Optical materials and structures articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Diamond is of interest for optical and electronic applications owing to its unique mechanical and optical properties. Here, Rath et al. demonstrate the use of small nanometre-sized beams etched from diamond thin films for integrated photonic circuits.

    • Patrik Rath
    • , Svetlana Khasminskaya
    •  & Wolfram H.P. Pernice

  • Article |

    The scattering of light by nanoparticles could be useful for photonic nanoantenna or other light manipulation schemes. Here Kuznetsov et al. demonstrate directional light scattering from silicon nanoparticles for visible light.

    • Yuan Hsing Fu
    • , Arseniy I. Kuznetsov
    •  & Boris Luk’yanchuk

  • Article |

    Nanowires with sharp interfaces between two different semiconducting materials could lead to useful nanoelectronic and nanophotonic structures. Hocevar et al.develop a method to integrate a gallium arsenide section in silicon nanowires with atomically sharp interfaces and no dislocations.

    • Moïra Hocevar
    • , George Immink
    •  & Erik Bakkers

  • Article |

    The 3D self-assembly of nanocrystals could generate materials with unique optical and electronic properties. Barrowet al. report the DNA-mediated assembly of symmetrical 3D gold tetrahedra, pentamers and hexamers, and elucidate their plasmon modes.

    • Steven J. Barrow
    • , Xingzhan Wei
    •  & Paul Mulvaney

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms whose high electron mobility offers potential for cheap, high-speed opto-electronic devices. Docherty et al.show that the terahertz frequency photoconductivity in graphene depends crucially on the type and density of environmental gas adsorbed.

    • Callum J. Docherty
    • , Cheng-Te Lin
    •  & Michael B. Johnston

  • Article |

    Coherent conversion of photons from one wavelength to another is promising for future quantum communications technologies. By exploiting coupling between resonances in an optomechanical crystal nanocavity, Hillet al. demonstrate conversion between optical wavelength photons via a mechanical resonance.

    • Jeff T. Hill
    • , Amir H. Safavi-Naeini
    •  & Oskar Painter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmonic nanoparticles are useful as optical sensors, but their spectral resolution is hindered by the linewidth of the plasmon resonance. Schmidtet al. find that coupling this resonance to a microcavity creates hybrid modes with enhanced sensing figure-of-merit and improved frequency resolution.

    • Markus A. Schmidt
    • , Dang Yuan Lei
    •  & Stefan A. Maier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene's remarkable properties make it ideal for optoelectronic devices, and its two-dimensional nature enables its integration with photonic structures. By combining a graphene transistor with a planar microcavity, Engelet al. control the spectrum of the photocurrent and the light emitted by the device.

    • Michael Engel
    • , Mathias Steiner
    •  & Ralph Krupke

  • Article |

    Three-dimensional optical metamaterials provide a range of exciting features, such as broadband circular dichroism, yet their fabrication is challenging. Here, a broadband optical circular polarizer is presented based on twisted stacks of metasurfaces, avoiding the issues of three-dimensional fabrication.

    • Y. Zhao
    • , M.A. Belkin
    •  & A. Alù

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fibre-optic waveguides are used to provide timing delays for different sensing and signal processing applications, but their transfer to on-chip platforms is a challenge. Here low-loss delay lines based on whispering-gallery spiral waveguides up to 27 m long are produced, presenting a scalable alternative.

    • Hansuek Lee
    • , Tong Chen
    •  & Kerry J. Vahala

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoscale optomechanical systems offer a route to using optical forces for a range of devices based on photonic structures. Deotareet al. present a reconfigurable optical filter based on coupled silicon photonic crystal nanobeam cavities that can overcome thermo-optic effects at high frequencies.

    • Parag B. Deotare
    • , Irfan Bulu
    •  & Marko Loncar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Micromechanical oscillators present a route to miniaturisation of devices and may be used as frequency references or sensitive sensors, but their small size means that they often behave nonlinearly. Antonioet al. demonstrate frequency stabilisation of nonlinear resonators by coupling two vibrational modes.

    • Dario Antonio
    • , Damián H. Zanette
    •  & Daniel López

  • Article |

    The terahertz spectral region is desirable for applications such as imaging or spectroscopy, but progress is hampered by a lack of efficient terahertz devices. By exploiting intraband transitions in graphene, Sensale-Rodriguezet al. demonstrate a broadband intensity modulator working at terahertz frequencies.

    • Berardi Sensale-Rodriguez
    • , Rusen Yan
    •  & Huili Grace Xing

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biological materials efficiently exploit self-assembly of simple constituents to produce complex functional structures such as optical devices. By controlling organic molecules, Leeet al. show fast two-step self-assembly of CaCO3microlens arrays, reminiscent of their biological counterparts.

    • Kyubock Lee
    • , Wolfgang Wagermaier
    •  & Peter Fratzl

  • Article |

    The development of optical information processing depends on the demonstration of silicon-based all-optical circuit components. Here, the authors show a monolithic pulse compressor, compatible with current electronic processing technologies, which is able to function at low power input.

    • Dawn T.H. Tan
    • , Pang C. Sun
    •  & Yeshaiahu Fainman

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