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Understanding the connection between qubit coherence and microscopic materials properties is vital for improving device performance. Here, the relaxation times of superconducting transmon qubits are found to be directly correlated with Nb film properties such as grain size and surface oxide composition.

The role of disorder in the formation of charge density waves (CDWs) remains elusive in typical CDW materials. Here, the authors report coexisting diffraction signals and anomalous slow dynamics of charge domains near the CDW transition temperature in ZrTe$${}_{3}$$ 3 , suggesting as fingerprints of pristine and disorder-perturbed CDWs.

Recently, rutile RuO_{2} has raised interest for its itinerant antiferromagnetism, crystal Hall effect, and strain-induced superconductivity. Understanding and manipulating these properties demands resolving the electronic structure and the relative roles of the rutile crystal field and 4d spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Here, we use O-K and Ru M_{3} x-ray absorption and Ru M_{3} resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to disentangle the contributions of crystal field, SOC, and electronic correlations in RuO_{2}. The locally orthorhombic site symmetry of the Ru ions introduces significant crystal field contributions beyond the approximate octahedral coordination yielding a crystal field energy scale of Δ(t_{2g})≈1eV breaking the degeneracy of the t_{2g} orbitals. This splitting exceeds the Ru SOC (≈160 meV) suggesting a more subtle role of SOC, primarily through the modification of itinerant (rather than local) 4d electronic states, ultimately highlighting the importance of the local symmetry in RuO_{2}. Remarkably, our analysis can be extended to other members of the rutile family, thus advancing the comprehension of the interplay among crystal field symmetry, electron correlations, and SOC in transition metal compounds with the rutile structure.

Habituation is a learning mechanism that enables control over forgetting and learning. Zuo, Panda et al., demonstrate adaptive synaptic plasticity in SmNiO3 perovskites to address catastrophic forgetting in a dynamic learning environment via hydrogen-induced electron localization.