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Using a framework based on optoelectronic polarization eigenvectors and optoelectronic conversion matrixes, an on-chip full-Stokes polarimeter can be created that offers a root mean square error of less than 1% for each Stokes parameter over the entire range of polarization states at arbitrary light intensities.

Van der Waals NbOCl2 crystal is a candidate platform for subwavelength thin film photon-pair sources. Here, the authors demonstrate generation of polarization entangled states from a two-layer stack of orthogonally oriented van der Waals crystal.

The authors present a comprehensive framework for on-demand dispersion control with a single-layer metasurface, particularly in an ultra-broad bandwidth. An achromatic metalens spanning the visible and near-infrared spectra is experimentally demonstrated.

Using doped InAs multilayers under moderate external magnetic fields with gradient epsilon-near-zero frequencies, broadband non-reciprocal absorption that can be tailored within the mid-infrared spectral region has been demonstrated.

Topological transport in thermal diffusion is governed by physical principles that are distinct from those encountered in solid-state or photonic topological systems. Here, the authors demonstrate an experimental strategy for engineering topological thermal phases with bulk, edge and corner modes.

The authors present a metasurface-assisted isotropic DIC microscopy technique. It is based on an original pattern of radial shear interferometry, that converts rectilinear shear into rotationally symmetric radial shear, enabling single-shot isotropic imaging capabilities.

Optical elements fabricated with a 3D printing technique generate beams carrying orbital angular momentum under incoherent white light illumination.

Scanning near-field optical microscopy measurements show that polaritonic nanophotonics is attainable in natural low-symmetry materials, leading to a general way to manipulate light at the nanoscale.

A photodetector responding to only circularly polarized light is developed. It has a ring-shaped form, consisting of plasmonic nanostructures on a graphene sheet. Its zero-bias responsivity and detectivity of ellipticity in the mid-infrared at room temperature are 392 V W⁻¹ and 0.03° Hz^−1/2, respectively.

A van der Waals crystal, niobium oxide dichloride, with vanishing interlayer electronic coupling and considerable monolayer-like excitonic behaviour in the bulk, as well as strong and scalable second-order optical nonlinearity, is discovered, which enables a high-performance quantum light source.

Sufficient optical gain provided by Yb³⁺ doping allows phonon lasing from a levitated optomechanical system at the microscale, which exhibits strong mechanical amplitudes and nonlinear mechanical harmonics above the lasing threshold.

Platforms that exhibit moiré patterns have the potential to tailor band structures and control electromagnetic and mechanical waves. This Perspective discusses the current state of the art, challenges and outlook within the realm of classical wave physics.

By combining spatial and frequency dispersive thin-film interfaces with deep residual learning, a miniature photodetector allowing the acquisition of high-dimensional information on light in a single-shot fashion is described.

Mid-infrared polarization detectors based on nanoantenna-mediated few-layer graphene are demonstrated. By tuning the orientation of nanoantennas, the polarization ratios vary from positive to negative, and cover values from 1 to ∞/−∞ then to −1.

Topological effects have been found in a range of classical-wave systems, but it was unclear if the concept could be extended to diffusion. An approach using spatiotemporal modulations has now implemented them in a diffusive system

Thermal metamaterials can be used to manipulate heat flow but experimental fabrication is challenging. Here, the authors report robustly printable freeform thermal metamaterials to tackle this challenge by topology optimization and 3D printing.

Here, the authors propose a Fourier-based metaprocessor to impart customized highly flexible transfer functions for analog computing. Differentiation and cross-correlation are performed to substantiate the ultracompact and high-throughput kernel processor.

Hyperbolic phonon polaritons that exhibit long-distance, ray-like propagation and oblique wavefronts are described at the surface of an anisotropic bulk crystal.

Authors control heat transfer through twisting moiré conductive thermal metasurface, showcasing the potential for manipulating thermal conductivity and temperature gradients with imitated magic angles, thereby realizing multifunctional thermal metadevices.

The integration of 2D materials with metasurfaces can enhance their quantum efficiency, but the approach is usually limited to a narrow spectral band. Here, the authors report the realization of gate-tunable graphene photodetectors combined with all-dielectric periodic slits, leading to enhanced photoresponse in the short-to-long-wave infrared.

The possibility to manipulate the propagation of polaritons is limited by the isotropy of 2D materials like graphene and hexagonal boron nitride. Here, the authors exploit the anisotropy of α-MoO₃ and study edge tailored hyperbolic polariton manipulation in α-MoO₃ nanocavities via real space nanoimaging.

Thermal metamaterials are able to produce unconventional physical properties. Here, the authors demonstrate a thermal metamaterial with conductivity that can be continuously tuned over a very large range.

The optimized and disordered structures of planar diffractive lenses enable sub-diffraction limit focusing but destroy wide-field imaging. Here, the authors introduce the information entropy to evaluate the disorder of PDL and achieve good balance between super-focusing and imaging.

Photonic crystals (PhCs) are artificial periodic materials that can be used to manipulate the flow of light. Here, the authors report the realization of asymmetric PhCs based on in-plane hyperbolic phonon polaritons in perforated α-MoO₃, showing low-symmetry deep-subwavelength Bloch modes that are robust against lattice rearrangement in specific directions.

Two-dimensional materials have excellent electrical properties, but poor luminescence limits their application in optoelectronics. Here, the authors demonstrate a plasmon-induced 20,000-fold enhancement in photoluminescence from tungsten diselenide suspended across a nanometre-scale gap.

Plasmonic nanostructures enable control over the spatial and spectral dependence of scattered light. Here, the authors use pixels formed of nanoellipse or nanosquare dimers to show polarization-dependent full-colour scattering in reflection, and build 3D stereoscopic colour microprints from them.

Light-matter interaction in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides is dominated by excitonic effects and hot-carrier relaxation/extraction mechanisms. Here, the authors report that the C exciton in two-dimensional MoS₂exhibits a slower hot-carrier cooling than band-edge excitons.

The realization of Jones matrix with full eight free parameters is particularly challenging. Here, the authors construct spatially varying Jones matrix with eight free parameters by cascading two-layer metasurfaces and use it for new optical functionalities.

Pyroelectricity promises viable heat harvesting and sensing. Here, the authors identify transverse polarization ripple in pyroelectrics via heat localization and propagation decoupling and offer competitive power output to solar thermoelectrics.

Ultrathin 10.2-nm-thick (~λ/30,000) Ti₃C₂T_x MXene assemblies that offer an absorption of 49.2%, which is close to the theoretical limit of 50%, in the range of 0.5–10 THz are reported, benefiting terahertz optoelectronic and photothermoelectric devices.

It has been challenging to rotate nanoparticles orbitally via optical trapping beyond the diffraction limit. Here, the authors take advantage of the nonlinear optical effect and demonstrate fast and controlled orbital rotation at subwavelength scale with a femtosecond pulsed Gaussian beam.

The use of time modulation to break reciprocity is well understood for light, sound or charge diffusion, but it’s unclear whether it can work for thermal diffusion. Here, the authors answer in the negative by analysing diffusive processes under time modulation, and giving numerical and experimental evidence.

A silver layer can be made to float either above or below an oxide layer in a thin-film architecture by applying a voltage bias.

A thermal analogue of coherent perfect absorption would allow to control heat transfer using heat, but the lack of momentum propagation in a thermal field seems to prevent any role for coherence. Here, the authors allow this by introducing an imitated momentum for steady-state heat diffusion.

We report compact spin-valley-locked perovskite emitting metasurfaces where spin-dependent geometric phases are imparted into bound states in the continuum via Brillouin zone folding, simultaneously enabling chiral purity, directionality and large emission angles.

Here, graphene-based plasmonic metamaterials are used to generate an artificial bulk photovoltaic effect, enabling the realization of mid-infrared photodetectors with enhanced responsivity and calibration-free polarization detection at room temperature.

The photonic dispersion of phonon polaritons in bilayers of α-phase molybdenum trioxide can undergo tunable topological transitions at magic interlayer twist angles.

By entangling the phase and spin of light, a synthetic metasurface is shown to be able to coherently manipulate the valley-exciton-locked chiral emission in monolayer tungsten disulfide at room temperature. The findings will be of benefit to advanced room-temperature and free-space nonlinear, quantum and valleytronic nanodevices.

Lead halide perovskites attract high interest as semiconductor materials but their exceptional nonlinear properties have not been fully exploited. Here Fan et al. demonstrate third-order harmonic generation and 60-fold enhanced three-photon luminescence, enabling optical encoding applications.

Conventional imagers require time-consuming data acquisition, or complicated reconstruction algorithms for data post-processing. Here, the authors demonstrate a real-time digital-metasurface imager that can be trained in-situ to show high accuracy image coding and recognition for various image sets.

A digital platform that integrates a metasurface based on electronic varactors with an optical interrogation network based on photodiodes can be programmed by visible light to implement electromagnetic functions, including microwave cloaking, illusion and vortex beam generation.

In this type of thermal cloak, when a fluid circulates around the object of interest, the temperature perturbation is minimized as the effective thermal conductivity of the fluid becomes very high due to convective effects.

We demonstrate a 3D generalized vector vortex array generation with full polarization, phase, OAM, and spatial control, by using joint optimization in different diffraction orders based on a single-layer metasurface.

Thermal camouflaging techniques typically use bulky structures and require a well-defined and unchanging background. Here, the authors propose a strategy for thermal camouflage using a structured thermal surface, independent of the background material for many practical situations.

The valley pseudospin of electrons may serve as an additional degree of freedom for future on-chip low-energy signal processing. Now, a nanophotonic circuit that integrates a monolayer of WS₂ routes valley indices unidirectionally via the chirality of the photons.

Gradientless light fields are shown to exert pulling forces on arbitrary objects in purely passive dielectric media. These forces arise from amplification of the photon linear momentum when light is scattered from one dielectric to another with a higher refractive index. They can manipulate objects over macroscopic distances along dielectric interfaces.