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Researchers demonstrate a persistent spin helix in an organic–inorganic hybrid ferroelectric halide perovskite whose layered nature makes it intrinsically like a quantum well. They demonstrate a switchable spin-polarized band structure via an intrinsic ferroelectric field.
Modifications of the effective band structure of MgO crystal is investigated on a timescale within one-quarter cycle of the electromagnetic-field oscillation. The high-harmonic generation spectra show a signature of laser-induced closing of the bandgap.
A heat-powered emitter can sometimes exceed the Planck thermal-emission limit. We clarify when such super-Planckian emission is possible, arguing that far-field super-Planckian emission requires a distribution of energy that is not consistent with a unique temperature, and therefore the process should not be called ‘thermal emission’.
Researchers demonstrate systems in which optical solitons coexist and interact with topological solitonic structures localized in the molecular alignment field of a soft birefringent medium. The findings could lead to solitonic tractor beams and new light–matter self-patterning phenomena.
Researchers demonstrate a multilevel non-volatile phase shifter memory that is based on the monolithic integration of BaTiO3 thin films and silicon waveguides. By manipulating ferroelectric domains in BaTiO3 with electrical control signals, they achieve analogue and non-volatile optical phase tuning.
It is shown that rhombohedral stacked MoS2 can enable scalable photovoltaic effects induced by spontaneous polarization throughout few-micrometre-sized exfoliated flakes. This is exploited in a graphene–MoS2-based photovoltaic device.
Continuously adjustable single-cycle waveform spanning from 0.9 to 12.0 μm is obtained by cascaded intrapulse difference-frequency generation in a ZnGeP2 crystal. The cascade-associated phase response—distinct for different spectral bands—provides a new tuning parameter for waveform adjustment.
A new strategy to reduce charge leakage in quantum-dot light-emitting diodes enables high external quantum efficiencies of 28.7% and 21.9% and excellent T95 lifetimes of 580,000 h and 4,400 h for green and blue devices, respectively.
Nature Photonics spoke to Hillel Adesnik from UC Berkeley about the benefits of using photonic techniques in optogenetics and the key challenges laying ahead.
A single-pass free electron laser operating at 0.16 THz with an energy efficiency of ~10% promises compact and high-power sources in the terahertz spectral region.
A single-pass free-electron laser based on a waveguide in a tapered helical undulator is developed. The energy conversion efficiency from a relativistic electron beam to terahertz waves at 0.16 THz is ~10%.
The chiral nature of phonons in crystals of biomolecules is identified by terahertz spectroscopy, paving the way to a better understanding of biochemical processes.
Researchers report a solid-state laser containing metasurfaces that generates a 10 × 10 array of phase-locked optical vortices with tunable orbital angular momentum.
