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Electrically reconfigurable non-volatile metasurface using low-loss optical phase-change material
An electrically reconfigurable optical metasurface using a Ge2Sb2Se4Te phase change material shows half an octave spectral tuning and promising performances for optical beam steering applications.
- Yifei Zhang
- , Clayton Fowler
- & Juejun Hu
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Article |
Electrical tuning of phase-change antennas and metasurfaces
A metasurface comprising electrically controlled heating units and a phase-change material offer non-volatile and reversible modulation of reflectance by more than fourfold.
- Yifei Wang
- , Patrick Landreman
- & Mark L. Brongersma
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News & Views |
Photothermal twistronics
Near-field optical microscopy reveals unique nanoscale domain structures of Moiré patterns in minimally twisted bilayer graphene via the photothermoelectric effect.
- Alexey Y. Nikitin
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Article |
Fano-resonant ultrathin film optical coatings
A thin-film optical coating exhibits Fano resonance showing promising applications in structural colouring of transparent objects and hybrid thermal and photovoltaic power generation.
- Mohamed ElKabbash
- , Theodore Letsou
- & Chunlei Guo
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Article |
Photoacoustic molecular imaging-escorted adipose photodynamic–browning synergy for fighting obesity with virus-like complexes
Tackling obesity from different angles might result in better therapeutic outcomes. Here the authors present a virus-like particle targeted to adipose tissues that combines photodynamic therapy and adipose browning induction to induce weight loss in animal models, and use photoacoustic imaging to monitor the treatment progress.
- Ronghe Chen
- , Shanshan Huang
- & Liming Nie
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News & Views |
The race for the ideal single-photon source is on
The careful optimization of all components of a quantum emitter single photon source yields over 50% end-to-end efficiency, a benchmark for optical quantum technologies.
- Sarah Thomas
- & Pascale Senellart
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Letter |
A bright and fast source of coherent single photons
High efficiency, coherence and indistinguishability are key requirements for the application of single-photon sources for quantum technologies, but hard to achieve concurrently. A gated quantum dot in an open, tunable microcavity now can create single photons on-demand with an end-to-end efficiency of 57%, preserving coherence over microsecond-long trains of single photons.
- Natasha Tomm
- , Alisa Javadi
- & Richard John Warburton
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Article |
Bright solid-state sources for single photons with orbital angular momentum
Single photons with high orbital angular momenta can act as higher order flying qubits, but efficient generation is scarce. The integration of a single quantum dot emitter into an on-chip mircoring resonator enables the generation of single photons in an orbital angular momentum superposition state.
- Bo Chen
- , Yuming Wei
- & Xuehua Wang
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Letter |
Inducing micromechanical motion by optical excitation of a single quantum dot
Hybrid quantum optomechanical systems interface a single two-level system with a macroscopic mechanical degree of freedom. In a microwire with a single embedded semiconductor quantum dot, not only can the wire vibration modulate the excitonic transition energy, but the optical drive of the quantum dot can also induce motion in the wire.
- Jan Kettler
- , Nitika Vaish
- & Jean-Philippe Poizat
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Article |
Giant enhancement of third-harmonic generation in graphene–metal heterostructures
Graphene–insulator–metal heterostructures show three orders of magnitude enhancement of the third-harmonic generation with respect to the bare graphene case.
- Irati Alonso Calafell
- , Lee A. Rozema
- & Philip Walther
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News & Views |
Off balance and over the edge
Ultrafast spectroscopy measurements present a new direct non-equilibrium energy transfer mechanism across a metal–semiconductor interface, without charge transfer, opening up a new avenue for plasmonic energy conversion.
- Christopher J. Ciccarino
- & Prineha Narang
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Letter |
Scalable and hierarchically designed polymer film as a selective thermal emitter for high-performance all-day radiative cooling
A hierarchically designed polymer nanofibre-based film produced by a scalable electrospinning process enables selective mid-infrared emission and effective sunlight reflection, and thus realizes an excellent all-day radiative cooling performance.
- Duo Li
- , Xin Liu
- & Jia Zhu
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Letter |
Long-lived modulation of plasmonic absorption by ballistic thermal injection
An energy transduction mechanism across metal/semiconductor interfaces, which relies on electron–electron energy transfer rather than the transport of charge, is demonstrated through ultrafast infrared spectroscopy. This ballistic thermal injection process allows for extended modulation of plasmonic absorption in epsilon-near-zero media.
- John A. Tomko
- , Evan L. Runnerstrom
- & Patrick E. Hopkins
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Article |
All-solid-state spatial light modulator with independent phase and amplitude control for three-dimensional LiDAR applications
By controlling two voltage gates separately from one another, a spatial light modulator has been made that can continuously vary the phase of 360 degrees while independently adjusting the amplitude.
- Junghyun Park
- , Byung Gil Jeong
- & Byoung Lyong Choi
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Article |
Dirac-vortex topological cavities
Surface emission from a topological mid-gap cavity shows large free spectral range and arbitrary mode degeneracy.
- Xiaomei Gao
- , Lechen Yang
- & Ling Lu
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Article |
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering holography
Holography of incoherent emission from SERS probes allows multiplexed single-particle localization in three dimensions in one shot using a wide-field microscope.
- Matz Liebel
- , Nicolas Pazos-Perez
- & Ramon A. Alvarez-Puebla
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Article |
Complex-amplitude metasurface-based orbital angular momentum holography in momentum space
A complex-amplitude metasurface hologram is conceptually designed and three-dimensionally printed. The device allows for high-bandwidth orbital angular momentum multiplexing holography and holographic video displays.
- Haoran Ren
- , Xinyuan Fang
- & Stefan A. Maier
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Letter |
Stand-off trapping and manipulation of sub-10 nm objects and biomolecules using opto-thermo-electrohydrodynamic tweezers
Optical nanotweezers trap and dynamically manipulate nanoscale objects far away from the laser spot.
- Chuchuan Hong
- , Sen Yang
- & Justus C. Ndukaife
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Article |
Photonic Rashba effect from quantum emitters mediated by a Berry-phase defective photonic crystal
Planar metasurfaces are a valuable tool to achieve custom-tailored photoluminescence from quantum emitters. The incorporation of a WSe2 monolayer into a photonic crystal slab with geometric phase defects enables spin-dependent manipulation of the emission from valley excitons of the WSe2, as well as from randomly placed quantum emitters.
- Kexiu Rong
- , Bo Wang
- & Erez Hasman
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Article |
High quality factor phase gradient metasurfaces
Quality factors as high as 2,500 can be achieved for subwavelength phase gradient metasurfaces.
- Mark Lawrence
- , David R. Barton III
- & Jennifer A. Dionne
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Letter |
Observation of inhomogeneous plasmonic field distribution in a nanocavity
The strength of the plasmonic field between a plasmonic particle and a Au surface can be measured at ~2-Å resolution by following the Raman peaks of a suitably labelled self-assembly monolayer.
- Chao-Yu Li
- , Sai Duan
- & Jian-Feng Li
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Article |
A rewritable optical storage medium of silk proteins using near-field nano-optics
A silk drive can store digital and biological information with a capacity of about 64 GB inch−2.
- Woonsoo Lee
- , Zhitao Zhou
- & Wei Li
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Article |
Subretinally injected semiconducting polymer nanoparticles rescue vision in a rat model of retinal dystrophy
Semiconducting polymer nanoparticles can act as light-sensitive interfaces with retinal neurons, and on microinjection in the eye, rescue vision in retinas affected by photoreceptor degeneration, offering a potential new treatment option for inherited retinal dystrophies and late-stage age-related macular degeneration.
- José Fernando Maya-Vetencourt
- , Giovanni Manfredi
- & Fabio Benfenati
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News & Views |
Auger processes in a single quantum dot
Radiative Auger processes in the single-photon limit provide insights in single particle states of quantum dots, which remain otherwise inaccessible.
- Alexander Carmele
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Letter |
Radiative Auger process in the single-photon limit
In a radiative Auger process, an excited electron relaxes by concomitant emission of a redshifted photon and energy transfer to another electron. Measuring radiative Auger processes in a quantum dot with single-photon resolution enables determination of the energy of single-electron levels as well as their lifetimes.
- Matthias C. Löbl
- , Clemens Spinnler
- & Richard J. Warburton
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Article |
Probing nanoscale fluctuation of ferromagnetic meta-atoms with a stochastic photonic spin Hall effect
Magneto-optical interaction of light with magnetic metasurfaces can give rise to the photonic spin Hall effect such that the light trajectory depends on the polarization of the light. For disordered systems, the probability distribution of the spin-dependent trajectories is a sensitive tool to detect random nanoscale variations in the metasurface.
- Bo Wang
- , Kexiu Rong
- & Erez Hasman
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News & Views |
Listening to the sound of a bacterium
Vibration modes of a single bacterium are detected experimentally by an optomechanical microcavity, providing a new method for vibrational spectrometry.
- Da Xu
- & Yun-Feng Xiao
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Article |
Filtering the photoluminescence spectra of atomically thin semiconductors with graphene
Interfacing TMD monolayers with graphene enables the demonstration of bright, single and narrow-line photoluminescence arising solely from TMD neutral excitons.
- Etienne Lorchat
- , Luis E. Parra López
- & Stéphane Berciaud
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News & Views |
Nanotechnology in a shrimp eye’s view
The sensitivity and visual acuity of the eye of the shrimp L. vannamei are achieved via an exquisitely optimized nanostructured tapetum leading to a very high reflectivity in an ultrathin layer. Understanding the properties of such natural nanostructures can lead to the design of artificial photonic materials with enhanced properties.
- Lukas Schertel
- & Silvia Vignolini
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Article |
Waveguide-integrated van der Waals heterostructure photodetector at telecom wavelengths with high speed and high responsivity
The low carrier mobilities of TMDCs pose a challenge for applications in high-speed photodetection. Integrating vertical two-dimensional heterostructures with photonic waveguides allows the intrinsic speed limitations to be overcome and record-high photodetection bandwidths to be achieved.
- Nikolaus Flöry
- , Ping Ma
- & Lukas Novotny
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Article |
Neuronal firing modulation by a membrane-targeted photoswitch
Light-sensitive azobenzene compounds can be engineered to stably partition into the plasma membrane, thus causing its thinning in the dark and relaxation upon light stimulation. In neurons, the resulting light-dependent change in membrane capacitance induces a transient hyperpolarization followed by rebound depolarization and action potential firing.
- Mattia Lorenzo DiFrancesco
- , Francesco Lodola
- & Fabio Benfenati
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Article |
Single-molecule resonance Raman effect in a plasmonic nanocavity
Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy can provide chemical sensitivity at a single-molecule level. Measurements on individual molecules adsorbed on a thin salt layer unveil that components of the electric field perpendicular to the tip provide sensitivity to the symmetry of the vibrational modes of the molecule.
- Rafael B. Jaculbia
- , Hiroshi Imada
- & Yousoo Kim
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Letter |
Single-molecule tautomerization tracking through space- and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy
Tautomerization, the interconversion between two constitutional isomers of a molecule, plays a major role in chemistry. The combination of hyper-resolved fluorescence microscopy with time-correlated measurements and spectral selection enables the identification and in-depth characterization of a tautomerization reaction within a single molecular switch.
- Benjamin Doppagne
- , Tomáš Neuman
- & Guillaume Schull
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Letter |
Ultrasensitive torque detection with an optically levitated nanorotor
A torque sensitivity of (4.2 ± 1.2) × 10−27 N m Hz−1/2 is achieved at room temperature. This sensitivity would be enough to measure vacuum friction.
- Jonghoon Ahn
- , Zhujing Xu
- & Tongcang Li
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Article |
Metasurface-integrated vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers for programmable directional lasing emissions
Non-intrusive integration of metasurfaces with vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers enables fully arbitrary wavefront control for directional laser emission.
- Yi-Yang Xie
- , Pei-Nan Ni
- & Patrice Genevet
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Article |
A highly reflective biogenic photonic material from core–shell birefringent nanoparticles
The birefringence of isoxanthopterin crystalline spherulites enhances the reflectivity of a biological photonic crystal.
- Benjamin A. Palmer
- , Venkata Jayasurya Yallapragada
- & Dan Oron
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Article |
Nanoscale radiative thermal switching via multi-body effects
Nanoscale heat currents between a hot and a cold surface can be modulated by as much as five times using a third element that interacts evanescently with the guided modes of the hot surface.
- Dakotah Thompson
- , Linxiao Zhu
- & Pramod Reddy
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Article |
A high-performance topological bulk laser based on band-inversion-induced reflection
The interface between photonic crystals with distinct in-band topologies confines electromagnetic modes and gives rise to lasing emission in the bulk.
- Zeng-Kai Shao
- , Hua-Zhou Chen
- & Ren-Min Ma
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News & Views |
The switch is on
Nanostructures of electrically conducting polymers show plasmonic behaviour that indicates their promise as switchable optical materials.
- Drew Evans
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Letter |
Conductive polymer nanoantennas for dynamic organic plasmonics
PEDOT nanodisks show near-infrared plasmonic resonances that can be reversibly switched by chemical redox reactions.
- Shangzhi Chen
- , Evan S. H. Kang
- & Magnus P. Jonsson
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Article |
Hot-electron dynamics in quantum dots manipulated by spin-exchange Auger interactions
Subpicosecond spin-exchange Auger interactions realized in manganese-doped quantum dots allow for manipulating hot carriers before their intraband cooling.
- Rohan Singh
- , Wenyong Liu
- & Victor I. Klimov
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Letter |
A room-temperature polariton light-emitting diode based on monolayer WS2
van der Waals materials enable the realization of an electrically driven polariton LED operating at room temperature.
- Jie Gu
- , Biswanath Chakraborty
- & Vinod M. Menon
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Guiding of visible photons at the ångström thickness limit
A monolayer WS2 membrane patterned as a photonic crystal sustains guided optical modes that propagate via total internal reflection.
- Xingwang Zhang
- , Chawina De-Eknamkul
- & Ertugrul Cubukcu
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News & Views |
Non-locality by nanoconfinement
Coherent ultrafast spectroscopy of nanofocused plasmonic pulses strengthens the nonlinear response in graphene, highlighting the origin of a new general phenomenon.
- Andrea Giugni
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Article |
Ultrafast coherent nonlinear nanooptics and nanoimaging of graphene
Ultrafast nanoimaging reveals the origin of the nonlinear optical properties of graphene.
- Tao Jiang
- , Vasily Kravtsov
- & Markus B. Raschke
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Optical valley Hall effect for highly valley-coherent exciton-polaritons in an atomically thin semiconductor
The integration of a TMDC monolayer into a high-Q microcavity enables the observation of optical valley Hall effect.
- Nils Lundt
- , Łukasz Dusanowski
- & Christian Schneider
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Letter |
A near-field radiative heat transfer device
An enhancement of 28.5 times beyond the blackbody radiation limit is demonstrated between two plates 110 nm apart in a chip-scale device.
- John DeSutter
- , Lei Tang
- & Mathieu Francoeur
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Article |
Vectorial near-field coupling
Light scattering spectra are acquired in the near field to map dipole–dipole interactions and extract all their vectorial components with 5-nm spatial resolution.
- Martin Esmann
- , Simon Fabian Becker
- & Christoph Lienau