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Researchers focused hard X-rays from a free-electron laser down to transverse dimensions of ~7 nm × 7 nm, enabling a two-order increase in intensity of photons and yielding access to the elusive 1022 W cm−2 regime. Such intense, short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation may probe atomic, molecular and optical physics with extremely high resolution.
Kerr resonators can support a new form of parametrically driven temporal cavity soliton (and associated optical frequency comb), with potential performance advantages that include background-free operation and the possibility of very high pump-to-comb conversion efficiencies.
Time-resolved lightwave-driven scanning tunnelling spectroscopy is developed to investigate how the spin–orbit-split energy levels of a selenium vacancy within a WSe2 monolayer shift under phonon displacement. Ultrafast snapshots of the electronic tunnelling spectra reveal transient energy shifts up to 40 meV.
Holographic microscopy with independent control of the signal and reference fields enables the holographic imaging of a single protein with mass below 100 kDa and estimation of their polarizability.
The frequency of coherent terahertz waves radiated from a single superconducting emitter can be electronically modulated on a chip with up to 40 GHz bandwidth, paving the way for high-data-rate and ultrafast terahertz wireless communications.
Brillouin light scattering anisotropy microscopy affords single-shot collection of angle-resolved phonon dispersion, enabling the mapping of mechanical anisotropies in living matter with a frequency resolution of 10 MHz and a spatial resolution of 2 µm.
A photonic equivalent to disclination in crystals has been used to produce orbital angular momentum laser light directly on-chip, ushering in compact and efficient twisted-light lasers.
Self-assembled perovskite nanoplatelets emit linearly polarized light, enabling the realization of red perovskite light-emitting diodes with a 74.4% degree of linear polarization.
Using inverse design, a 3D silicon photonics platform that can be used for the mathematical operation of vector–matrix multiplication with light is demonstrated, potentially enabling large-scale wave-based analogue computing.
Researchers demonstrate a size-dependent lanthanide energy transfer effect in upconversion nanoparticles with depleted surface quenching, resulting in upconversion quantum yields of 13.0 ± 1.3%.
Tunable afterglow emission in the visible region is enabled by trap-induced persistent luminescence in organic host–guest materials, with controllable trap depths.
Free-electron homodyne detection allows measuring phase-resolved optical responses in electron microscopy, demonstrated in the imaging of plasmonic fields with few-nanometre spatial and sub-cycle temporal resolutions.
Controlling the doping depth in perovskites allows the creation of a depletion region that inhibits the migration of iodide ions under illumination. Solar cells exhibit a power conversion efficiency of 24.6% and maintain 88% of the initial efficiency after 1,900 h of continuous operation.
Conformal transformation optics is exploited to design curved accelerating waveguides with spatially gradient curvatures to boost the nonlinear efficiency and broaden the bandwidth of the nonlinear optical processes in the waveguides.