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Fractals, shapes comprised of self-similar parts, are not merely prescribed linear structures. A wide class of fractals can also arise from the rich dynamics inherent to nonlinear optics.

Transparent displays find increasing use in a variety of applications that project information to a viewer. Here, Hsu and colleagues realize a transparent display that uses nanoparticles for a wavelength-selective scattering of incoming light.

Bound states in the continuum are merged in momentum space by varying the periodicity of the photonic crystal lattice, giving high-quality-factor guided resonances that are robust to out-of-plane scattering.

Scientists theoretically show infrared to X-ray sources that can be implemented on-chip by scattering high-energy electrons with graphene plasmons and predict that they are capable of producing tunable radiation.

Materials exhibiting three-dimensional (3D) linear dispersion relations between frequency and wavevector are expected to display a wide range of interesting phenomena. 3D linear point degeneracies between two bands (“Weyl points”) have yet to be observed. Based on analytical and numerical analysis, researchers predict Weyl point formation in 3D photonic crystals.

John ‘JJ’ Joannopoulos, a pioneering condensed-matter theorist who contributed to the launch of modern nanophotonics and mentored a plethora of scientists and engineers, passed away on 17 August 2025, aged 78. In his five decades at MIT, JJ combined first-principles insights with a gift for nurturing people, shaping fields from ab initio materials theory to photonic crystals and their applications.

Control of thermal emission with microsecond switching times has been achieved by using sub-band transitions in composite quantum-well and photonic-crystal structures.

Researchers have experimentally demonstrated a new type of pathway for electromagnetic waves, which allows an easy reconfiguration into various shapes while significantly suppressing backscattering.

Non-Hermitian systems offer unique capabilities for manipulating light. Here, authors demonstrate non-reciprocal frequency conversion through non-Hermitian and nonlinear coupling, enabling high-efficiency photonic devices and exploration of non-Hermitian topology.

Characterising an optical quantum state confined in a cavity is not an easy task, as standard tomographic techniques works by interfering propagating fields and therefore encounters the problems relative to outcoupling the state. Here, the authors fill this gap for states generated within a nonlinear cavity featuring multiple steady states.

The damping of surface plasmons hinders the realization of nanophotonic devices. Researchers have now uncovered some of the mid-infrared damping mechanisms for plasmons in graphene, which offer a number of unique and interesting properties.

Photonic crystal resonators present unique properties for confining light in volumes much smaller than the wavelength. The ultrafast dynamic change of these properties is an important step towards the complete control of light.

CrSBr, a van der Waals antiferromagnetic semiconductor, is used to fabricate photonic crystal slabs, featuring exceptional in situ control over optical behaviour and thus enabling precise manipulation of photonic modes at near-visible and infrared wavelengths.

We combine hydrogel photopatterning with nanoparticle growth to form silver-enhanced features that isotropically shrink 1000 × in volume to realize nanoscale 3D structures with tunable optical properties.

Scintillators are used for converting X-ray energy into visible light in imaging technologies. Here, the authors present a scalable fabrication approach for large-area nanostructured scintillators, and achieve six-fold enhancement in light yield compared to unpatterned scintillators.

The quantum Hall effect arises in two-dimensional electron systems and is characterized by current being carried by electrons along the edges of the system, in so-called chiral edge states (CESs), as a consequence of nontrivial topological properties of the bulk electronic band structure. Recently, it was theoretically predicted that electromagnetic analogues of CESs could be observed in photonic crystals; here, this is experimentally demonstrated.

Nanophotonic surfaces are used to fabricate a 1 cm² solar thermophotovoltaic device that achieves an overall conversion efficiency of 3.2%.

Exceptional points are singularities in non-Hermitian systems that can produce unusual effects, and it is shown that a Dirac cone in a photonic crystal can generate a continuous ring of exceptional points through flattening the tip of the cone.

A nanophotonic radiation interference system transforms a tungsten filament into a highly efficient thermal emitter for lighting applications.

Theoretical and experimental studies reveal that light can be confined within a planar dielectric photonic crystal slab even though the frequency of this optical bound state is inside the continuous spectrum of extended states from the same symmetry group.

Crystal symmetries may protect single Dirac cones on the surface of a photonic crystal, creating a photonic analogue of a three-dimensional solid-state topological insulator.

Intense squeezed light with focusable intensities of 0.1 TW cm⁻² is created by propagating a classical, intense and noisy input beam through an optical fibre. The noise 4 dB below the shot-noise level is achieved by selecting a set of wavelengths whose intensity fluctuations are maximally anticorrelated.

Optics played a key role in the discovery of geometric phase. It now joins the journey of exploring topological physics, bringing bosonic topological states that equip us with the ability to make perfect photonic devices using imperfect interfaces.

Probabilistic machine learning is an emerging computing paradigm which utilizes controllable random sources to encode uncertainty and enable statistical modelling. Here, authors harness quantum vacuum noise as a controllable random source to perform probabilistic inference and image generation.

Conservation laws are crucial for analyzing and modeling nonlinear dynamical systems; however, identification of conserved quantities is often quite challenging. The authors propose here a geometric approach to discovering conservation laws directly from trajectory data that does not require an explicit dynamical model of the system or detailed time information.

The limits of topological protection in photonic systems remain unclear. Here, Gao et al. construct photonic topological edge states and probe their robustness against a variety of defect classes, including some common time-reversal-invariant photonic defects that can break the topological protection.

Graphene plasmons have gained significant interest thanks to their high field confinement and low phase velocity. Here the authors show theoretically that charge carriers propagating in graphene can excite plasmons through a quantum Čerenkov emission process in two dimensions, in the form of plasmonic shock waves.

The two dimensional magnetoplasmon edge state has been observed for a long time, but its nature is yet to be uncovered. Here, Jin et al. report that such a state is actually topological protected, analogous to the chiral Majorana edge state in a p-wave topological superconductor.

A study demonstrates full energy–momentum matching, and enhanced interaction, between free electrons and photons through a continuum of flatband resonances, realized in a silicon-on-insulator photonic crystal slab.

Knowledge of the quantum response of materials is essential for designing light–matter interactions at the nanoscale. Here, the authors report a theory for understanding the impact of metallic quantum response on acoustic graphene plasmons and how such response could be inferred from measurements.

Despite their relevance for quantum technology, photon-pair sources are difficult to control. A theoretical proposal shows how photon pairs can be created from vacuum fluctuations in time-dependent systems, potentially enabling heralded single-photon frequency combs.

Cherenkov detectors are used to detect high energy particles and their performance capabilities depend heavily on the material used. Here, the authors propose use of a Brewster-optics-based angular filter for a detector with increased sensitivity and particle identification capability.

Here the authors show that radiation emitted by individual electrons can be controlled by shaping the electron wavepacket. They present feasible examples for applications including collimated and monochromatic X-ray emission from specially shaped electrons.

Extracting light from silicon is a longstanding challenge. Here, the authors report an experimental demonstration of free-electron-driven light emission from silicon nanogratings and investigates the feasibility of a compact, all-silicon tunable light source integrated with a silicon field emitter array.

Unidirectional radiation is achieved in a photonic crystal slab without the use of mirrors by merging a pair of topological defects carrying half-integer charges.

Application-specific computational hardware helps to solve the limitations of conventional electronics in solving difficult calculation problems. Here the authors present a general heuristic algorithm to solve NP-Hard Ising problems in a photonics implementation.

Passive daytime radiative cooling presents a promising low-cost refrigeration solution but has thus far relied on specialized nanophotonic structures. Here Bhatia et al. show a directional approach that decouples solar reflectance and infrared emission to achieve superior cooling performance.

Plasmonic enhancements of light–matter interactions are generally maximal at short emitter–surface separations. Here, the authors investigate the impact of nonlocality, spill-out, and surface-assisted Landau damping at nanoscale separations using a mesoscopic electrodynamic framework.

Vacuum fluctuations in the vicinity of nanophotonic structures can lead to the conversion of a free electron into a polariton and a high-energy photon, whose frequency can be controlled by the electromagnetic properties of the nanostructure.

A general framework for incorporating and correcting for nonclassical electromagnetic phenomena in nanoscale systems is presented.

The angle of Cherenkov radiation in one-dimensional photonic crystals can be controlled by making use of constructive interference. This feature allows new design of particle detectors with improved performance.

The ability of photovoltaic devices to harvest solar energy can be enhanced by tailoring the spectrum of incident light with thermophotovoltaic devices. Bierman et al. now show that one such device achieves a solar-to-electrical efficiency of 6.8%, exceeding that of the solar cell alone.