Volume 19 Issue 1, January 2025

Computational back-projection and averaging of as little as 25 scattered fields from an object enables imaging through turbid media without using a guide star or knowledge of the reflection matrix.

A programmable integrated photonic circuit that works with single photons has enabled the construction of quantum-to-quantum Bernoulli factories, devices that process randomness in quantum states.

Metasurfaces offer new possibilities for nonlinear optics, but efficiency is an issue. Researchers have now used DNA-mediated assembly to produce 3D nonlinear optical colloidal crystals whose effective nonlinear susceptibility rivals that of traditional dielectric nonlinear optical crystals.

Non-reciprocal magneto-optics memory enables an integrated photonic platform that supports powerful matrix-vector multiplication computing and fast, efficient, fatigue-free programming capabilities.

A quantum-to-quantum Bernoulli factory is demonstrated by using a reconfigurable Clements’s squared unitary circuit in an integrated quantum photonic platform. Three interferometer designs are proposed for the basic operations of a field on qubit states.

Researchers use a DNA-mediated approach for the programmable assembly of octahedron-shaped plasmonic gold nanocrystals into nonlinear optical metacrystals. A maximum second-harmonic generation conversion efficiency of 10⁻⁹ is demonstrated.

The introduction of 3TPYMB, an n-type molecule into inverted perovskite solar cells, enables a power conversion efficiency of 25.6%, with devices maintaining up to 98% of the initial efficiency after 1,800 h of operation.

Generalizing the ‘Kerr-induced synchronization’ concept by means of tailoring the synchronization at arbitrary modes allows to lock and control the repetition rate of a dissipative Kerr soliton frequency comb generated in a silicon nitride microring resonator.

Guide-star-free imaging through turbid media is achieved by computational back-projection and averaging of as few as 25 holographically measured scattered fields under a random unknown illumination.

Researchers demonstrate optical weights for in-memory photonic computing using magneto-optic memory cells comprising Ce:YIG on silicon micro-ring resonators. Non-reciprocal phase shift provides a fast, efficient and robust integrated optical processing platform.

Co-deposition of copper thiocyanate with perovskite on textured silicon enables an efficient perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell with a certified power conversion efficiency of 31.46% for 1 cm² area devices.

Researchers use organic ligands to reclaim energy lost during the relaxation of secondary X-rays generated by the interaction of high-energy particles with scintillators. Enhanced radioluminescence within lanthanide metal complexes and capture of dark triplet excitons with near-unity extraction efficiency are achieved.

Fluorescent DNA framework dots, consisting of a hydrophobic nanocavity containing a near-infrared-emitting dye, enable precise tumour imaging with sensitivity down to a few tens of cells in mouse models.

Using spin-5/2 nuclei of ¹⁷³Yb atoms trapped in an optical lattice, a Schrödinger-cat state persists for a coherence time of 1.4 × 10³ s. In measuring external magnetic fields, the cat state exhibits a sensitivity approaching the Heisenberg limit.

A scalable quantum processor based on the discrete-time quantum walk of time-bin-entangled photon pairs on synthetic temporal photonic lattices is realized on a fibre-coupled loop system. Key fundamental quantum operations are demonstrated.

Deep-ultraviolet micro-light-emitting diodes based on aluminium gallium nitride are fabricated for maskless photolithography. The peak wavelength is 270 nm, and the 3 μm device achieved a peak external quantum efficiency of 5.7% and a maximum brightness of 396 W cm^–2.

The authors introduce a loss-enhanced magneto-optical effect and sublinearly amplify the frequency response of a non-Hermitian optical cavity under different background magnetic fields. This effect is exploited to detect subtle magnetic field variations against a strong background with enhanced system response and sensitivity.