Optics and photonics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Maximising short-circuit current density and open circuit voltage in polymer-fullerene solar cells is a critical issue. Here, the authors use an aphthobisoxadiazole-based polymer and observe a low photon energy loss of 0.5 eV, with an open-circuit voltage of 1 V and power conversion efficiency of 9%.

    • Kazuaki Kawashima
    • , Yasunari Tamai
    •  & Kazuo Takimiya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic semiconductors with high mobility and strong fluorescence are necessary for optoelectronic devices. Here, Liu et al. show an organic semiconductor, 2,6-diphenylanthracene, satisfying both requirements with mobility of 34 cm2 V−1 s−1 and emission of 6,627 cd m−2at a turn-on voltage of 2.8 V.

    • Jie Liu
    • , Hantang Zhang
    •  & Alan J. Heeger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum communications require sources of entangled photons. Electrically triggered sources usually suffer from low entangled-emission efficiency. Here, the authors use piezoelectric strains to tune the fine structure of quantum dot emitters, and increase the entanglement probability and fidelity.

    • Jiaxiang Zhang
    • , Johannes S. Wildmann
    •  & Oliver G. Schmidt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An imbalance in I/Pb stoichiometry is thought to lead to defects in metal halide films. Here, Zhang et al. show that the addition of hypophosphorous acid in the precursor solution can significantly improve the film quality and enhance the photoluminescence intensity, leading to improved photovoltaic devices.

    • Wei Zhang
    • , Sandeep Pathak
    •  & Henry J. Snaith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multiview light-sheet microscopy is a powerful tool for imaging relatively large biological samples over long periods of time, but scattering can limit image quality. Here, the authors combine multiview light-sheet imaging with electronic confocal slit detection to improve image quality, double acquisition speed and streamline data fusion.

    • Gustavo de Medeiros
    • , Nils Norlin
    •  & Lars Hufnagel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Realizing tunable metamaterials across a broad spectral range is of great interest. Here, Liu et al. introduce hybrid structures comprising graphene plasmonic resonators strongly coupled to conventional split-ring resonators and reach 60% transmission modulation with an operating speed above 40 MHz.

    • Peter Q. Liu
    • , Isaac J. Luxmoore
    •  & Geoffrey R. Nash

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photonic quantum technologies rely on the creation and manipulation of continuous variables states whose experimental preparation needs to be verified- a noteworthy impractical task. Here, the authors present a protocol that allows to certify continuous variables states with limited experimental overhead.

    • Leandro Aolita
    • , Christian Gogolin
    •  & Jens Eisert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides are useful for optoelectronic applications, but the ultimate limit on the speed of photodetector operation is unknown. Here, the authors show that the optical response time of monolayer molybdenum disulfide can be as short as three picoseconds.

    • Haining Wang
    • , Changjian Zhang
    •  & Farhan Rana

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Injecting spin-polarized current into a ferromagnetic thin film via a nanocontact is expected to generate a radially-symmetric spin wave soliton. Here, the authors use time-resolved x-ray microscopy and micromagnetic simulations to demonstrate the occurrence of p-like symmetry associated with non-uniform magnetic fields in the nanocontact region.

    • S. Bonetti
    • , R. Kukreja
    •  & H. A. Dürr

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The combination of graphene with plasmonic waveguides remains largely unexplored. Here, Ansell et al. report the fabrication of hybrid graphene plasmonic waveguide modulators working in the telecom range, with a modulation depth greater than 0.03 dB μm−1and with comparable characteristics to silicon-based devices.

    • D. Ansell
    • , I. P. Radko
    •  & A. N. Grigorenko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single crystals of organolead halide perovskites exhibit large carrier mobilities and long diffusion lengths. Here, the authors succeed in growing the single crystals on planar substrates and integrate them as the active layer of visible photodetectors with a large gain-bandwidth product.

    • Makhsud I. Saidaminov
    • , Valerio Adinolfi
    •  & Osman M. Bakr

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lead halide perovskite solar cells have a limited spectral response in the near infrared. Here, the authors present ruthenium dyes with extended near infrared absorbance and combine perovskite and dye-based solar cells by spectral splitting to obtain broadband, 21.5% efficient solar cells.

    • Takumi Kinoshita
    • , Kazuteru Nonomura
    •  & Hiroshi Segawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    When quantum key distribution is composed with other secure protocols the overall security has to be guaranteed, which adds further security requirements. Here, the authors demonstrate continuous-variable quantum key distribution with composable security and one-sided-device independence.

    • Tobias Gehring
    • , Vitus Händchen
    •  & Roman Schnabel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    For optical control of plasmons metals require a large amount of power in the control pulse, yielding a small modulation depth. Here, Sim et al. fabricate arrays of Bi2Se3 and report a modulation depth of 2,400% at 1.5 THz with an optical fluence of 45 μJ/cm2, demonstrating a novel route for controlling plasmons.

    • Sangwan Sim
    • , Houk Jang
    •  & Hyunyong Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interacting light beams are required for all-optical information processing, but such nonlinear effects are tiny at the single-photon level. Here, the authors show that a single quantum dot in a photonic-crystal waveguide enables the necessary giant optical nonlinearity.

    • A. Javadi
    • , I. Söllner
    •  & P. Lodahl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To date, lasing in colloidal quantum dot solids has been limited to the nanosecond temporal range, limiting the potential for solution-processed lasers. Here, the authors combine thermal management with low amplified spontaneous emission threshold to produce microsecond-sustained lasing.

    • Michael M. Adachi
    • , Fengjia Fan
    •  & Edward H. Sargent

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Zeolites with regular porous structures are widely used as gas adsorbents and scaffolding for catalysts. Poppe et al. report a liquid crystal with zeolite-like structure by self-assembly of polyphilic molecules with π-conjugated rod-like cores into a honeycomb formed by pentagonal/octagonal channels.

    • Silvio Poppe
    • , Anne Lehmann
    •  & Carsten Tschierske

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nitrogen-vacancy colour centre defects in diamond are one possible host for qubits, but such an application requires a method for reading out the colour centre spin state. Here, the authors demonstrate a photoelectric readout technique of the magnetic resonances of these colour centres.

    • E. Bourgeois
    • , A. Jarmola
    •  & M. Nesladek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The more degrees of freedom a quantum observable has, the more complicated it is to measure its probability distribution. Here, the authors deduce the mean and variance of an infinite-dimensional variable, the orbital angular momentum of light, from a two-dimensional one: spin angular momentum.

    • Bruno Piccirillo
    • , Sergei Slussarenko
    •  & Enrico Santamato

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene has excellent electronic properties but its photoresponsivity is limited by low absorption and the ultrafast recombination of photoexcited carriers. Here, the authors demonstrate fast, high responsivity and broadband photodetectors by combining graphene with single-wall carbon nanotubes.

    • Yuanda Liu
    • , Fengqiu Wang
    •  & Rong Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dynamic control of components is required for large-scale quantum photonic networks. Here, Kapfingeret al. show dynamic control of the interaction between two coupled photonic crystal nanocavities forming a photonic molecule. Tuning is achieved by using an electrically generated radio frequency surface acoustic wave.

    • Stephan Kapfinger
    • , Thorsten Reichert
    •  & Hubert J. Krenner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional methods to control surface plasmon polaritons with light offer limited tunability or complex design parameters. Here, Xiao et al. demonstrate coherent and independent control of surface plasmon polariton orbitals for two opposite spins using multiple rings of nano-slots on a metasurface

    • Shiyi Xiao
    • , Fan Zhong
    •  & Jensen Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Zinc oxide is potentially a useful material for ultraviolet detectors, but a relatively long response time hinders practical implementation. Here, the authors demonstrate a zinc oxide nanowire/perovskite heterostructure detector with a five orders of magnitude improvement in both rising and falling edge time.

    • Zhaona Wang
    • , Ruomeng Yu
    •  & Zhong Lin Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The use of organic–inorganic metal-halide perovskites in hot-carrier devices depends on deepening the understanding of photoexcitations in these materials. Here, Price et al. use transient absorption spectroscopy to study hot-carrier distributions in CH3NH3PbI3and quantify key semiconductors parameters.

    • Michael B. Price
    • , Justinas Butkus
    •  & Felix Deschler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Harnessing nonlinear optics in optoelectronic devices requires a platform that exhibits both giant optical nonlinearity and is compatible with photonic-circuit fabrication. Here, the authors demonstrate such a system that uses strong light–matter coupling between waveguide photons and quantum-well excitons.

    • P. M. Walker
    • , L. Tinkler
    •  & D. N. Krizhanovskii

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Maser applications are hindered by their demanding working conditions. Here, Jinet al. theoretically propose a room-temperature maser based on nitrogen vacancy centres in diamond. This numerical study demonstrates that the operation of the maser under readily accessible conditions is feasible.

    • Liang Jin
    • , Matthias Pfender
    •  & Ren-Bao Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum light–matter interfaces connecting stationary qubits to photons are fundamental elements of future quantum optical networks. Here, the authors report a quantum interface based on highly coherent rare-earth ions—the solid-state qubits—coupled to a nanophotonic cavity fabricated in the host crystal.

    • Tian Zhong
    • , Jonathan M. Kindem
    •  & Andrei Faraon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    On-chip nonlinear optics devices find a number of applications in modern optics from spectroscopy to communications. Here, the authors increase the degrees of freedom for frequency mixing by demonstrating the nonlinear interaction of perpendicularly-polarized modes in an integrated microring resonator.

    • Christian Reimer
    • , Michael Kues
    •  & Roberto Morandotti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photons emitted from a quantum dot typically have slightly different frequencies owing to various sources of noise. Here, the authors suppress the noise, notably the noise arising from the nuclear spins, and demonstrate single-photon emission with a transform-limited optical linewidth.

    • Andreas V. Kuhlmann
    • , Jonathan H. Prechtel
    •  & Richard J. Warburton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The terabit-per-second rates of optical fibres exceed the capability of electronics, but all-optical switches are needed to alleviate the bottleneck in these networks. Here, Born et al.describe such a switch using dielectric spheres, yielding femtojoule switching energy and femtosecond switching times.

    • Brandon Born
    • , Jeffrey D. A. Krupa
    •  & Jonathan F. Holzman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    X-ray free-electron laser is a power probe for materials, but it is challenging to measure the spectro-temporal characters of individual pulses. Here, De Ninno et al.implement an interferometric method allowing one to characterize and control the ultrashort XUV pulses seeded by a femtosecond laser.

    • Giovanni De Ninno
    • , David Gauthier
    •  & Matija Stupar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An optical frequency comb demodulated on a photodiode can generate a radio frequency signal with high spectral purity at a frequency corresponding to the comb spacing. Here, Liang et al.demonstrate a frequency-comb-based radio frequency photonic oscillator characterized with low phase noise and high frequency stability.

    • W. Liang
    • , D. Eliyahu
    •  & L. Maleki

  • Article |

    With wavefront shaping, imaging through scattering walls is possible, but this technique requires generating feedback from behind the wall. Here, Conkeyet al. use photoacoustic feedback for wavefront optimization for sub-acoustic resolution imaging behind a scattering wall with an improved signal-to-noise ratio.

    • Donald B. Conkey
    • , Antonio M. Caravaca-Aguirre
    •  & Rafael Piestun

  • Article |

    Helical nanofilaments—composed of achiral, bent core molecules—have been shown to assemble into left- and right-handed structures. Here, the authors show diastereomeric interactions on the mesocale between chiral liquid crystal guest compounds and helical nanofilament-based pores.

    • Dong Chen
    • , Michael R. Tuchband
    •  & Noel A. Clark

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scalable photonic devices for quantum information processing require on-chip quantum states engineering. Here the authors report the creation of entangled photon pairs on a silicon-on-insulator chip by integrating resonant photon sources, spectral demultiplexers and reconfigurable optics in a single device.

    • J. W. Silverstone
    • , R. Santagati
    •  & M. G. Thompson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) combining the properties of the metal ions and organic ligands are been proposed for many applications. Here Quah et al. demonstrate multiphoton excitation fluorescence in MOF materials enhanced by high quantum yielding guest molecules and Förster resonance energy transfer.

    • Hong Sheng Quah
    • , Weiqiang Chen
    •  & Jagadese J. Vittal

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metallic nanoantennas can enhance and confine electromagnetic fields, however, localized heating hinders many applications. Here, Caldarola et al.demonstrate both high near-field enhancement and ultra-low heat conversion in the visible-near infrared region using silicon dimer nanoantennas with 20 nm gaps.

    • Martín Caldarola
    • , Pablo Albella
    •  & Stefan A. Maier

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