Review Articles

The electronic and optical properties and the recent progress in applications of 2D semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides with emphasis on strong excitonic effects, and spin- and valley-dependent properties are reviewed.

Concepts and advances of lead sulphide nanocrystal-based photodetector technologies are reviewed.

This Review article provides an overview of the fundamental origins and important applications of the main spin–orbit interaction phenomena in modern optics that play a crucial role at subwavelength scales.

This review covers state-of-the-art quantum teleportation technologies, from photonic qubits and optical modes to atomic ensembles, trapped atoms and solid-state systems. Open issues and potential future implementations are also discussed.

Optical scattering limits the ability to image or focus beneath one millimetre of tissue in biomedical optics. This Review summarizes recently developed 'guidestar' mechanisms that provide feedback for intra-tissue focusing.

The benefits of designing and constructing organic solar cells featuring more than a single donor and single acceptor material are discussed.

Nanophotonic systems, including photonic crystal microcavities and plasmonic metal nanoparticles, that are capable of changing the rate of spontaneous emission are reviewed and compared.

This Review covers recent advances in the implementation of spin–photon interfaces in semiconductor quantum dots, nitrogen–vacancy centres in diamond and emerging systems such as colour centres in other wide-bandgap materials.

Coherent Raman imaging techniques have evolved to become powerful tools for biomedical imaging without the need for labelling.

The capabilities and biological applications of multiwavelength, real-time optoacoustic imaging are described.

Transformation optics is a modern application of Maxwell's equations offering unprecedented control over the flow of light that exploits spatially customized optical properties and mathematical techniques applied to space-time curvature.

The optical properties of graphene and emerging two-dimensional materials including transition metal dichalcogenides are reviewed with an emphasis on nanophotonic applications.

Recent developments in probe-based near-field microscopy are reviewed, including techniques for determining the phase, amplitude and separate components of the electric and magnetic field.

The latest developments in laser miniaturization, including those based on metals and dielectrics, are reviewed and future challenges outlined.

Metamaterials enable the tailoring of properties like dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability. Electromagnetic excitations of metamaterial constituents and their interactions are reviewed, as well as promising future directions.

Applying the mathematical concept of topology to the wave-vector space of photonics yields exciting opportunities for creating new states of light with useful properties such as unidirectional propagation and the ability to flow around imperfections.

Curious wave phenomena that occur in optical fibres due to the interplay of instability and nonlinear effects are reviewed.

This review article summarizes the emerging field of quantum nonlinear optics. Three major approaches to generate optical nonlinearities based on cavity quantum electrodynamics, atomic ensembles with large Kerr nonlinearities and strong atomic interactions are reviewed. Applications of quantum nonlinear optics and many-body physics with strongly interacting photons are also discussed.

An overview is given of the state-of-the-art research into secure communication based on quantum cryptography. The present security model together with its assumptions, strengths and weaknesses is discussed. Recent experimental progress and remaining challenges are surveyed as are the latest developments in quantum hacking and countermeasures.