Applied optics articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nonreciprocal optical elements often require magnetic materials in order to break time-reversal symmetry. Here, Barzanjeh et al. demonstrate a magnetic-free on-chip microwave circulator that utilizes the interference from six electro-mechanical signal paths.

    • S. Barzanjeh
    • , M. Wulf
    •  & J. M. Fink

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nonlinear optical processing devices are not yet fully practical as they are single channel. Here the authors demonstrate all-optical regeneration of up to 16 channels by one device, employing a group-delay-managed nonlinear medium where strong self-phase modulation is achieved without nonlinear inter-channel crosstalk.

    • Lu Li
    • , Pallavi G. Patki
    •  & Michael Vasilyev

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical non-reciprocity achieved through refractive index modulation can have its challenges and limitations. Here, Dinc et al. introduce the concept of non-reciprocity based on synchronized spatio-temporal modulation of conductivity to achieve different types of non-reciprocal functionality.

    • Tolga Dinc
    • , Mykhailo Tymchenko
    •  & Harish Krishnaswamy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultrafast laser processing is a versatile three-dimensional photonic structuring method but it has been limited to wide band gap materials like glasses. Here, Chanal et al. demonstrate direct refractive-index modification in the bulk of silicon by extreme localization of the energy deposition.

    • Margaux Chanal
    • , Vladimir Yu. Fedorov
    •  & David Grojo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmon-induced hot electrons have potential applications spanning photodetection and photocatalysis. Here, Hoang et al. study the interplay between hot electrons generated by localized and propagating plasmons, and demonstrate wavelength-controlled polarity-switchable photoconductivity

    • Chung V. Hoang
    • , Koki Hayashi
    •  & Hiroaki Misawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Integrated optical circuits today are typically designed for a few special functionalities and require complex design and development procedures. Here, the authors demonstrate a reconfigurable but simple silicon waveguide mesh with different functionalities.

    • Daniel Pérez
    • , Ivana Gasulla
    •  & José Capmany

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The performance of silicon single-photon avalanche detectors is currently limited by the trade-off between photon detection efficiency and timing jitter. Here, the authors demonstrate how a CMOS-compatible, nanostructured, thin junction structure can make use of tailored light trapping to break this trade-off.

    • Kai Zang
    • , Xiao Jiang
    •  & James S. Harris

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical storage implementations based on optomechanical resonator are limited to one wavelength. Here, exploiting stimulated Brillouin scattering, the authors demonstrate a coherent optical memory based on a planar integrated waveguide, which can operate at different wavelengths without cross-talk.

    • Moritz Merklein
    • , Birgit Stiller
    •  & Benjamin J. Eggleton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Combining different integration platforms on the same chip is currently one of the main challenges for quantum technologies. Here, Elshaari et al. show III-V Quantum Dots embedded in nanowires operating in a CMOS compatible circuit, with controlled on-chip filtering and tunable routing.

    • Ali W. Elshaari
    • , Iman Esmaeil Zadeh
    •  & Klaus D. Jöns

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Controlling all the optical properties of dielectric waveguides is a challenging task and often requires complicated core- and cladding designs. Here, Jiang et al. demonstrate that a thin metasurface coating can control several optical properties simultaneously over a broad frequency range.

    • Zhi Hao Jiang
    • , Lei Kang
    •  & Douglas H. Werner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Realizing metasurfaces with reconfigurability, high efficiency, and control over phase and amplitude is a challenge. Here, Li et al. introduce a reprogrammable hologram based on a 1-bit coding metasurface, where the state of each unit cell of the coding metasurface can be switched electrically.

    • Lianlin Li
    • , Tie Jun Cui
    •  & Shuang Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Increasing the dimensionality of entangled states improves robustness and capacity of secure quantum communications, but it requires suitably modified setups. Here the authors report the distribution of high-dimensional polarization and energy-time entangled photons via a 1.2 km-long free-space link.

    • Fabian Steinlechner
    • , Sebastian Ecker
    •  & Rupert Ursin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topological effects known from condensed matter physics have recently also been explored in photonic systems. Here, the authors directly observe topological surface-state arcs in momentum space by near-field scanning the surface of a chiral hyperbolic metamaterial.

    • Biao Yang
    • , Qinghua Guo
    •  & Shuang Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, Kittlauset al. demonstrate stimulated inter-modal Brillouin scattering on-chip. Through this process, a Brillouin interaction couples light fields that propagate in distinct spatial modes of a Brillouin-active silicon waveguide, which may allow a variety of new processes in silicon photonics.

    • Eric A. Kittlaus
    • , Nils T. Otterstrom
    •  & Peter T. Rakich

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reflectionless absorption independent of the angle of incidence usually requires the introduction of gain media into the system. Here, Ye et al. implement a recent theoretical proposal to achieve this with a spatially varying permittivity, showing that this approach is experimentally feasible.

    • Dexin Ye
    • , Cheng Cao
    •  & Lixin Ran

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precisely assembling free-standing nanowires for on-demand photonic functionality remains a challenge. Here, Chen et al. integrate free-standing nanowires into silicon waveguides and show all-optical modulation and light generation on silicon photonic chips.

    • Bigeng Chen
    • , Hao Wu
    •  & Limin Tong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single-material monolithic optoelectronic integrated circuits via CMOS compatible low-temperature approaches are crucial to the continued development of post-Moore electronics. Liuet al., report carbon nanotube based electrically driven 3D monolithic optoelectronic integrated circuits.

    • Yang Liu
    • , Sheng Wang
    •  & Lian-Mao Peng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The complex speckle pattern produced by coherent multiple scattering contains information about the incident light field, which has recently been used for imaging. Metzgeret al. use speckle to construct a wavemeter with sub-femtometre resolution which is subsequently used for laser stabilization.

    • Nikolaus Klaus Metzger
    • , Roman Spesyvtsev
    •  & Kishan Dholakia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    For specific problems, analog optical computing can be faster and more computationally efficient than digital methods. Here, Zhuet al. simplify the often metamaterial-based approach to a single thin metal film, with which they demonstrate spatial differentiation.

    • Tengfeng Zhu
    • , Yihan Zhou
    •  & Shanhui Fan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The breaking of parity-time symmetric gain and loss profiles can be used to achieve single-mode lasing in coupled microring resonators. Here, Liuet al. show that this effect can be electrically controlled with a tunable lasing wavelength and strong sidemode suppression.

    • Weilin Liu
    • , Ming Li
    •  & Jianping Yao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tuning of plasmonic nanostructures has yet to cover a full colour basis set with a single nanostructure. Franklinet al. demonstrate a liquid crystal-plasmonic system that covers the full red-green-blue colour basis set as a function of voltage and which can be actively addressed with thin-film-transistor technology.

    • Daniel Franklin
    • , Russell Frank
    •  & Debashis Chanda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Harvesting incident photons with energy below the bandgap may lead to highly efficient solar cells. By introducing InAs quantum dots at the hetero-interface, Asahiet al. achieve efficient two step photon up-conversion resulting in additional photocurrent and very high external quantum efficiency.

    • Shigeo Asahi
    • , Haruyuki Teranishi
    •  & Takashi Kita

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Efficient implementation of quantum dot and well architectures are restricted to costly vacuum-epitaxially-grown semiconductors. The authors use quantum dots in perovskite to build field-emission photodiodes that are sensitive across the visible and into the short-wavelength infrared.

    • F. Pelayo García de Arquer
    • , Xiwen Gong
    •  & Edward Sargent

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here Leonettiet al. report the observation of single-mode states in the regime of transverse Anderson localization in a disordered optical fibre, with negligible crosstalk accompanied by an inherent resilience to fibre bending and invariance with respect to the launch conditions.

    • Giancarlo Ruocco
    • , Behnam Abaie
    •  & Marco Leonetti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Losses of bandwidth are inevitable when interfacing between optical and electronic components. Here the authors present a switching device consisting of a two-dimensional disordered array of nanoholes that can potentially transfer information about 40 times faster than conventional switching devices.

    • Wonjun Choi
    • , Yonghyeon Jo
    •  & Wonshik Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here Duanet al. demonstrate dynamic plasmonic colour displays using catalytic magnesium metasurfaces. Controlled hydrogenation and dehydrogenation of the constituent nanoparticles, which serve as dynamic pixels, allow plasmonic colour printing, tuning, erasing, restoration of colour and encoding of information.

    • Xiaoyang Duan
    • , Simon Kamin
    •  & Na Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum key distribution has not been widely adopted in part due to technical hurdles preventing it being fully integrated in classical communication networks. Here the authors report quantum key distribution between two photonic chips manufactured with state-of-the-art telecoms industry processes.

    • P. Sibson
    • , C. Erven
    •  & M. G. Thompson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is emerging interest in photodetectors in the mid-infrared driven by increasing need to monitor the environment for security and healthcare purposes. Sassiet al. show a thermal photodetector, based on the coupling between graphene and a pyroelectric crystal, which shows high temperature sensitivity.

    • U. Sassi
    • , R. Parret
    •  & A. Colli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photonic lanterns are made by merging several single-mode cores into one multimode core. Here, the authors show this type of structure can both perform wavelength-to-time mapping of multimode states of light and couple such light to an array of single-photon avalanche detectors.

    • Harikumar K Chandrasekharan
    • , Frauke Izdebski
    •  & Robert R. Thomson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Practical implementations of quantum photonic circuits consist primarily of large waveguide networks to path-encode information. Here, Mohantyet al. demonstrate quantum interference between transverse spatial modes in a single silicon nitride waveguide, enabling robust quantum information processing.

    • Aseema Mohanty
    • , Mian Zhang
    •  & Michal Lipson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hybrid polariton states originating from the strong coupling of photonic and excitonic states hold promise for control of nonlinear light behaviour. Here, the authors fabricate a microcavity containing organic dye and WS2, featuring hybrid polaritons arising from both Frenkel and Wannier-Mott excitons.

    • Lucas C. Flatten
    • , David M. Coles
    •  & Jason M. Smith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Traditional metallic communication elements suffer from substantial losses in the visible and near-infrared. Here, Barredaet al. show in a proof of principle in the microwave regime that a pair of high-index dielectric spheres can operate as a perfect switch in a beam-splitter configuration.

    • Ángela I. Barreda
    • , Hassan Saleh
    •  & Fernando Moreno

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transparent conductors are fundamental for optoelectronics. Using the transfer matrix method to optimise a multistructure of anti-reflection coatings containing an ultrathin metal film, Maniyaraet al. achieve the highest transmittance of an antireflection transparent conductor combined with low resistance.

    • Rinu Abraham Maniyara
    • , Vahagn K. Mkhitaryan
    •  & Valerio Pruneri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Detection of electric fields, central to chemical and biological processes, has been limited to measurements of current (e.g., electrodes) and secondary reporters (e.g., fluorescent dyes). Here, the authors demonstrate an optical platform capable of imaging electric field dynamics with high spatio-temporal resolution.

    • Jason Horng
    • , Halleh B. Balch
    •  & Feng Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metasurfaces have the potential to be used in imaging systems since they can modify optical wavefronts at subwavelength spatial resolution. Here, Arbabi et al. demonstrate a metasurface lens doublet corrected for monochromatic aberrations, and integrate it with an image sensor to realize a miniature planar camera.

    • Amir Arbabi
    • , Ehsan Arbabi
    •  & Andrei Faraon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Highly sensitive trace-gas detection is possible in the mid-infrared range with transparent microresonators. Here, the authors directly measure the necessary ultra-high quality factors of microresonators made from fluoride crystal materials using a tapered chalcogenide fibre.

    • C. Lecaplain
    • , C. Javerzac-Galy
    •  & T. J. Kippenberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fibre sensors are key to many minimally-invasive detection techniques but, owing to an index mismatch, they are often limited to aqueous environments. Here, Caucheteur et al. develop a high-resolution fibre gas sensor with a tilted in-fibre grating that allows coupling to higher-order plasmon modes.

    • Christophe Caucheteur
    • , Tuan Guo
    •  & Jacques Albert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photonic-integrated devices need to be spaced apart to prevent signal crosstalk, which limits their packing density. Here, Shen et al. report the use of nanophotonic cloaking to render neighbouring devices invisible to one another, which allows them to be placed closer together than is otherwise achievable.

    • Bing Shen
    • , Randy Polson
    •  & Rajesh Menon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sensitive and label-free imaging methods to visualize nerve degeneration are currently lacking. Here authors show that stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy can be used to monitor peripheral nerve degeneration in mouse models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and in postmortem tissue from ALS patients.

    • Feng Tian
    • , Wenlong Yang
    •  & Kevin Eggan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Using SiGe in the core of optical fibres extends the wavelength range and potential optical functionality, but fabrication challenges exist. Here, Coucheronet al. report the fabrication and tailoring of SiGe-core optical fibres using CO2laser irradiation to heat the glass cladding and recrystallize the core.

    • David A. Coucheron
    • , Michael Fokine
    •  & Ursula J. Gibson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In photovoltaics, sub-band gap energy photons can be harvested using up-conversion strategies. Here, the authors show that the thermally enhanced up-converted photoluminescence results in enhanced energy conversion, for an accessible temperature range and with a broad range of incident photon energy.

    • Assaf Manor
    • , Nimrod Kruger
    •  & Carmel Rotschild

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The thermal-draw technique offers fibre devices with a multiplicity of geometries, but these are constrainted to being translationally symmetric. Here, the authors disrupt this symmetry by applying selective capillary instability, resulting in electrically connected spherical photodetecting elements.

    • Michael Rein
    • , Etgar Levy
    •  & Yoel Fink

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The design of holographic displays usually involves a trade-off between size and viewing angle. Here, the authors combine holographic projection with a digitally designed holographic optical element so that display size and the visual angle can be designed independently.

    • Koki Wakunami
    • , Po-Yuan Hsieh
    •  & Kenji Yamamoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In photovoltaics window electrodes must display uniform current transport, as well as high light transmission from the substrate. Here, Han et al.show that quasi-fractal metallic networks provide a practical realization of an electrode structure with an optimal surface coverage and a uniform current density.

    • Bing Han
    • , Qiang Peng
    •  & Jinwei Gao

Browse broader subjects

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Applied optics across other nature.com journals