Materials for optics articles within Nature Communications

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  • 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

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Long-term stability and broad spectral response are highly desired features of absorbers. Here, the authors report impedance matched absorbers based on 2 nm thick gold layer operating within the mid-infrared range from 2 to 20 μm, enabling stable long term absorptivity of 47(3) % which is mostly wavelength independent.

    • Niklas Luhmann
    • , Dennis Høj
    •  & Silvan Schmid

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultraviolet-C radiation sources are important for disinfection and photochemical water purification, but development of persistent phosphors is needed for other applications. Here the authors report praseodymium-doped silicate ultraviolet-C persistent phosphors for self-sustained glowing tags in bright light.

    • Xianli Wang
    • , Yafei Chen
    •  & Zhengwei Pan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The so-called two-dimensional (2D) layered perovskites possess distinct optoelectronic properties from their 3D counterparts due to their reduced dimensionality. Here Seitz et al. investigate the exciton transport dynamics in 2D perovskites and highlight the impact of the stiffness of the lattice.

    • Michael Seitz
    • , Alvaro J. Magdaleno
    •  & Ferry Prins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Novel topological quasiparticles have attracted many interests recently. Here, He et al. observe quadratic Weyl points and identify double-helicoid surface arcs in sound waves traveling in a three-dimensional chiral metacrystal.

    • Hailong He
    • , Chunyin Qiu
    •  & Zhengyou Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-index dielectric materials are in great demand for nanophotonic applications. Here, the authors show that chalcogenide topological insulators are suitable candidates for dielectric nanophotonics in the infrared spectral range by reporting resonances in Bi2Te3 crystals sustained in the mid-infrared.

    • H. N. S. Krishnamoorthy
    • , G. Adamo
    •  & C. Soci

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Near-infrared (NIR) fluorophores have attracted interest for bioimaging; yet availability, biocompatibility and application can be an issue. Here, the authors report on the development of Egyptian Blue nanosheets with high NIR fluorescence and photostability demonstrating bioimaging applications in vivo.

    • Gabriele Selvaggio
    • , Alexey Chizhik
    •  & Sebastian Kruss

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lead halide perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) promise applications in optoelectronics but are limited by sensitivity to wet environments. Here the authors develop a Pb-S bonding approach to synthesize PQDs@silica nanodots that are capable of emitting and lasing in aqueous environments for long periods.

    • Siqi Li
    • , Dangyuan Lei
    •  & Alex K.-Y. Jen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fabricating semiconductor photonic lasers based on III-V materials are challenging because of the material mismatch with silicon. Here the authors monolithically grow quantum-dot-based photonic crystal membrane lasers directly on an on-axis silicon substrate.

    • Taojie Zhou
    • , Mingchu Tang
    •  & Huiyun Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A robust time-controlled energy pumping in a classical metamaterial remains to be achieved. Here, Grinberg et al. demonstrate a temporal topological pump that produces on-demand, robust transport of mechanical energy using a one-dimensional magneto-mechanical metamaterial.

    • Inbar Hotzen Grinberg
    • , Mao Lin
    •  & Gaurav Bahl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bio-hybrid LEDs (HLED) are an environmental friendly alternative to LEDs based on inorganic phosphors but achieving long term is challenging. Here, the authors present a long-living Bio-HLED based on a zero-thermal-quenching biophosphor design and investigate the photo-induced heat generation and dissipation processes.

    • Anna Espasa
    • , Martina Lang
    •  & Rubén D. Costa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Applications of metasurfaces for optoelectronic devices require wiring to each isolated antenna for biasing and current flow. Here, the authors report optimal wire interconnects design for controlling the optical properties and present antenna-enhanced mid-infrared photodetection incorporating a single quantum well.

    • Hideki T. Miyazaki
    • , Takaaki Mano
    •  & Hiroshi Miyazaki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmonic enhancements of light–matter interactions are generally maximal at short emitter–surface separations. Here, the authors investigate the impact of nonlocality, spill-out, and surface-assisted Landau damping at nanoscale separations using a mesoscopic electrodynamic framework.

    • P. A. D. Gonçalves
    • , Thomas Christensen
    •  & Marin Soljačić

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Though highly emissive charge-transfer type molecules in a host matrix is an attractive material for organic opto-electronics, concentration quenching limits photoluminescence quantum yield. Here, the authors report concentration quenching in fluorophores based on spontaneous exciton dissociation.

    • Takahiko Yamanaka
    • , Hajime Nakanotani
    •  & Chihaya Adachi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photoresponsive polymers are receiving great attention due to the increasing demands on smart optical and biological materials. Here, the authors report a C–H-activated polyspiroannulation route to in situ generate photoresponsive spiro-polymers with potential applications in photopatterning and silicon photonics techniques.

    • Ting Han
    • , Zhanshi Yao
    •  & Ben Zhong Tang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current DNA-assembled nanophotonic devices can only reconfigure among random or few defined states. Here, the authors demonstrate a DNA-assembled rotary plasmonic nanoclock in which a rotor gold nanorod carries out directional and reversible 360° rotation transitioning among 16 well-defined configurations.

    • Ling Xin
    • , Chao Zhou
    •  & Na Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Low dimensional lead halide perovskites possess intriguing optical properties that are still under debate. Here Cui et al. use hydrogen bonds containing spacers to synthesize highly luminescent perovskites with fully isolated lead-bromide octahedras and shed light on the origin of the emission.

    • Bin-Bin Cui
    • , Ying Han
    •  & Qi Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The optical properties of certain metals can be reversibly switched by hydrogen loading but challenges remain to achieve electrical and reversible control. Here, the authors report a nanoscale proton switch that allows for electrical control of optical properties through electrochemical hydrogen gating.

    • Mantao Huang
    • , Aik Jun Tan
    •  & Geoffrey S. D. Beach

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Traditional photonic crystals consist of periodic media with a pre-defined optical response. Here, the authors combine nanostructured back-gate insulators with a continuous layer of graphene to demonstrate an electrically tunable two-dimensional photonic crystal suitable for controlling the propagation of surface plasmon polaritons.

    • L. Xiong
    • , C. Forsythe
    •  & D. N. Basov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors demonstrate a multi-momentum transformation metasurface. The orbital angular momentum meta-transformer reconstructs different vortex beams into on-axis distinct patterns, and the linear momentum meta-transformer converts red, green and blue beams to vivid color images.

    • Lei Jin
    • , Yao-Wei Huang
    •  & Cheng-Wei Qiu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors introduce optical phase change materials based on Ge-Sb-Se-Te which breaks the coupling between refractive index and optical loss allowing low-loss performance benefits. They demonstrate low losses in nonvolatile photonic circuits and electrical pixelated switching have been demonstrated.

    • Yifei Zhang
    • , Jeffrey B. Chou
    •  & Juejun Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ability to print arbitrary colors and shapes in all three dimensions at microscopic length scales is still lacking. Here, the authors introduce a means to produce three-dimensionally-printed photonic crystals with a periodicity as small as 280 nm, achieving sub-100-nm features with a full range of colors.

    • Yejing Liu
    • , Hao Wang
    •  & Joel K. W. Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The use of promising group III-V materials for optoelectronic applications is hindered by the high density of threading dislocations when integrated with silicon technology. Here, the authors present an electrochemical deep etching strategy to drastically reduce the the defect density.

    • Youcef A. Bioud
    • , Abderraouf Boucherif
    •  & Richard Arès

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atomic defects impact the electronic properties of atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). Here, the authors locate the mid-gap states originating from single chalcogen-atom vacancies in four representative semiconducting monolayer films, and analyse their implications for the semiconducting properties of atomically thin TMDs through electron tunneling and optical spectroscopy measurements.

    • Tae Young Jeong
    • , Hakseong Kim
    •  & Suyong Jung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The nature of defects in transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors is still under debate. Here, the authors determine the atomic structure and electronic properties of chalcogen-site point defects common to monolayer MoSe2 and WS2, and find that these are substitutional defects, where a chalcogen atom is substituted by an oxygen atom, rather than vacancies.

    • Sara Barja
    • , Sivan Refaely-Abramson
    •  & Alexander Weber-Bargioni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chemically synthesized graphene nanosheets offer device design flexibility and improved optoelectronic performance. Here, the authors report solution-processed distributed feedback lasers with graphene nanosheets as active media having linewidths < 0.13 nm, long operational lifetimes and low thresholds.

    • Víctor Bonal
    • , Rafael Muñoz-Mármol
    •  & María A. Díaz-García

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmonic modulators have many possible applications in optical-frequency devices. Here the authors report a 2D semiconductor nonlinear plasmonic modulator enabled through strong interaction between the surface plasmon polaritons and excitons in a monolayer semiconductor integrated on top of a metallic waveguide.

    • Matthew Klein
    • , Bekele H. Badada
    •  & John R. Schaibley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spatially resolved information about material deformation upon loading is critical to evaluate mechanical properties. Here the authors demonstrate integration of nanodiamond orientation sensing and atomic force microscopy nanoindentation as an approach to evaluate non-local material deformation on the nanoscale.

    • Kangwei Xia
    • , Chu-Feng Liu
    •  & Quan Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Momentum mismatch prevents efficient coupling between free space photons and hyperbolic phonon polaritons. The authors show, using far-field infrared spectroscopy, infrared nanoimaging and numerical simulations, that resonant metallic antennas can efficiently launch hyperbolic phonon polaritons in thin h-BN slabs.

    • P. Pons-Valencia
    • , F. J. Alfaro-Mozaz
    •  & A. Y. Nikitin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inorganic perovskite nanocrystals attract lots of research attention but the origin of their photoluminescence remains debatable. Here Zhang et al. show that behavior of both CsPbBr3 and Cs4PbBr6 nanocrystals is like individual molecular fluorophores and independent of the structural dimensionalities.

    • Yuhai Zhang
    • , Tianle Guo
    •  & Anton V. Malko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing conjugated polymers with high charge carrier mobility and fluorescence quantum efficiency, though attractive for optoelectronics, remains challenging. Here, the authors report a strategy for designing donor-acceptor copolymers whose optoelectronic properties exceed the state-of-the-art.

    • Tudor H. Thomas
    • , David J. Harkin
    •  & Henning Sirringhaus

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thermoregulatory platforms that combine the advantages of passive and active thermal management systems have remained elusive. Here, the authors draw inspiration from the static infrared-reflecting space blanket and dynamic color-changing squid skin to develop a composite material that addresses this challenge.

    • Erica M. Leung
    • , Melvin Colorado Escobar
    •  & Alon A. Gorodetsky

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Developing innovative materials for reduced energy consumption in phosphor converted white light-emitting diodes remains a challenge. Here, the authors report a narrow band red-emitting oxonitride material with a highly symmetrical Sr2 + coordination for energy efficient white light-emitting diodes.

    • Gregor J. Hoerder
    • , Markus Seibald
    •  & Hubert Huppertz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Besides device operational stability, the color stability is also an important challenge for the perovskite light-emitting diodes, especially the blue ones. Here Jiang et al. report the most efficient and color stable pure-blue perovskite LEDs so far, with a half-lifetime of 14.5 minutes.

    • Yuanzhi Jiang
    • , Chaochao Qin
    •  & Jun Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Semiconductor-core optical fibres are of interest for their non-linear optical and electro-optical properties. Here, GaSb/Si composite-core optical fibres were fabricated and a CO2 laser was used to facilitate controlled GaSb segregation within the silicon. This has implications for embedding light sources in IR-transmitting fibers

    • S. Song
    • , K. Lønsethagen
    •  & U. J. Gibson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lead halide perovskite lasers have great potential as microscale organic light sources, but dynamic tuning has yet to be achieved. Here, Zhang, Fan et al. investigate how nonlinear modal interactions enable ultrafast mode switching with crossgain saturation.

    • Nan Zhang
    • , Yubin Fan
    •  & Qinghai Song

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fused silica glass has excellent optical properties, chemical and thermal stability and hardness, but its microstructuring for miniaturized applications has proven difficult. Here the authors demonstrate obtainment of precise arbitrary three dimensional hollow microstructures in fused silica glass by sacrificial template replication.

    • Frederik Kotz
    • , Patrick Risch
    •  & Bastian E. Rapp

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