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This work demonstrates compact thin-film lithium niobate detectors for broadband, sensitive terahertz detection up to 3 THz, introducing a differential scheme that accesses either temporal differences or derivatives of the THz field.

Efficient electro-optic conversion is central to photonic computing, and thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) offers this capability. Here, the authors demonstrate computing circuits on the TFLN platform, enabling the next generation of photonic computing systems featuring both high-speed and low-power.

Using the well-established foundry-based lithium niobate nanophotonics platform, a general electro-optic digital-to-analogue link with ultrahigh bandwidth (>150 Gb s⁻¹) and ultralow power consumption (0.058 pJ b⁻¹) is demonstrated, providing a direct, energy-efficient, high-speed and scalable solution for interfacing digital electronics and photonics.

Here the authors use on-chip amplitude and phase modulation to synchronously pump a resonator on thin-film lithium niobate for frequency comb generation. They find that pulsed pumping significantly mitigates stimulated Raman scattering and improves the overall efficiency of the device.

Here, the authors use a tapered optical fibre to create a dynamic, reversible strain in a suspended WSe₂ monolayer, and observe that dark excitons are funnelled to high-strain regions and are the principal participants in drift and diffusion at cryogenic temperatures.

Terahertz transmission lines are integrated with photonic integrated circuits, achieving phase matching over extended bandwidths up to 3.5 THz, and laying the foundation for broadband integrated terahertz photonics. The authors demonstrate emitters, detectors, and cavities in the terahertz regime on a scalable thin-film lithium niobate platform.

Quantum emitters have been recently isolated in 2D materials, yet their spatial controllability remains an open challenge. Here, the authors devise a method to create arrays of quantum emitters in WSe₂ and WS₂, by taking advantage of the strain distribution induced by a nanopatterned silica substrate.

A parity–time symmetric system based on two coupled acoustic resonators in a lithium niobate platform can achieve non-reciprocal propagation of acoustic waves.

Silicon-vacancy centres in diamond are promising candidates as emitters in photonic quantum networks, but their coherence is degraded by large electron-phonon interactions. Sohn et al. demonstrate the use of strain to tune a silicon vacancy’s electronic structure and suppress phonon-mediated decoherence.

Kerr microcombs promise the miniaturization of frequency comb sources, but many applications require additional second-order nonlinearities. Here, Wang et al. demonstrate that comb generation and second-order functionalities can be monolithically integrated on a single lithium niobate chip.

Most metamaterial experiments occur in bulk transmission geometries. Here researchers demonstrate integrated in-plane zero-index metamaterials.

Superconducting qubits operate at microwave frequencies, but it is much more efficient to transmit information optically. Now, a superconducting qubit has been controlled with an optical signal by using a microwave–optical quantum transducer.

The phonon density of states in diamond is engineered using phononic crystals to suppress single-phonon processes that induce decoherence in individual quantum emitters.

This work demonstrates the necessary building blocks to realize large-scale multiplexed quantum networking nodes in a visible thin-film lithium niobate integrated photonics platform.

A group at Caltech have used an optical microcavity to perform label-free detection of single molecules for the first time. The work represents a milestone in the application of optical cavities in sensing, and could lead to the realization of ultrasensitive lab-on-a-chip systems.

Diamond nanowires can produce single photons ten times more efficiently than bulk diamond, while consuming ten times less power.

We demonstrate a hybrid approach to generating chip-scale microcombs leveraging Kerr and electro-optic nonlinearities of thin-film lithium niobate, reaching 2589 comb lines spaced by 29.308 GHz and spanning 75.9 THz.

Improving the performance and scalability of quantum nodes is of paramount importance to expedite the development of quantum technologies. Here the authors demonstrate fiber-coupled 1D PhC cavities with high photon extraction efficiency, and optical coupling between a single SiV center and such a cavity.

Mirrors that demonstrate 98% reflectivity and withstand 10 kilowatts of focused continuous-wave laser light are created by nanoscale fabrication of single-crystal diamond. The work finds applications in medicine, defence, industry, and communications.

An integrated electro-optic isolator on thin-film lithium niobate enables non-reciprocal isolation by microwave-driven travelling-wave phase modulation. The isolator exhibits a maximum optical isolation of 48.0 dB at around 1,553 nm and an on-chip insertion loss of 0.5 dB.

Electro-optic modulators can be useful for imaging, sensing and information processing applications. Here the authors demonstrate an ultra-low drive voltage visible to near infrared range electro-optic modulator in the form of amplitude and phase modulation using thin-film lithium niobate.

We show frequency domain mirrors that provide reflections of optical mode propagation in the frequency domain. We theoretically investigated the mirror properties and experimentally demonstrate it using polarization and coupled-resonator-based coupling on thin film Lithium Niobate.

A femtosecond pulse generator is realized using an electro-optic time-lens system integrated on a lithium niobate photonic chip, capable of tunable repetition rates and wavelengths.

Single-crystal diamond is a promising material for applications in classical and quantum optics, but the lack of scalable fabrication remains an issue. Here, Burek et al. adapt angle-etching nanofabrication techniques to realize ring resonators and photonic crystal cavities in single crystal diamond with quality factors in excess of 10⁵.

Nanoscale optomechanical systems offer a route to using optical forces for a range of devices based on photonic structures. Deotareet al. present a reconfigurable optical filter based on coupled silicon photonic crystal nanobeam cavities that can overcome thermo-optic effects at high frequencies.

Coupled lithium niobate ring resonators enable control of a ‘photonic molecule’ by programmed microwave signals. An on-demand optical storage and retrieval system is demonstrated.

Electro-optic modulator is used to encode electrical signals onto light. Here the authors demonstrate an electro-optic modulator, based on Silicon Carbide, which can be useful for quantum and optical communications.

The electro-acoustic effect can be used to electrically control the phase velocity of travelling acoustic waves in a lithium niobate waveguide, and to construct devices that can modulate the phase, frequency and amplitude of acoustic waves, even at the limit of single phonons.

The strong electro-optic interaction, low optical loss and high microwave bandwidth of thin-film lithium niobate have enabled applications from computing to quantum information. This Review explores the fundamental principles, recent advances and the future potential of integrated lithium niobate technologies.

Directly embedding single nitrogen–vacancy centres into ordered arrays of plasmonic nanostructures can enhance their radiative emission rate and thus give greater scalability over previous bottom-up approaches for the realization of on-chip quantum networks.

An unidentified defect in diamond is used to demonstrate optical spin polarization and readout with high contrast.

Qubits in solid state systems like point defects in diamond can be influenced by local strain. Here the authors use surface acoustic waves to coherently control silicon vacancies in diamond, which have the potential to reach the strong coupling regime necessary for many applications.

Phase matching is a crucial condition for nonlinear optical processes. Here, Wang et al. demonstrate that a gradient metasurface composed of phased array antennas allows phase-matching-free frequency conversion over a pump wavelength range of almost 100 nm.

Engineering of the coupling between optical modes in a lithium niobate chip enables the realization of tunable, bi-directional and low-loss electro-optic frequency shifters controlled using only continuous and single-tone microwaves.

We demonstrate entirely connected and octave-spanning Kerr soliton frequency combs on thin-film lithium niobate, enabled by dispersion- and dissipation-engineered microresonators with consistently suppressed stimulated Raman scattering.

Miniaturized platforms are desirable for terahertz applications. Here the authors demonstrate chip-scale THz generation with controllable waveforms using thin-film lithium niobate.

The authors demonstrate a scalable and wavelength-accurate fabrication process for optical frequency mixers based on periodically poled thin-film lithium niobate. High yield on devices operating at a specified wavelength is achieved by designing poling parameters using information from extensive in-line metrology and process calibration during fabrication

Optical waveguides patterned with gradient metasurfaces have compact footprints and broad wavelengths of operation thanks to tight control of the scattered light.

A double-ring-resonator device on thin-film lithium niobate enables the generation of electro-optic frequency combs with a 30% power efficiency and an optical span of 132 nm.

Using a thin-film lithium niobate photonic platform, an electro-optic frequency comb generator is realized that is capable of producing wide and stable spectra, spanning more frequencies than the entire telecommunications L-band.

Chip-scale lithium niobate electro-optic modulators that rapidly convert electrical to optical signals and use CMOS-compatible voltages could prove useful in optical communication networks, microwave photonic systems and photonic computation.

An integrated thin-film lithium niobate phase modulator enables on-chip frequency and bandwidth control of single photons

Thin-film lithium niobate is a promising photonic platform owing to its strong optical nonlinearity and low losses. Here, the utility of this platform is demonstrated as a tunable dual frequency comb spectrometer based on second-order nonlinearities in a proof-of-principle experiment.