Materials for optics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The use of room temperature exciton–polariton Bose–Einstein condensation is limited by the need for external high-finesse microcavities. The authors generate room temperature EPs with single-crystal microribbons as waveguide Fabry–Pérot microcavities, and demonstrate controllable output of coherent light.

    • Ji Tang
    • , Jian Zhang
    •  & Yong Sheng Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Raman optical activity (ROA) is useful for studying conformational structure and behavior of chiral molecules, but is limited by the weak signals. Here, the authors demonstrate 100x signal enhancement via an all-dielectric approach, using a silicon nanodisk array and exploiting its dark mode.

    • Ting-Hui Xiao
    • , Zhenzhou Cheng
    •  & Keisuke Goda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precisely controlling the chemical composition and structure of nanoclusters is an ongoing challenge. Here, the authors report a clickable assembly strategy to construct widely varied lanthanide nanoclusters with synergized optical functionalities.

    • Jie Zhou
    • , Yang Wei
    •  & Ling Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Borates offer extended structural diversity and promise in diverse applications. Here the authors report a borate with linear BO2 units as well as NMR spectroscopy characterization that provides a quantitative basis for identification of BO2 units in polycrystalline and non-crystalline samples.

    • Chunmei Huang
    • , Miriding Mutailipu
    •  & Shilie Pan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In situ vibrational spectroscopy affords a powerful tool for probing elementary chemical processes on catalytic surfaces. Using surface enhanced Raman scattering, authors identify an array of multicarbon species formed on a Ag nanoparticle catalyst in plasmon-driven reduction of CO2 in water.

    • Dinumol Devasia
    • , Andrew J. Wilson
    •  & Prashant K. Jain

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photonic crystals have a range of desirable properties for manipulating light. Here, the authors calculate and use the photonic band gap for thousands of such crystals to examine heuristics for their design and predict new photonic crystal structures.

    • Rose K. Cersonsky
    • , James Antonaglia
    •  & Sharon C. Glotzer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rare-earth ion (REI)-doped systems are well suited for realising coherent light-spin interfaces, but demonstrations of spectral hole burning (SHB) in optical transitions of REI-based systems have been so far limited to REIs dispersed in matrices. Here, the authors report on transient SHB in a binuclear Eu(III) complex.

    • Kuppusamy Senthil Kumar
    • , Diana Serrano
    •  & Mario Ruben

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Charge trapping can lead to severe nonradiative losses in colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs). The authors report femtosecond electron diffraction measurements on photoexcited NCs to reveal atomic-scale insights into how localization of charges at trap sites induce surface deformations.

    • Burak Guzelturk
    • , Benjamin L. Cotts
    •  & Aaron M. Lindenberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-frequency rectifiers at terahertz regime are pivotal components in modern communication, whereas the drawbacks in semiconductor junctions-based devices inhibit their usages. Here, the authors report electromagnetic rectification with high signal-to-noise ratio driven by chiral Bloch-electrons in type-II Dirac semimetal NiTe2-based device allowing for efficient THz detection.

    • Libo Zhang
    • , Zhiqingzi Chen
    •  & Wei Lu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Blue phases are spatially ordered yet fragile liquid crystalline structures, bearing applications in optoelectronics and photonics. Hu et al. show that self-assembly within a mixture of different mesogens may significantly broaden the temperature range over which they are stable.

    • Wei Hu
    • , Ling Wang
    •  & Huai Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Strong nonlinearities in 2D materials can lead to interesting applications in optoelectronics. Here the authors investigate the optical nonlinearity of palladium diselenide, determine the layer dependent two photon absorption efficiency and the saturable absorption modulation depth.

    • Juan Yu
    • , Xiaofei Kuang
    •  & Yanping Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing effective covert security features is highly regarded to deter counterfeit of goods and currency in the global markets. Here, the authors present an electrohydrodynamically printed unicolour multifluorescent-lifetime security tag system based on perovskite to provide an alternative yet affordable solution.

    • Sergii Yakunin
    • , Jana Chaaban
    •  & Maksym V. Kovalenko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors introduce In3SbTe2 (IST) as a programmable material platform for plasmonics and nanophotonics in the infrared. They demonstrate direct optical writing, modifying and erasing of metallic crystalline IST nanoantennas, tuning their resonances, as well as nanoscale screening and soldering.

    • Andreas Heßler
    • , Sophia Wahl
    •  & Thomas Taubner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Creating an enhanced-security-level label that carries entirely distinct information in different optical states has proven challenging. Here, the authors design geminate labels by programming fluorescent cholesteric liquid crystal microdroplets to encrypt fluorescent security information behind colorful reflective patterns.

    • Lang Qin
    • , Xiaojun Liu
    •  & Yanlei Yu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving bright and efficient blue emission in metal halide perovskite light-emitting diodes has proven to be challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate high EQE and spectrally stable blue light-emitting diodes based on mixed halide perovskites, with emission from 490 to 451 nm by using a vapour-assisted crystallization technique.

    • Max Karlsson
    • , Ziyue Yi
    •  & Feng Gao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantized circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE) is predicted in chiral topological semimetals, but the experimental observation remains challenging. Here, Ni et al. observe a large topological longitudinal photocurrent in CoSi, which is much larger than the photocurrent in any other chiral crystals, indicating quantized CPGE within reach upon doping and increase of the hot-carrier lifetime.

    • Zhuoliang Ni
    • , K. Wang
    •  & Liang Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In organic semiconducting molecules materials, distorted π-systems enable strong coupling with circular polarized light while planar π-stacking systems are necessary for high charge-carrier mobility. Here, the authors address this dilemma by introducing a skeleton merging approach through distortion of a perylene diimide core with four fused heteroaromatics to form a π-extended double helicene.

    • Li Zhang
    • , Inho Song
    •  & Jianbin Lin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thermal metamaterials are able to produce unconventional physical properties. Here, the authors demonstrate a thermal metamaterial with conductivity that can be continuously tuned over a very large range.

    • Guoqiang Xu
    • , Kaichen Dong
    •  & Cheng-Wei Qiu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors investigate the polarization-dependent optical characteristics of cavities formed using α-MoO3 to extend the degrees of freedom in the design of IR photonic components exploiting the in-plane anisotropy of this material. Absorption over 80% and polarization conversion is reported without the need for nanoscale fabrication.

    • Sina Abedini Dereshgi
    • , Thomas G. Folland
    •  & Koray Aydin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing quantum dot superlattices remains a challenge. Here, the authors present CdTe quantum dot superlattices via the layer-by-layer assembly and verify the miniband formation by measuring the excitation energy the dependence of the photoluminescence spectra and the detection energy dependence of the excitation spectra.

    • TaeGi Lee
    • , Kazushi Enomoto
    •  & DaeGwi Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large absorption of high-index semiconductors has hindered the application of all dielectric nanostructures in the visible range. Here, the authors present bandgap-engineered hydrogenated amorphous Si nanoparticles with Q-factors up to 100 and their integration with photochromic molecules as tunable meta-atoms.

    • Mingsong Wang
    • , Alex Krasnok
    •  & Yuebing Zheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Though organic light-emitting diodes are highly desirable for display and lighting applications, efficiency roll-off at high current densities limits its applicability. Here, the authors report a triplet scavenging strategy for improved triplet exciton management and reduced efficiency roll-off.

    • Buddhika S. B. Karunathilaka
    • , Umamahesh Balijapalli
    •  & Chihaya Adachi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Integration of III-V semiconductor microlasers into modern Si or Si3N4 based photonic integrated circuits remains a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate a perovskite vortex microlaser with highly directional outputs and well-controlled topological charges that is highly compatible with most materials.

    • Wenzhao Sun
    • , Yilin Liu
    •  & Shumin Xiao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    SERS can be unreliable for biomedical use. The authors demonstrate a metal-free nanostructure composed of porous carbon nanowires in an array as a SERS substrate. It offers 106 signal enhancement due to strong broadband charge-transfer resonance and substrate-to-substrate, spot-to-spot and time-to-time consistency in the SERS spectrum.

    • Nan Chen
    • , Ting-Hui Xiao
    •  & Keisuke Goda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Direct epitaxial growth of III-V on Si for optical emitters and detectors remains a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate in-plane monolithic integration of an InGaAs nanostructure p-i-n photodetector on Si capable of high-speed optical data reception at 32 Gbps enabled by a 3 dB bandwidth exceeding 25 GHz.

    • Svenja Mauthe
    • , Yannick Baumgartner
    •  & Kirsten E. Moselund

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scintillation-based X-ray detection is promising for applications in various areas ranging from security to healthcare, and low-cost and eco-friendly scintillation materials would be beneficial. Here the authors report a facile solution growth of organic manganese halide for efficient X-ray scintillation.

    • Liang-Jin Xu
    • , Xinsong Lin
    •  & Biwu Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Xie et al. report a transparent near-infrared light-emitting diode based on semiconducting lead halide perovskite. This technology could enable security and sensing features on space constrained smart-watches, phones, gaming consoles and augmented or virtual reality headsets.

    • Chenchao Xie
    • , Xiaofei Zhao
    •  & Zhi-Kuang Tan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors show second harmonic generation (SHG) from a centrosymmetric organic superconductor κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br. They find unusual temperature dependence and CEP-sensitive nature of the SHG which are explained in terms of nonlinear current.

    • Y. Kawakami
    • , T. Amano
    •  & S. Iwai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Replicating biological patterns is promising for designing materials with multifaceted properties but replication of twisted cholesteric liquid crystal patterns found in insects is extremely difficult. Here, the authors use liquid crystal oligomers to reproduce the textural, structural and color properties of biological liquid crystals.

    • Adriana Scarangella
    • , Vanessa Soldan
    •  & Michel Mitov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Light-driven heating of plasmonic metal nanoparticles can activate temperature-sensitive reactions at the nanoscale. Here, the authors exploit such nanoscale plasmonic reactors to drive, control, and spectroscopically track the growth of single metal@semiconductor core@shell nanoparticles.

    • Rifat Kamarudheen
    • , Gayatri Kumari
    •  & Andrea Baldi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding and predicting the kinetics of reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) facilitates the design of materials. Here, the authors demonstrate a theoretical expression that reproduces experimental RISC rate constants ranging over five orders of magnitude in selected molecules.

    • Naoya Aizawa
    • , Yu Harabuchi
    •  & Yong-Jin Pu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superlattices of nanoparticles promise new properties emerging from the periodic order. Here, the authors describe the synthesis of superlattices of plasmonic gold nanoparticles with high crystallinity and demonstrate how new plasmon-polariton modes appear in the structures.

    • Florian Schulz
    • , Ondřej Pavelka
    •  & Holger Lange

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topological quantized transport has been limited to slow varying potentials. Here, the authors report that a topological band structure and associated quantized transport can be restored by non-Hermitian Floquet engineering at a driving frequency as large as the system’s band gap.

    • Zlata Fedorova
    • , Haixin Qiu
    •  & Johann Kroha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Broadband near-infrared (IR) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are desirable for smart devices and bio-imaging applications, but the efficiency is limited by the phosphor materials. The authors report broadband emission in Eu-Tb co-doped CaS due to metal-to-metal charge transfer between dopants, and build a broadband near-IR LED with output surpassing the state of the art.

    • Jonas J. Joos
    • , David Van der Heggen
    •  & Luis Seijo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Laser pulse multiplication is desired in many applications but has been challenging to realize by gain medium. Here Guo et al. achieve double-pulsed stimulated emission in quasi-2D metal-halide perovskites due to the two-channel carrier funneling effect in their multiple-quantum-wells structure.

    • Jia Guo
    • , Tanghao Liu
    •  & Guichuan Xing

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors report the creation of trion-polaritons in monolayer MoSe2 in an open microcavity exhibiting strong nonlinear interactions, one order of magnitude bigger than those observed for exciton polaritons in GaAs.

    • R. P. A. Emmanuele
    • , M. Sich
    •  & D. N. Krizhanovskii

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Colloidal quantum wells are highly promising for applications of solution-processed lasers, but their performance is limited by multi-excitonic nature of the materials. Here, the authors demonstrate optical gain in graded alloy core/shell CdSe/CdS@CdZnS quantum wells at less than one exciton per particle resulting in ultralow thresholds.

    • Nima Taghipour
    • , Savas Delikanli
    •  & Hilmi Volkan Demir

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