Featured
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News & Views |
Near-unity Raman beta factor underpins high sensitivity
Efficiency of Raman measurements is increased by nearly four orders of magnitude with the help of sub-wavelength plasmonic gap waveguides.
- Jacob B. Khurgin
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Letter |
Near-unity Raman β-factor of surface-enhanced Raman scattering in a waveguide
Raman scattering within plasmonic waveguides is found to be directed into a single mode with near-unity efficiency, offering a route to broadband SERS enhancements over extended sensing volumes.
- Ming Fu
- , Mónica P. dS. P. Mota
- & Rupert F. Oulton
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Article
| Open AccessNano-optical designs for high-efficiency monolithic perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells
Designing gentle sinusoidal nanotextures enables the realization of high-efficiency perovskite–silicon solar cells
- Philipp Tockhorn
- , Johannes Sutter
- & Christiane Becker
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Research Briefing |
Developing nanophotonic structures that are stable in air and at high temperatures
A concept to mitigate temperature-related degradation in nanophotonic materials is implemented in photonic crystals of perovskite and rocksalt oxides. The developed structures can withstand temperatures of 1,100 °C in air and offer wavelength-selective control of thermal emission. Additionally, an algorithm is used to identify alternative material candidates for such structures.
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Letter |
Chirality-dependent unidirectional routing of WS2 valley photons in a nanocircuit
The valley pseudospin of electrons may serve as an additional degree of freedom for future on-chip low-energy signal processing. Now, a nanophotonic circuit that integrates a monolayer of WS2 routes valley indices unidirectionally via the chirality of the photons.
- Yang Chen
- , Shuhang Qian
- & Cheng-Wei Qiu
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News & Views |
Merging metasurfaces with microfluidics
By using microfluidics to control the refractive index of the fluid surrounding dielectric metasurfaces, the optical response and functionality of metasurface devices can be tuned on-demand to enable comprehensive control of the flow of light.
- Justus C. Ndukaife
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Article |
Metasurface optofluidics for dynamic control of light fields
A metasurface optofluidic platform enables dynamic intensity and spectral control of light fields.
- Qitong Li
- , Jorik van de Groep
- & Mark L. Brongersma
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Article |
Nanophotonic control of thermal emission under extreme temperatures in air
An epitaxial heterostructure of a perovskite and rocksalt is stable up to 1,100 °C in air. Based on mechanistic and computational analyses, hundreds of potential cubic oxide pairs with similar properties are identified for applications in nanophotonics.
- Sean McSherry
- , Matthew Webb
- & Andrej Lenert
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News & Views |
Graphene unlocks dispersion of topological polaritons
Heterostructure of graphene and biaxial van der Waals crystal supports a species of plasmon-phonon-polaritons whose isofrequency dispersion contour can be manipulated while experiencing a topological transition.
- Sergey G. Menabde
- & Min Seok Jang
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Article
| Open AccessDoping-driven topological polaritons in graphene/α-MoO3 heterostructures
Polaritonic topological transitions of the isofrequency dispersion contour are observed in a graphene/α-MoO3 heterostructure by tuning the graphene doping level, which enables partial focusing at deep subwavelength.
- Hai Hu
- , Na Chen
- & Qing Dai
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News & Views |
Quantum dot patterning by direct photolithography
A ‘dual-ligand passivation system’ is designed and synthesized to functionalize colloidal quantum dots to realize ultra-high resolution patterns by direct photolithography.
- Junpeng Fan
- & Lei Qian
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Article |
Magnetically tunable and stable deep-ultraviolet birefringent optics using two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride
A 2D material based liquid-crystal shows an extremely large optical anisotropy factor in the deep ultraviolet region, showing magnetically tunable birefringence.
- Hao Xu
- , Baofu Ding
- & Bilu Liu
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Comment |
Industry outlook of perovskite quantum dots for display applications
Perovskite quantum dots have been proven promising for photonic and optoelectronic applications, particularly, as bright and narrow band emitters for display technology. Despite the advantageous properties, the stability issues have to be resolved to unleash the full industrial potential of perovskite quantum dots in display technology.
- Xian-gang Wu
- , Honglei Ji
- & Haizheng Zhong
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Article |
Ultra-low-energy programmable non-volatile silicon photonics based on phase-change materials with graphene heaters
A non-volatile silicon photonics switch based on phase-change materials actuated by graphene heaters shows a switching energy density that is within an order of magnitude of the fundamental thermodynamic limit.
- Zhuoran Fang
- , Rui Chen
- & Arka Majumdar
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Article |
Wavelike electronic energy transfer in donor–acceptor molecular systems through quantum coherence
Light harvesting in photosynthesis and photovoltaics may rely on quantum-coherent energy transfer, but experimental verification is hindered by the lossy nature of the molecular systems. Subnanometre-resolved electroluminescence spectroscopy now reveals wavelike intermolecular electronic energy transfer through quantum coherence in artificially constructed donor–acceptor heterodimers at the single-molecule level.
- Fan-Fang Kong
- , Xiao-Jun Tian
- & J. G. Hou
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Article |
A wavelength-induced frequency filtering method for fluorescent nanosensors in vivo
An optical technique is developed that extends the capabilities of fluorescent nanosensors into previously inaccessible ultradeep in vivo locations, including the brain, without the use of fibre optic or cranial window insertion.
- Volodymyr B. Koman
- , Naveed A. Bakh
- & Michael S. Strano
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Article |
In vivo non-invasive confocal fluorescence imaging beyond 1,700 nm using superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors
Biocompatible core–shell quantum dots and superconducting nanowire single-photon detector enable non-invasive one-photon excitation fluorescence imaging at 1,880 nm for in vivo imaging at 1,100 μm depth.
- Feifei Wang
- , Fuqiang Ren
- & Hongjie Dai
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Letter |
Quantum interference of identical photons from remote GaAs quantum dots
Droplet GaAs quantum dots are interconnectable sources of single photons. Near-identical photons from remote GaAs quantum dots now show an interference visibility of 93% with quantum entanglement between the separate photon streams from the two sources.
- Liang Zhai
- , Giang N. Nguyen
- & Richard J. Warburton
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Article |
Exploiting the full advantages of colloidal perovskite nanocrystals for large-area efficient light-emitting diodes
A modified bar-coating method enables the realization of efficient large-area perovskite light-emitting diodes with high uniformity.
- Young-Hoon Kim
- , Jinwoo Park
- & Tae-Woo Lee
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Article |
Migrating photon avalanche in different emitters at the nanoscale enables 46th-order optical nonlinearity
A general mechanism, migrating photon avalanche, can generate large optical nonlinearity from various lanthanides emitters at the nanoscale.
- Yusen Liang
- , Zhimin Zhu
- & Qiuqiang Zhan
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News & Views |
Microdrones soar by recoiling light
Nano-antennas generate optical recoil forces that can be used to independently control the direction and rotation of small objects.
- Xiao Li
- & Jack Ng
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Article |
Light-driven microdrones
A microscopic robotic device is remotely controlled in two dimensions in all three degrees of freedom independently by the interaction between unfocused light and four plasmonic nanoantennas.
- Xiaofei Wu
- , Raphael Ehehalt
- & Bert Hecht
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Article |
Exceptional points in lossy media lead to deep polynomial wave penetration with spatially uniform power loss
Exceptional points in nanostructured lossy photonic waveguides lead to uniformly distributed losses and linear amplitude decay.
- Alexander Yulaev
- , Sangsik Kim
- & Vladimir A. Aksyuk
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Article |
Tailoring solid-state single-photon sources with stimulated emissions
Deterministic single-photon sources are a key building block for photonic quantum technologies. Stimulated emission now helps tailoring spontaneous emission from a ladder-type three-level system in a single epitaxial quantum dot for bright polarized sources with a high photon purity and indistinguishability.
- Yuming Wei
- , Shunfa Liu
- & Xuehua Wang
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Article |
Nonlinear polariton parametric emission in an atomically thin semiconductor based microcavity
Nonlinear optical parametric polaritons are observed in a WS2 monolayer microcavity, opening the way for all-optical valley polariton nonlinear devices.
- Jiaxin Zhao
- , Antonio Fieramosca
- & Qihua Xiong
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Review Article |
Advances and applications of nanophotonic biosensors
This Review discusses the progresses in label-free nanophotonic biosensors based on photonic or dielectric surfaces and metasurfaces and highlights the challenges and benefits of their applications in the fields of public health, well-being and biosafety.
- Hatice Altug
- , Sang-Hyun Oh
- & Jiří Homola
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Letter |
Non-reciprocal energy transfer through the Casimir effect
Quantum fluctuation in a vacuum can induce a measurable force between neutral objects in close vicinity. By dynamically modulating a system of two micromechanical oscillators near an exceptional point in the parameter space, this so-called Casimir effect can induce a non-reciprocal, diode-like energy transfer.
- Zhujing Xu
- , Xingyu Gao
- & Tongcang Li
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News & Views |
Mid-infrared irradiation keeps nanocrystals bright
Mid-infrared pulses stimulate fast neutralization of photocharged colloidal nanocrystals, which suppresses blinking of a single nanocrystal’s photoluminescence.
- Anna V. Rodina
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Article |
Light–matter coupling in large-area van der Waals superlattices
Square-centimetre scale, multilayer superlattice structures based on atomically thin two-dimensional chalcogenide monolayers enable the realization of excitonic metamaterials.
- Pawan Kumar
- , Jason Lynch
- & Deep Jariwala
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Review Article |
Quantum-coherent nanoscience
Although quantum physics underpins the behaviour of nanoscale objects, its role in nanoscience has been mostly limited to determining the static, equilibrium properties of small systems. This Review describes seminal developments and new directions for the explicit exploitation of quantum coherence in nanoscale systems, a research area termed quantum-coherent nanoscience.
- Andreas J. Heinrich
- , William D. Oliver
- & Andrea Morello
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Article |
All-optical fluorescence blinking control in quantum dots with ultrafast mid-infrared pulses
Photoluminescence blinking is a ubiquitous phenomenon that detrimentally reduces emission stability and quantum yield. Now, an all-optical method, which employs ultrafast mid-infrared pulses, can effectively suppress the blinking of single CdSe/CdS core–shell quantum dots.
- Jiaojian Shi
- , Weiwei Sun
- & Moungi G. Bawendi
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Article |
Nanoscale chemical heterogeneity dominates the optoelectronic response of alloyed perovskite solar cells
A combination of quantitative optical spectroscopic techniques and synchrotron nanoprobe measurements enable a visualization of the nanoscale chemical, structural and optoelectronic landscape in halide perovskite devices.
- Kyle Frohna
- , Miguel Anaya
- & Samuel D. Stranks
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Comment |
To nano or not to nano for bright halide perovskite emitters
The halide perovskite family has, arguably, become today’s most promising emerging materials sets for optoelectronic applications. Here, we discuss the underperformance to date of the colloidal nanocrystal forms of these materials when employed in electroluminescent lighting devices relative to their counterparts, in which the emitter layer is in the form of polycrystalline films. However, we highlight the bright future of halide perovskite colloidal nanocrystals in light-emission technologies such as LCD displays, quantum light sources and even alternative LED configurations, as well as key guidelines for their further development to get there.
- Javad Shamsi
- , Gabriele Rainò
- & Samuel D. Stranks
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Letter |
Subambient daytime radiative cooling textile based on nanoprocessed silk
Processing silk through a molecular bonding design and scalable coupling reagent-assisted dip-coating method can lead to subambient daytime radiative cooling.
- Bin Zhu
- , Wei Li
- & Jia Zhu
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Article |
Nano-optogenetic engineering of CAR T cells for precision immunotherapy with enhanced safety
While chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell-based therapy has been approved for clinical use for certain types of blood cancers, it remains difficult to achieve precise spatiotemporal control of the elicited anti-tumour response. Here, the authors propose light-switchable CAR T cells that can be remotely activated by a nano-optogenetic approach, reducing unwanted side effects.
- Nhung Thi Nguyen
- , Kai Huang
- & Yubin Zhou
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Article |
Tuning of the Berry curvature in 2D perovskite polaritons
Engineering the energy dispersion of polaritons in microcavities can yield intriguing effects such as the anomalous quantum Hall and Rashba effects. Now, different Berry curvature distributions of polariton bands are obtained in a strongly coupled organic–inorganic two-dimensional perovskite single-crystal microcavity and can be modified via temperature and magnetic field variation.
- Laura Polimeno
- , Giovanni Lerario
- & Daniele Sanvitto
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Review Article |
Quantum-dot-based deterministic photon–emitter interfaces for scalable photonic quantum technology
Quantum photonics offers a scalable approach to advanced quantum-information processing. Based on deterministic photon–emitter interfaces, this Review presents a road ahead for resource-efficient hardware architectures towards applications in quantum communication and quantum computing.
- Ravitej Uppu
- , Leonardo Midolo
- & Peter Lodahl
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Article |
Energy-resolved plasmonic chemistry in individual nanoreactors
The effective absorption spectrum of metal-bound molecules and a rich plasmon-driven chemistry landscape are constructed by monitoring the interfacial environment of a thousand single nanocavities with slightly varied resonance energies.
- Eitan Oksenberg
- , Ilan Shlesinger
- & Erik C. Garnett
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Article |
Non-local metasurfaces for spectrally decoupled wavefront manipulation and eye tracking
High optical-quality-factor, non-local metasurfaces enable independent functions across different wavelength bands.
- Jung-Hwan Song
- , Jorik van de Groep
- & Mark L. Brongersma
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Article
| Open AccessOptical read-out of Coulomb staircases in a moiré superlattice via trapped interlayer trions
Moiré-trapped interlayer excitons in a transition metal dichalcogenide heterobilayer serve as a sensitive optical probe of carrier filling in their immediate environment to characterize the doping of the moiré superlattice.
- Hyeonjun Baek
- , Mauro Brotons-Gisbert
- & Brian D. Gerardot
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Article |
Magic-angle lasers in nanostructured moiré superlattice
Twisted photonic graphene superlattices enable the realization of high-performance room-temperature magic-angle lasers.
- Xin-Rui Mao
- , Zeng-Kai Shao
- & Ren-Min Ma
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Letter |
Microscopic metavehicles powered and steered by embedded optical metasurfaces
Optomechanical effects enable the realization of optical metavehicles that can be manoeuvred across a surface in plane-wave illumination and steered by incident polarization.
- Daniel Andrén
- , Denis G. Baranov
- & Mikael Käll
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Article |
X-ray-activated persistent luminescence nanomaterials for NIR-II imaging
Persistent luminescence is a promising bioimaging technique that is not affected by background autofluorescence, but its in vivo application is challenged by the fact that the materials currently available are activated by high-energy light, with emission in the ultraviolet and visible spectral windows. In this paper the authors engineer X-ray activated, lanthanide-based nanoparticles with a tunable emission in the biologically relevant NIR-II spectral region, which allows high-contrast, multimodal in vivo deep-tissue organ imaging.
- Peng Pei
- , Ying Chen
- & Fan Zhang
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Review Article |
Nanophotonics for light detection and ranging technology
This Review highlights the technological challenges linked to the application of nanophotonics for light detection and ranging (LiDAR).
- Inki Kim
- , Renato Juliano Martins
- & Junsuk Rho
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Article |
Floating solid-state thin films with dynamic structural colour
A silver layer can be made to float either above or below an oxide layer in a thin-film architecture by applying a voltage bias.
- Zhiyuan Yan
- , Zheng Zhang
- & Rong Zhao
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News & Views |
Tunable phase-change metasurfaces
The use of phase-change materials makes metasurfaces and nanoantennas electrically tunable and switchable, bringing their functionality to the next level.
- Sergey Lepeshov
- & Alex Krasnok
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Article |
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