Optical materials and structures articles from across Nature Portfolio

A laser printing approach generates physical unclonable fluorescent patterns, made from simple sugar. These environmentally friendly and ultraviolet-stable materials can be applied as anti-counterfeiting labels.

A thermally active terahertz Janus metasurface with direction dependence and reconfigurability was reported. Bidirectional and dynamic control of electromagnetic functions, such as asymmetric meta-lens and directional holographic imager, were achieved.

Optical singularities are typically 1D structures like vortices. This study used metasurfaces to position ten identical point singularities with tight confinement. This could miniaturize optical systems for super-resolution microscopy and dark traps.

Anisotropic leaky mode, defying the expectation, achieves zero crosstalk, enhancing photonic integration density. Applied in TM mode using subwavelength gratings, coupling length extends 100x.

Topological semimetals can host coexisting higher-order topological nodes that may enable unique physical properties. Here, based on these topological principles, authors design and experimentally realise simultaneous massive and massless chiral quasiparticles in a photonic microring lattice.

Insights from recent THz emission studies involving quantum materials and low-dimensional systems are surveyed from the standpoints of dynamical mechanisms and basic symmetries, highlighting interplays between intrinsic and designer structuring.