Applied optics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metal halide perovskites are promising for solar energy harvesting, but currently prone to a large hysteresis and current instability. Here, Xu et al. show improvements in a hybrid material in which the fullerene is distributed at perovskite grain boundaries and thus passivates defects effectively.

    • Jixian Xu
    • , Andrei Buin
    •  & Edward H. Sargent

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the behaviour of magnetic flux ropes in the Sun is crucial for explaining solar phenomena such as flares and space weather. Exploiting the high resolution available in the 1.6 m New Solar Telescope, Wang et al.capture the evolution of a flaring twisted flux rope in the low solar corona.

    • Haimin Wang
    • , Wenda Cao
    •  & Haisheng Ji

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fitting current–voltage curves of organic solar cells with the Shockley equation often results in artificially high ideality factors. Here, the authors analyse inadequacy of the equation and propose an analytic model, which allows prediction of the efficiency potentials by explicit consideration of charge-carrier mobilities.

    • Uli Würfel
    • , Dieter Neher
    •  & Steve Albrecht

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Active control of light in optical fibres is of great interest, to this end, electric control of all-fibre graphene devices is desirable but highly challenging. Here, Lee et al. demonstrate electric control of the optical properties of a graphene sheet deposited on a side-polished fibre mediated by an ion liquid.

    • Eun Jung Lee
    • , Sun Young Choi
    •  & Dong-Il Yeom

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photothermal interferometry systems using free-space optics have limits in terms of light–matter interaction efficiency, size, optical alignment and integration. Here, Jin et al. use a gas-filled hollow-core photonic bandgap fibre to demonstrate an all-fibre gas sensor with ultrahigh sensitivity and dynamic range.

    • Wei Jin
    • , Yingchun Cao
    •  & Hoi Lut Ho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aligned, one-dimensional, single-crystal materials may allow on-demand photon/electron transfer. Here, the authors use a physical vapour transport technique to grow organic single-crystal wires with the guidance of pillar-structured substrates, and perform proof of concept waveguide experiments.

    • Yuchen Wu
    • , Jiangang Feng
    •  & Lei Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bulk contributions to transport measurements often inhibit the study of the surface states of topological insulators. Here, Kastl et al. demonstrate high-fidelity helicity-dependent photocurrents in the surface states of Bi2Se3, controlled via circularly polarized light with a picosecond time-resolution.

    • Christoph Kastl
    • , Christoph Karnetzky
    •  & Alexander W. Holleitner

  • Article |

    Lead halide perovskite solar cells use hole-blocking layers to allow a separate collection of positive and negative charge carriers and to achieve high-operation voltages. Here, the authors demonstrate efficient lead halide perovskite solar cells that avoid using this extra layer.

    • Weijun Ke
    • , Guojia Fang
    •  & Yanfa Yan

  • Article |

    Controlling the electrical properties of radar absorbing materials is required for active camouflage systems in the microwave. Here, Balci et al.use large-area graphene electrodes to demonstrate electrical control of microwave reflection, transmission and absorption by electrostatic tuning of the charge density.

    • Osman Balci
    • , Emre O. Polat
    •  & Coskun Kocabas

  • Article |

    An important source of loss in solar cells is the recombination of the photogenerated charge carriers before they are extracted from the device. Chang et al. now show that such recombination can be reduced in organic solar cells by increasing the separation between donors and acceptors.

    • Wendi Chang
    • , Daniel N. Congreve
    •  & Marc A. Baldo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    On-chip nonlinear optics can be used to manipulate classical or quantum signals but enhancement of competing nonlinear processes can cause signal distortion. Here, Merklein et al. enhance and inhibit nonlinear scattering on a chip by tailoring the optical density-of-states at the edge of a photonic bandgap.

    • Moritz Merklein
    • , Irina V. Kabakova
    •  & Benjamin J. Eggleton

  • Article |

    Ultrathin film photovoltaic cells are a promising energy device, but suffer from low power conversion efficiency. Here, the authors construct a double-junction tandem cell using a hydrogenated amorphous silicon and a polymer as the front and back cell, respectively, which achieves 10.5% efficiency.

    • Jeehwan Kim
    • , Ziruo Hong
    •  & Yang Yang

  • Article |

    The integration of silicon optoelectronic devices in a fibre platform has great potential, but drawing such fibres is difficult. Using a simple, low cost and scalable method, Hou et al. fabricate a metre-long crystalline silicon-core, silica-clad fibre from a preform not containing elemental silicon.

    • Chong Hou
    • , Xiaoting Jia
    •  & Yoel Fink

  • Article |

    Molybdenum disulphide is a two-dimensional material that, unlike graphene, has a nonzero bandgap. Here, the authors demonstrate that the bandgap of single-layer molybdenum disulphide grown on graphite by chemical vapour deposition changes with distance from the grain boundary

    • Yu Li Huang
    • , Yifeng Chen
    •  & Andrew T. S. Wee

  • Article |

    Concentrating photovoltaics (PVs) offer a route to lower the cost of solar power, but their scale has been incompatible with roof top installation. Here, Price et al.demonstrate quasi-static concentrating PVs that achieve >200 × flux concentration over a full day in the form factor of a standard PV panel.

    • Jared S. Price
    • , Xing Sheng
    •  & Noel C. Giebink

  • Article |

    Although synthesis of high-quality MoS2 has been demonstrated, growth of monolayer MoS2at controlled locations is highly desirable for applications. Here, the authors introduce a method where patterned seeds of molybdenum source material are used to grow isolated flakes at predetermined locations.

    • Gang Hee Han
    • , Nicholas J. Kybert
    •  & A. T. Charlie Johnson

  • Article |

    The detection of high-frequency radiation emitted by a quantum conductor is promising but current approaches exhibit limited sensitivity. Here, Jompol et al. propose on-chip radiation detection based on photo-assisted shot noise and show the response to be independent of the nature and geometry of the quantum conductor.

    • Y. Jompol
    • , P. Roulleau
    •  & D. C. Glattli

  • Article |

    Replica symmetry breaking, in which identical systems subject to identical conditions evolve to different end states, has been predicted to occur in many contexts but has yet to be observed experimentally. Ghofraniha et al.report evidence for its occurrence in the pulse-to-pulse variations of a random laser.

    • N. Ghofraniha
    • , I. Viola
    •  & C. Conti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Performing radio-frequency arbitrary waveform generation in the optical domain offers advantages over electronic-based methods but suffers from lack of integration and slow speed. Here, Wang et al. propose a fast-reconfigurable, radio-frequency arbitrary waveform generator fully integrated in a silicon chip.

    • Jian Wang
    • , Hao Shen
    •  & Minghao Qi

  • Article |

    Halide perovskites are widely studied as components in photovoltaic cells. Here, the authors show that these materials also possess a tunable ferroelectric polarization as well as relativistic spin-splitting effects suggesting additional functionalities, for example, as spintronic and optoelectronic devices.

    • Alessandro Stroppa
    • , Domenico Di Sante
    •  & Silvia Picozzi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quadrature amplitude modulation signalling is currently enabling rapid data transfer capacity growth, but it still has associated drawbacks. Here, Liu et al.use optical injection locking to generate complex modulation format signals with reduced consumption, small footprint and easy integration.

    • Zhixin Liu
    • , Joseph Kakande
    •  & Radan Slavík

  • Article |

    Two-dimensional photocurrent spectroscopy can identify coherent electronic dynamics and offers promise for studies of numerous material systems. Karki et al. now show that the method can be used to study ultrafast carrier processes in lead sulphide quantum dots, such as multiple exciton generation.

    • Khadga J. Karki
    • , Julia R. Widom
    •  & Andrew H. Marcus

  • Article |

    Single-crystal diamond is a promising material for applications in classical and quantum optics, but the lack of scalable fabrication remains an issue. Here, Burek et al. adapt angle-etching nanofabrication techniques to realize ring resonators and photonic crystal cavities in single crystal diamond with quality factors in excess of 105.

    • Michael J. Burek
    • , Yiwen Chu
    •  & Marko Lončar

  • Article |

    Efficiency and stability are two major concerns in polymer-based solar cell development. Here Kong et al.report that the lifetime of a bulk heterojunction polymer can be improved by removing its low-molecular-weight components, which leads to a substantially reduced burn-in loss under photo-aging conditions.

    • Jaemin Kong
    • , Suhee Song
    •  & Kwanghee Lee

  • Article |

    Biological systems, subject to evolutionary optimization over millions of years, have been a source of ingenious solutions in many areas of science. Here, Han et al. develop transparent electrodes inspired by two such systems: a leaf venation and a spider’s web.

    • Bing Han
    • , Yuanlin Huang
    •  & Jinwei Gao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coherently coupling microwave photons to quantum electronic conductors could provide a useful platform for quantum information processing. Souquet et al. now theoretically demonstrate that such systems can also act as sensitive probes of the quantum properties of non-classical microwave radiation.

    • J. -R. Souquet
    • , M. J. Woolley
    •  & A. A. Clerk

  • Article |

    Imaging through a single optical fibre offers attractive possibilities in applications such as micro-endoscopy or remote sensing. Using spread-spectrum encoding, Barankov and Mertz demonstrate two-dimensional imaging of self-luminous objects with high throughput, in theory independent of pixel number.

    • Roman Barankov
    •  & Jerome Mertz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The controlled creation of single and pair photon sources on a silicon chip is important for the realisation of quantum optical communications. Here, the authors control the spectrum of such photons generated on a silicon chip.

    • Ranjeet Kumar
    • , Jun Rong Ong
    •  & Shayan Mookherjea

  • Article |

    Metamaterials manipulate light to deliver tailored optical functionalities, like nonlinearity and optical activity. By exploiting the Drude response and four-fold rotational symmetries, Park et al. show that meshed helical metallic structures can produce a strong and broadband nondispersive optical activity.

    • Hyun Sung Park
    • , Teun-Teun Kim
    •  & Bumki Min

  • Article |

    There is a need for micro- and nanostructures capable of polarization control to cope with the increasing miniaturization of optics devices. Here, the authors propose a beam-splitter consisting of amorphous silicon nanofins on glass that reflect left- and right-circularly polarized light in different directions.

    • Mohammadreza Khorasaninejad
    •  & Kenneth B. Crozier

  • Article |

    Nanoscale light sources using nonlinearities are needed in many applications but their small size leads to very low efficiencies. Here, Ren et al.exploit the highly confined whispering gallery modes in metal-coated nanowires to achieve enhanced second-harmonic generation with minimal Ohmic losses.

    • Ming-Liang Ren
    • , Wenjing Liu
    •  & Ritesh Agarwal

  • Article |

    If photonics and electronics are to form hybrid information processing systems, it will be necessary to manipulate and isolate light electrically, over short distances. Davoyan and Engheta propose a route to achieve this in plasmonic waveguides by exploiting the magnetic field induced by a direct current.

    • Artur Davoyan
    •  & Nader Engheta

  • Article |

    Plasmonic nanostructures enable control over the spatial and spectral dependence of scattered light. Here, the authors use pixels formed of nanoellipse or nanosquare dimers to show polarization-dependent full-colour scattering in reflection, and build 3D stereoscopic colour microprints from them.

    • Xiao Ming Goh
    • , Yihan Zheng
    •  & Joel K. W. Yang

  • Article |

    Hollow-core fibre technologies provide an exceptional platform for applications in sensing, communications and higher-power pulse delivery, yet these fibres suffer from uncontrolled coupling of polarization modes. Here Fini et al. fabricate a single-moded, polarization-maintaining hollow-core fibre.

    • John M. Fini
    • , Jeffrey W. Nicholson
    •  & Kazunori Mukasa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In optical fibres, stimulated Brillouin scattering is a fundamental interaction where light generates bulk elastic waves and it is backward scattered by them. Here, Beugnot et al.demonstrate the generation of backward-propagating surface acoustic wave Brillouin scattering in subwavelength-diameter optical fibres.

    • Jean-Charles Beugnot
    • , Sylvie Lebrun
    •  & Thibaut Sylvestre

  • Article |

    The fundamental vibrational bands of many molecules lie on the mid-infrared, so generating all solid-state, compact frequency combs in that region is important for molecular spectroscopy. Here, Villares et al.use quantum-cascade-laser frequency combs to demonstrate a high resolution, broadband dual-comb spectrometer.

    • Gustavo Villares
    • , Andreas Hugi
    •  & Jérôme Faist

  • Article |

    Saturable absorption is a widely used process in optical-wavelength laser technologies that arises when the transmittance of a material increases upon high-intensity light illumination. Here, Yoneda et al.tightly focus free-electron laser light and demonstrate hard X-ray saturable absorption in iron.

    • Hitoki Yoneda
    • , Yuichi Inubushi
    •  & Hikaru Kitamura

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