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Materials optics

Unlocking an optical bistability switch

An intrinsic optical bistability, independent of thermal effects, is identified in Nd3+-doped photon avalanching nanoparticles at low temperatures, enabling high-contrast, transistor-like optical responses.

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Fig. 1: Intrinsic optical bistability in Nd3+-doped nanoparticles with low phonon energy.

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Correspondence to Xiaogang Liu.

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Chen, J., Liu, X. Unlocking an optical bistability switch. Nat. Photon. 19, 122–123 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-024-01610-z

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