Optical materials and structures articles from across Nature Portfolio

Photonic crystals enclosed by a circular boundary enable single-mode vortex lasing through momentum-space hybridization of guided resonances — a collective phenomenon distinct from individual resonator physics.

Narrow exciton-polariton resonances in multiple quantum wells enable picosecond ultrasonics to detect coherent acoustic wave packets near the single-phonon quantum limit.

Combining spatial and temporal modulation in aluminium zinc oxide metamaterials allows the fission of beams with distinct angles and frequencies, paving the way for advanced optical devices and applications like ultrafast beam steering and integrated neural networks.

The wave equation was first discovered by the French scientist d’Alembert. It has since been intriguing, but so far unsuccessful to answer if ‘one-way’ versions of it might exist. Here, the authors report the discovery of such an equation in three dimensions, showing that it has a topological character.

Topological Dirac-vortex modes have attracted broad interest but are thus far limited to two-dimensional photonic systems. Here, authors report the first experimental observation of topological Dirac-vortex modes in a 3D photonic topological insulator.

White-light emission from materials and devices usually occurs omni-directional through space. Here, the authors show that sintering carbon dots with TiO₂ forms a microlens-shape surface that enables directional emission with 1/60 solid angle.

Traditional polarization detection has relied on bulky optics and is inherently slow. Here, the authors present GOStokes, a single-shot method enabled by heterogeneous grain orientation in chiral, polycrystalline thin films.

Chiral state transfer typically requires nonadiabatic transitions and ultra-complex experimental control. Here, authors demonstrate a new mechanism arising from basins of attraction, enabling nonlinear chiral-like state transfer with a minimal set of parameters.

Photonic crystals enclosed by a circular boundary enable single-mode vortex lasing through momentum-space hybridization of guided resonances — a collective phenomenon distinct from individual resonator physics.

Narrow exciton-polariton resonances in multiple quantum wells enable picosecond ultrasonics to detect coherent acoustic wave packets near the single-phonon quantum limit.

Combining spatial and temporal modulation in aluminium zinc oxide metamaterials allows the fission of beams with distinct angles and frequencies, paving the way for advanced optical devices and applications like ultrafast beam steering and integrated neural networks.

A broadband achromatic metalens with high NA is demonstrated by a concept of stepwise phase dispersion compensation.

Local measurements of biological voltage production are key drivers of understanding in neurobiology and neurological and cardiac pathophysiology. Researchers have now shown that exciton–trion conversion in a two-dimensional semiconductor, MoS₂, can be used to optically image cardiomyocyte action-potentials in real-time.