciprocity in a van der Waals vertical Josephson junction formed with a Td-WTe2 barrier and NbSe2 electrodes that clearly reflects the intrinsic crystal structure of Td-WTe2. The Josephson diode efficiency increases with the Td-WTe2 thickness up to critical thickness, and all junctions, irrespective of the barrier thickness, reveal magneto-chiral characteristics with respect to a mirror plane of Td-WTe2. Our results, together with the twist-angle-tuned magneto-chirality of a Td-WTe2 double-barrier junction, show that two-dimensional materials promise vertical Josephson diodes with high efficiency and tunability.

Frequency multiplication by collective nanoscale spin-wave dynamics.

Frequency multiplication is a process in modern electronics in which harmonics of the input frequency are generated in nonlinear electronic circuits. Devices based on the propagation and interaction of spin waves are a promising alternative to conventional electronics. The characteristic frequency of these excitations is in the gigahertz (GHz) range and devices are not readily interfaced with conventional electronics. Here, we locally probe the magnetic excitations in a soft magnetic material by optical methods and show that megahertz-range excitation frequencies cause switching effects on the micrometer scale, leading to phase-locked spin-wave emission in the GHz range. Indeed, the frequency multiplication process inside the magnetic medium covers six octaves and opens exciting perspectives for spintronic applications, such as all-magnetic mixers or on-chip GHz sources.

Isoxazolo[3,4-d]pyridazinones positively modulate the metabotropic glutamate subtypes 2 and 4.

Isoxazolo[3,4-d] pyridazinones ([3,4-d]s) are selective positive modulators of the metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) subtypes 2 and 4, with no functional cross reactivity at mGluR1a, mGLuR5 or mGluR8. Modest binding for two of the [3,4-d]s is observed at the allosteric fenobam mGluR5 site, but not sufficient to translate into a functional effect. The structure activity relationship (SAR) for mGluR2 and mGluR4 are distinct: the compounds which select for mGluR2 all contain fluorine on the N-6 aryl group. Furthermore, the [3,4-d]s in this study showed no significant binding at inhibitory GABAA, nor excitatory NMDA receptors, and previously we had disclosed that they lack significant activity at the System Xc-Antiporter. A homology model based on Conn's mGluR1 crystal structure was examined, and suggested explanations for a preference for allosteric over orthosteric binding, subtype selectivity, and suggested avenues for optimization of efficacy as a reasonable working hypothesis.

3-(1,3-Di-phenyl-propan-2-yl)-4-methyl-6-phenyl-isoxazolo[3,4-d]pyridazin-7(6H)-one.

In the title compound, C27H23N3O2, the geminal benzyl groups branching out from the methine adjacent to the isoxazole group are both syn-oriented to the methyl group of the pyridazinone moiety, as reflected by C-C distances of 3.812 (2) and 4.369 (2) Šbetween the methyl carbon and the nearest ring carbon of each benzyl group. This kind of conformation is retained in CDCl3 solution, as evidenced by distinct phenyl-shielding effects on the (1)H NMR signals of the methyl H atoms. The isoxazolo[3,4-d]pyridazin ring system is virtually planar (r.m.s. deviation from planarity = 0.031 Å), but the N-bonded phenyl group is inclined to the former by an ring-ring angle of 55.05 (3)°. In the crystal, the T-shaped mol-ecules are arranged in an inter-locked fashion, forming rod-like assemblies along [10-1]. The mol-ecules are held together by unremarkable weak C-H⋯N, C-H⋯O and C-H⋯π inter-actions (C-O,N,C > 3.4 A), while significant π-π-stacking inter-actions are absent.