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Boson sampling with three, four and five photons with high efficiency, purity and indistinguishability is realized using a quantum dot–micropillar as the single-photon source. A record-breaking sampling rate of 4.96 kHz is achieved.
A dye-sensitized solar cell that has been designed for efficient operation under indoor lighting could offer a convenient means for powering the Internet of Things.
By exploiting one-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavities, an ultra-compact indium phosphide-on-silicon laser diode with low current threshold, high wall-plug efficiency and high integrability is demonstrated.
Hybrid perovskite crystals are integrated onto silicon wafers enabling fabrication of an X-ray linear detector array. High sensitivity may reduce patient dose in medical imaging applications.
Researchers use hyperbolic metamaterials to make an integrated Cherenkov light source and relax the electron energy requirements. Radiation covering the visible range and near-infrared is achieved with electron energies of only 0.25–1.4 keV.
Ground-state spin rotations in a nitrogen–vacancy centre in diamond are manipulated within nanoseconds of a near-resonant light field being applied. Pauli quantum gates are demonstrated using the geometric spin preparation and read-out techniques.
A laser–plasma accelerator delivering 5-MeV electrons at kHz repetition rate is demonstrated. It is achieved in the laser-wakefield-acceleration regime by using a multi-mJ laser system delivering near-single-cycle laser pulses of 3.4-fs duration.
A superconducting nanowire acting as a single-photon detector and as a microwave delay line is used to demonstrate an imaging device at the single-photon level with sub-20-µm spatial resolution and 50-ps temporal resolution.
Coherent diffractive imaging of periodic samples is demonstrated with a tabletop, 13.5 nm high-harmonic source. With a novel image reconstruction technique, the record high spatial resolution of 12.6 nm is achieved in the extreme-ultraviolet region.
The spatial phase and direction of extreme-ultraviolet light are controlled by an all-optical modulator based on argon gas. It works by using an infrared pulse to control the spatial and spectral phase of the free induction decay in the gas system.
The conversion of shaped near-infrared pulses to shaped, energetic, multi-octave-spanning mid-infrared pulses lasting as little as 1.2 optical cycles is made possible by adiabatic difference frequency generation.
The temporal structure of the polarization and carrier-envelope phase slip of high-harmonic waveforms generated in bulk gallium selenide within the duration of a single multi-terahertz driving pulse can be controlled by the crystal symmetry.
The Kerr effect in graded-index multimode fibres drives a spatial beam self-cleaning phenomenon that withstands fibre bending and does not necessitate dissipative processes such as stimulated scattering.
Terahertz (THz) pulses are generated by irradiating a metal wire with femtosecond laser pulses. For incident laser energy of 3 mJ, a THz pulse with energy of 28 μJ is obtained from a 10-cm-long wire. The spectrum of the THz pulse covers 0.1–1.5 THz.
The application of d.c. fields across p–i–n junctions in silicon ridge waveguides leads to crystal symmetry breaking. This induces a second-order optical nonlinear susceptibility that enables phase-only modulation and second-harmonic generation with an efficiency of ∼13% W–1 at 2.29 µm.