Optics and photonics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The researchers fuse metamaterials and origami technical to achieve ultra-wideband and large-depth reflection modulation. Flexible electronics amplify its lightweight, transparency, and cost-effectiveness, making it ideal for satellite communications.

    • Zicheng Song
    • , Juan-Feng Zhu
    •  & Cheng-Wei Qiu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The researchers showcase a photonic-electronic FMCW LiDAR source composed of a micro-electronic based high-voltage arbitrary waveform generator, a photonic circuit-based tunable Vernier laser with piezoelectric actuators, and an erbium-doped waveguide amplifier.

    • Anton Lukashchuk
    • , Halil Kerim Yildirim
    •  & Tobias J. Kippenberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The researchers showcase a flexible meta-sensor array based on classical Mie resonance, enabling precise detection of in-plane strain direction and magnitude using dynamically transmitted terahertz (THz) signals. The sensor array holds immense promise for the real-life applications as it possesses high sensor density and has a very large size up to (110 ×130 mm2).

    • Xueguang Lu
    • , Feilong Zhang
    •  & Qiang Cheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors perform Faraday rotation spectroscopy around the excitonic transitions in hBN-encapsulated WSe2 and MoSe2 monolayers, and interlayer excitons in MoS2 bilayers. They measure a large Verdet constant - 1.9 × 107 deg T−¹cm−¹ for monolayers, and attribute it to the giant oscillator strength and high g-factor of the excitons.

    • Benjamin Carey
    • , Nils Kolja Wessling
    •  & Ashish Arora

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors induce asymmetric transmission in planar Fabry–Pérot microcavities by embedding organic thin films exhibiting apparent circular dichroism (ACD), an optical phenomenon based on 2D chirality.

    • Tzu-Ling Chen
    • , Andrew Salij
    •  & Randall H. Goldsmith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Authors present a centimeter-scale miniaturized Raman spectrometer using cheap nonstabilized laser diodes, densely packed optics, and non-cooled small sensors while the performance is comparable with expensive bulky research-grade Raman systems.

    • Oleksii Ilchenko
    • , Yurii Pilhun
    •  & Anja Boisen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Shi et al. report the synthesis of multicolour thermally activated delayed fluorescent carbon dots with 3D onion-like configuration to stabilise the triplet state and reduce the singlet-triplet energy gap. LEDs with EQE of 6.0–9.9% are achieved, a step further for efficient and stable displays.

    • Yuxin Shi
    • , Yang Zhang
    •  & Louzhen Fan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It has been challenging to realize efficient and stable blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes. Here, authors explore the effect of substitution position in platinum(II) dopants with suppressed metal-metal-to-ligand charge transfer features, resulting in prolonged lifetime in the devices.

    • Young Hun Jung
    • , Gyeong Seok Lee
    •  & Jang Hyuk Kwon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Authors present an adaptive underwater optical communication (UWOC) technology based on multi-wavelength lasers and a full-color metasurface for converting visible-band Gaussian to circular autofocusing Airy beams. The potential of Airy beams to mitigate optical power degradation is demonstrated, enabling stable data rate transmission via 4 K video transmission for these systems.

    • Junhui Hu
    • , Zeyuan Guo
    •  & Chao Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Band engineering in optics allows the design of unconventional forms of light with potential optoelectronic applications. Here, the authors realize slow-light intercavity polaritons in an array of coupled cavities, the photonic architecture enables the spatial segregation of photons and excitons

    • Yesenia A. García Jomaso
    • , Brenda Vargas
    •  & Giuseppe Pirruccio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    2D metallic single crystals are sought after for nanophotonic applications, but their synthesis remains challenging. Here, the authors report an atomic level precision etching method to fabricate large-area crystalline gold flakes with nanometre thickness, showing enhanced plasmonic and nonlinear optical properties.

    • Chenxinyu Pan
    • , Yuanbiao Tong
    •  & Pan Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The realization of a BT.2020 blue emitter is challenging due to the spectral redshift associated with π-extension. Here, the authors report a multi-resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitter, exhibiting ultrapure deep-blue narrow emission and CIEy ≤ 0.05 exceeding 20% efficiency.

    • Junki Ochi
    • , Yuki Yamasaki
    •  & Takuji Hatakeyama

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The advent of isolated attosecond XUV pulse sources marks a new era in attosecond science, pivotal for the investigation of core electron dynamics. Here the authors discover that the coherent Raman coupling between the cation states leads to extra timedelay between different transition channels by applying the attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy on the investigation of complex dynamics of strong field ionization of Krypton.

    • Li Wang
    • , Guangru Bai
    •  & Zengxiu Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    3D-printed glass holds great potential. However, it is challenging to control both the dimension and the resolution of the printed material. Here, authors present a one-photon 3D printing approach to produce high-performance fused silica glass with sub-micron resolution and millimetric dimensions.

    • Ziyong Li
    • , Yanwen Jia
    •  & Xiewen Wen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Usual multiqubit entangled states can be described using the graph formalism, where each edge connects only two qubits. Here, instead, the authors use a reprogrammable silicon photonics chip to showcase preparation, verification and processing of arbitrary four-qubit hypergraph states, where hyperedges describe entanglement within a subset of many qubits.

    • Jieshan Huang
    • , Xudong Li
    •  & Jianwei Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anisotropic light-matter excitations in van der Waals materials are expected to have an impact on nanophotonics applications. Here, the authors report the observation of canalized in-plane mid-infrared plasmons in the semimetallic phase of WS2 and demonstrate their electrical tunability via ion intercalation.

    • Qiaoxia Xing
    • , Jiasheng Zhang
    •  & Hugen Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The researchers showcased a negative Goos-Hänchen effect in film samples across the entire visible spectrum and discovered an amber rainbow ribbon and an optical black hole where little light leaks out due to perfect back reflection.

    • Jing Zhao
    • , Xianfeng Wu
    •  & Xiaopeng Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Li et al. report large circular dichroism in 2D chiral perovskite single crystals, arises from the inorganic sublattice, instead of chiral ligands, driven by electron-hole exchange interactions. This is evidenced by both reflective circular dichroism spectroscopy and ab initio theory.

    • Shunran Li
    • , Xian Xu
    •  & Peijun Guo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single molecule investigations are often performed in fluidic environments, but molecular diffusion and limited photon counts can compromise studies of processes with fast or slow dynamics. The authors introduce a planar optofluidic antenna which enhances the fluorescence signal from molecules, applicable to a diverse range of studies.

    • Luis Morales-Inostroza
    • , Julian Folz
    •  & Vahid Sandoghdar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Enhancing the data encoding into the orbital angular momentum of light beams could enable faster and more efficient optical communications. This work demonstrates complex control of the second harmonic wavefront with dynamics solely limited by the pulse duration.

    • Artem Sinelnik
    • , Shiu Hei Lam
    •  & Isabelle Staude

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fermi arcs show unpredictable diffraction features resulting from their long-range scattering order in aperiodic systems. Here, authors continuously twist a bi-block Weyl meta-crystal and experimentally observe the twisted Fermi arc reconstruction.

    • Hanyu Wang
    • , Wei Xu
    •  & Biao Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polarization serves as an excellent information encoding carrier. Here, authors expand the metasurface encoding dimensionality of polarization information by engineering the Poincaré Sphere trajectory with generalized Malus’ law, unveiling new opportunities for advanced polarization optics.

    • Zi-Lan Deng
    • , Meng-Xia Hu
    •  & Andrea Alù

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Accessing multi-angle views of organoids is important for biology and oncology. The authors propose ultrasound-induced reorientation for multi-angle optical coherence tomography, using a 3D-printed acoustic trap to levitate and rotate samples with a model-based algorithm for reconstruction.

    • Mia Kvåle Løvmo
    • , Shiyu Deng
    •  & Monika Ritsch-Marte

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The performance of Y6-containing donor-acceptor active layers in organic solar cells is highly related to the charge-transfer nature in Y6 aggregates. Here, authors study charge-transfer characteristics of excitations of isolated and aggregated Y6 molecules through electroabsorption spectroscopy.

    • Sudhi Mahadevan
    • , Taili Liu
    •  & Sai-Wing Tsang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    T centers in silicon are promising candidates for quantum applications yet suffer from weak optical transitions. Here, by integrating with a silicon nanocavity, the authors demonstrate an enhancement of the photon emission rate for a single T center.

    • Adam Johnston
    • , Ulises Felix-Rendon
    •  & Songtao Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biocompatible afterglow materials have potential in imaging applications, but are challenging to prepare. Here the authors report the development of carbon nanodots with near-infrared afterglow, and demonstrate their use in imaging for tumour resection.

    • Guang-Song Zheng
    • , Cheng-Long Shen
    •  & Chong-Xin Shan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors experimentally demonstrate the anomalous and Chern topological phases in a hyperbolic non-reciprocal scattering network, establishing unidirectional channels to induce new and exciting wave transport properties in curved spaces.

    • Qiaolu Chen
    • , Zhe Zhang
    •  & Romain Fleury

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Compact sources in the frequency range of 6-12 THz are difficult to obtain due to optical phonon absorption in conventional III-V semiconductors. Here, the authors demonstrate third harmonic generation at 9.63 THz by optically pumping monolayer graphene coupled to a circular split ring resonator by using a semiconductor laser.

    • Alessandra Di Gaspare
    • , Chao Song
    •  & Miriam S. Vitiello

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Miniaturized and efficient optical modulators are desired for data transmission, processing and communication. Here, the authors report the fabrication of exciton-polariton Mach–Zehnder modulators based on thin WS2 waveguides with a footprint of ~30 μm², modulation ratio up to −6.20 dB and nanosecond response times.

    • Seong Won Lee
    • , Jong Seok Lee
    •  & Su-Hyun Gong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving uniform spin excitation, crucial for MRI, is challenging in the electrically large human body at UHF. Here, authors introduce an innovative dielectric waveguide specifically designed for traveling-wave MRI, which enhances homogeneity and efficiency through effective wave manipulation.

    • Yang Gao
    • , Tong Liu
    •  & Xiaotong Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polaritons, light-matter hybridized quasiparticles, are the fundamental excitation of strong coupling systems and are widely applicable in information technologies. Here the authors applied the concept of time-of-flight measurement in terahertz induced second harmonic generation experiments in various systems to comprehensively study the dispersion relation of phonon-polaritons and reveal potential spin-lattice couplings.

    • Tianchuang Luo
    • , Batyr Ilyas
    •  & Nuh Gedik

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interfacing single-photon emitters (SPEs) with high-finesse cavities can prevent decoherence processes, especially at elevated temperature, but its implementation remains challenging. Here, the authors report room-temperature strong coupling of SPEs in hexagonal boron nitride with a dielectric cavity based on bound states in the continuum, showing a Rabi splitting of ~ 4 meV.

    • T. Thu Ha Do
    • , Milad Nonahal
    •  & Son Tung Ha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metasurfaces processing incoming images have been proposed in the context of real space operations. Here, the authors demonstrate mathematical operations, such as differentiation, on the angular spectrum of an image using metasurfaces, which can be used to enhance spectral features of an image.

    • Ming Deng
    • , Michele Cotrufo
    •  & Lin Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Malakar et al. investigate the photochemical dynamics in the isomerization of bacteriorhodopsin light and dark-adapted forms and in the first photocycle intermediate, K. The results prompt a reevaluation of the counter ion model, revealing that a different protonation then that shown in the classic quadrupole so far considered must be employed to account for the experimental data.

    • Partha Malakar
    • , Samira Gholami
    •  & Sanford Ruhman

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