Other photonics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Continuum generation in optical fibres has enabled many applications, like optical frequency combs. Here, Ohet al. demonstrate controlled dispersive-wave generation in on-chip silica waveguides, which could have a similar impact on integrated devices.

    • Dong Yoon Oh
    • , Ki Youl Yang
    •  & Kerry J. Vahala

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vanishing Chern numbers usually mean that a system is topologically trivial, but this rule may be violated for periodically driven systems. Here, Maczewskyet al.report topologically protected edge modes in a periodically driven photonic lattice with all bands of zero Chern number.

    • Lukas J. Maczewsky
    • , Julia M. Zeuner
    •  & Alexander Szameit

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fibre sensors are key to many minimally-invasive detection techniques but, owing to an index mismatch, they are often limited to aqueous environments. Here, Caucheteur et al. develop a high-resolution fibre gas sensor with a tilted in-fibre grating that allows coupling to higher-order plasmon modes.

    • Christophe Caucheteur
    • , Tuan Guo
    •  & Jacques Albert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The thermal-draw technique offers fibre devices with a multiplicity of geometries, but these are constrainted to being translationally symmetric. Here, the authors disrupt this symmetry by applying selective capillary instability, resulting in electrically connected spherical photodetecting elements.

    • Michael Rein
    • , Etgar Levy
    •  & Yoel Fink

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An ideal optical frequency-comb system should combine both single-line spectral resolution and a bandwidth broad enough to cover as many lines as possible. Here, the authors incorporate a fibre spectrometer to detect approximately 500 comb-lines with an instrument resolution of 120 megahertz.

    • Nicola Coluccelli
    • , Marco Cassinerio
    •  & Gianluca Galzerano

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrically driven acousto-optic light modulators are limited to frequencies of a few hundred megahertz and are typically no smaller than a few micrometres. Here, the authors demonstrate gigahertz acousto-optic conversion of light polarization in a region of a few nanometres using pulsed laser stimulation of a ferroelectric.

    • Mariusz Lejman
    • , Gwenaelle Vaudel
    •  & Pascal Ruello

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interaction between light and acoustic phonons is radically modified in sub-wavelength photonic structures. Here, the authors engineer the optical and acoustic modes to perfectly cancel the two interaction mechanisms—the photo-elastic and moving-boundary effects—which leads to Brillouin self-cancellation.

    • O. Florez
    • , P. F. Jarschel
    •  & P. Dainese

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studying quantum transport in biological systems is difficult so developing an artificial platform that can be used to understand quantum transport is desirable. Here, Caruso, et al. demonstrate how a quantum walker can quickly reach the output of a maze by partially suppressing the presence of interference.

    • Filippo Caruso
    • , Andrea Crespi
    •  & Roberto Osellame

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The efficiency of coherent transport can be enhanced through interaction between the system and a noisy environment. Here, Biggerstaff et al. report an experimental simulation of environment assisted coherent transport using laser-written waveguides, showing that controllable decoherence yields an increase in transport efficiency.

    • Devon N. Biggerstaff
    • , René Heilmann
    •  & Ivan Kassal

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phonons—crystal lattice vibrations—interact with crystal defects on the nanometre spatial scale and femtosecond timescale. Here, the authors demonstrate direct, real-space imaging of the nucleation, emergence and dispersion of single-phonon wavefronts at individual atomic-scale defects in semiconductors.

    • Daniel R. Cremons
    • , Dayne A. Plemmons
    •  & David J. Flannigan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aerosol droplets have significant effects on atmospheric photochemistry, however measuring absorption from single droplets is a challenge. Here, the authors report a method to measure absorption of nanodroplets with attolitre sensitivity, showing rate enhancements for light focusing in photolysis reactions.

    • Johannes W. Cremer
    • , Klemens M. Thaler
    •  & Ruth Signorell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    BioLEDs is an emerging group of light-emitting diodes that use duplex-strand DNA to enhance luminescence intensity. Here, Back et al.show that only the specific binding between a pair of single-strand DNA can trigger the enhancement, which potentially makes BioLEDs an easy platform for DNA recognition.

    • Seung Hyuk Back
    • , Jin Hyuk Park
    •  & Dong June Ahn

  • 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

    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

    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

    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 |

    The interaction between light and molecules can lead to hybrid quantum-physical states of light and matter. Here, the authors demonstrate one such effect, spatial modulation of light, with the protein photosystem I as a first demonstration of this quantum effect with such a biological molecule.

    • Itai Carmeli
    • , Moshik Cohen
    •  & Shachar Richter

  • Article |

    The mechanical properties of metal nanostructures depend on nature of the adhesion layer attaching it to a substrate. Chang et al.find that the properties of phonons in gold nanodisks vary with adhesion layer thickness, and that this response can act as a probe of the metallic composition of the disk.

    • Wei-Shun Chang
    • , Fangfang Wen
    •  & Stephan Link

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The current methods of fabricating three-dimensional particles include photolithography, layer-by-layer printing and several others. Here, Paulsen et al. demonstrate an optofluidic approach, whereby masked ultraviolet light is illuminated on photosensitive fluids whose cross-sections are shaped by fluid inertia.

    • Kevin S. Paulsen
    • , Dino Di Carlo
    •  & Aram J. Chung

  • Article |

    The shape of red blood cells is highly sensitive to surrounding liquid environment. Here, Miccio et al. make red blood cells into optofluidic lenses with fully controllable focal length at the microscale, which can be used for imaging and optical magnification in addition to blood diseases detection.

    • L. Miccio
    • , P. Memmolo
    •  & P. Ferraro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mollusks have evolved an exquisite diversity of complex mineralized shells for protection. One such example, the blue-rayed limpet, incorporates a vivid display of blue lines, which originate from the interference of light in a nano-periodic photonic architecture buried within the animal's translucent shell.

    • Ling Li
    • , Stefan Kolle
    •  & Mathias Kolle

  • Article |

    Optical frequency combs in the mid-infrared are required for molecular gas detection applications but their realization in compact microresonator-based platforms is challenging. Here, Griffith et al. demonstrate on-chip broadband comb generation on a silicon microresonator spanning from 2.1 to 3.5 μm.

    • Austin G. Griffith
    • , Ryan K.W. Lau
    •  & Michal Lipson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phase-coherent frequency combs in the mid-infrared have important potential applications but their fabrication remains challenging. Here, Kuyken et al. demonstrate an octave-spanning frequency comb in the mid-infrared using a highly nonlinear dispersion-engineered silicon waveguide on a silicon-on-insulator chip.

    • Bart Kuyken
    • , Takuro Ideguchi
    •  & Nathalie Picqué

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stimulated Brillouin scattering is a non-linear interaction that allows light to be stored as coherent acoustic waves. Here, the authors report on Brillouin scattering-induced transparency in an optical microresonator whose high quality allows for long-lifetime non-reciprocal light storage.

    • Chun-Hua Dong
    • , Zhen Shen
    •  & Guang-Can Guo

  • Article |

    The nonlinear dynamic interaction between optical comb frequencies and microresonator modes are not yet fully understood. Here, the authors demonstrate a method to characterize microcomb states and observe discrete phase steps that have not been observed in conventional frequency combs.

    • Pascal Del’Haye
    • , Aurélien Coillet
    •  & Scott A. Diddams

  • 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 |

    The generation of strain in a material using light is of relevance for ultrasonic devices. Here, the authors observe a large, ultrafast photo-induced shear strain in BiFeO3at room temperature, suggesting promising uses of such oxides for high-frequency acoustic devices.

    • Mariusz Lejman
    • , Gwenaelle Vaudel
    •  & Pascal Ruello

  • Article |

    The nanometre length scale of plasmonic structures leads to vibrational dynamics at high frequencies, which could be exploited for sensitive optical detectors. O'Brien et al. show that they can detect spatial properties of phonon modes in multimodal plasmonic structures, revealing complex nanomechanical dynamics.

    • Kevin O’Brien
    • , N. D. Lanzillotti-Kimura
    •  & Xiang Zhang

  • Article |

    Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays are common biological analyses, but they can be hindered by non-specific binding and background interference. Here, the authors present an optofluidic laser-based ELISA technique with low detection limits and in the presence of significant non-specific binding.

    • Xiang Wu
    • , Maung Kyaw Khaing Oo
    •  & Xudong Fan

  • Article |

    Sorting of material chirality is demanded in many industries, and conventional strategies are limited to the usage of chiral shape of the entity to be sorted. Tkachenko and Brasselet present a passive optical sorting method to achieve the same goal, which relies on the chirality–light interaction.

    • Georgiy Tkachenko
    •  & Etienne Brasselet

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Aharonov–Bohm effect describes the influence of an electromagnetic vector potential on the phase of a charged particle. Here, Li et al.demonstrate that photon–phonon interactions can lead to the Aharonov–Bohm effect also for the electrically neutral photons.

    • Enbang Li
    • , Benjamin J. Eggleton
    •  & Shanhui Fan

  • Article |

    Plasmonic systems are a useful platform for many nanoscale applications, and plasmonic tweezers offer a method for trapping and manipulating biological particles. Roxworthy et al. study fluid convection in a nanoantenna optical trapping system and characterise the heat flow due to optical absorption.

    • Brian J. Roxworthy
    • , Abdul M. Bhuiya
    •  & Kimani C. Toussaint Jr

  • Article |

    Plasmonics offers sub-diffraction limit optical devices, but multiple functionalities are difficult to build in the solid state. By combining it with fluidics, Zhao et al. present a tunable and reconfigurable plasmonic lens using laser-controllable bubble formation in a microfluidic environment.

    • Chenglong Zhao
    • , Yongmin Liu
    •  & Tony Jun Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phonon lasers are the acoustic equivalent to optical lasers. Here Maryam and colleagues study the dynamics of semiconductor phonon lasers operating in the terahertz frequency regime, and show that these dynamics are similar to that of comparable optical lasers.

    • W. Maryam
    • , A. V. Akimov
    •  & A. J. Kent

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Algae beds are a promising resource for bio-energy and gas production, but their productivity is often limited by solar energy harvesting efficiency. Wondraczek et al. promote algal growth by using photoluminescent phosphor, which shifts the light spectrum to better match the algal adsorption band.

    • Lothar Wondraczek
    • , Miroslaw Batentschuk
    •  & Christoph J. Brabec

  • Article |

    Light–sound interactions in microcavities are used for optomechanical excitation and cooling, but have previously only been shown in solid-state devices. Here, Bahl et al. generate acoustic oscillations in microfluidic resonators to enable novel optomechanical interactions with liquid-phase materials.

    • Gaurav Bahl
    • , Kyu Hyun Kim
    •  & Tal Carmon

  • Article |

    A dual-contrast agent has been developed for combined ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging. This agent uses vaporization for ultrasound contrast enhancement and photoacoustic signal generation, providing significantly higher signals than thermal expansion, the most commonly used photoacoustic mechanism.

    • Katheryne Wilson
    • , Kimberly Homan
    •  & Stanislav Emelianov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inertial sensors using atom interferometry have applications in geophysics, navigation- and space-based tests of fundamental physics. Here, the first operation of an atom accelerometer during parabolic flights is reported, demonstrating high-resolution measurements at both 1g and 0g.

    • R. Geiger
    • , V. Ménoret
    •  & P. Bouyer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum computing has advantages over conventional computing, but the complexity of quantum algorithms creates technological challenges. Here, an architecture-independent technique, that simplifies adding control qubits to arbitrary quantum operations, is developed and demonstrated.

    • Xiao-Qi Zhou
    • , Timothy C. Ralph
    •  & Jeremy L. O'Brien

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