Understanding Dual-Polar Group Functionalized COFs for Accelerating Li-Ion Transport and Dendrite-Free Deposition in Lithium Metal Anodes

Lithium metal batteries(LMBs)have attracted wide attentions because of their high theoretical specific capacity and low electrochemical potential.However,the growth of lithium dendrites seriously affects the practical application of LMBs.Thus,the lithium-philic carbonyl and carboxy dualgroup-modified covalent organic framework(COF-COOH)is designed to coat the polypropylene(PP)separator(COF-COOH@PP separator),realizing the regulation of ion transport and uniform lithium deposition.The plentiful and negative charge sites in the COF-COOH can suppress the diffusion of the freely movable lithium salt anion by the electrostatic interaction.Density functional theory(DFT)calculations demonstrate that the COF-COOH possesses the function of anchoring anion and desolvation.Consequently,the Li^(+)transference number(0.7),ion conductivity(0.64 mS cm^(-1)),and desolvating of Li^(+)are obviously improved by using the COF-COOH@PP separator.The modified Li-Li symmetric battery delivers stable cycle for more than 1000 h and lower voltage hysteresis(0.02 V).This dendrite-free deposition strategy holds great promise for practical application of Li metal anodes.

Enhanced picosecond terahertz wave generation based on cascade effects in a terahertz parametric generator

Enhanced terahertz wave generation via a Stokes cascade process has been demonstrated using picosecond pulse pumped terahertz parametric generation at 1 kHz repetition rate.Clear cascade saturation of terahertz output was observed,and the corresponding cascade-Stokes spectra were analyzed.The maximum terahertz wave average power was 22μW under a pump power of 30 W,whereas the maximum power conversion efficiency was 8×10^(-7)under a pump power of 21 W.The THz power fluctuation was measured to be about 1%in 20 min.This THz parametric source with a relatively stable output is suitable for a variety of practical applications.

Investigation of active-region doping on InAs/GaSb long wave infrared detectors

The eight-band κ·p model is used to establish the energy band structure model of the type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice detectors with a cut-off wavelength of 10.5μm,and the best composition of M-structure in this type of device is calculated theoretically.In addition,we have also experimented on the devices designed with the best performance to investigate the effect of the active region p-type doping temperature on the quantum efficiency of the device.The results show that the modest active region doping temperature(Be:760℃)can improve the quantum efficiency of the device with the best performance,while excessive doping(Be:>760℃)is not conducive to improving the photo response.With the best designed structure and an appropriate doping concentration,a maximum quantum efficiency of 45% is achieved with a resistance-area product of 688?·cm^2,corresponding to a maximum detectivity of 7.35×10^11cm·Hz^1/2/W.

Investigation of photodamage by femtosecond laser to cells via gold nanorods

Usually,only focused femtosecond(fs)lasers at near-infrared(NIR)range can induce photo-damage to transparent cells,making it difficult to treat large amount of cells by such optical methods for photostimulation.In this study,we clarify the mechanism of photodamage to cells that are co-cultured with gold nanorods(GNRs)by fs laser.The pulse duration and repetition rate of the fs laser play a key role in cell damage suggesting that the heat accumulation con-tributes to the major part for the cell damage rather than the high peak power which mainly determines the efficiency of multiphoton excitation.We further show that cellular Ca^(2+)can also be released in this scheme,but the process is more sensitive to peak power.Our results can provide a large-scale GNR-mediated photostimulation for cell signaling modulation.

Compact TE-pass polarizer based on lithium-niobate-on-insulator assisted by indium tin oxide and silicon nitride

An indium tin oxide(ITO) and silicon nitride(Si_(3)N_(4)) assisted compact TE-pass waveguide polarizer based on lithiumniobate-on-insulator is proposed and numerically analyzed.By properly designing the ITO and Si_(3)N_(4) assisted structure and utilizing the epsilon-near-zero effect of ITO,the TM mode is strongly confined in the ITO layer with extremely high loss,while the TE mode is hardly affected and passes through the waveguide with low loss.The simulation results show that the polarizer has an extinction ratio of 22.5 dB and an insertion loss of 0.8 dB at the wavelength of 1.55 μm,and has an operating bandwidth of about 125 nm(from 1540 nm to 1665 nm) for an extinction ratio of>20 dB and an insertion loss of<0.95 dB.Moreover,the proposed device exhibits large fabrication tolerances.More notably,the device is compact,with a length of only 7.5 μm,and is appropriate for on-chip applications.

High-sensitive terahertz detection by parametric up-conversion using nanosecond pulsed laser

A high-sensitive terahertz detector operating at room temperature was demonstrated based on parametric upconversion.A nanosecond 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser was used to pump the parametric up-conversion detector and the upconversion from terahertz wave to NIR laser was realized in a lithium niobate crystal.The minimum detectable terahertz energy of 9 p J was realized with the detection dynamic range of 54 d B,which was three orders of magnitude higher than that of commercial Golay cell.The detectable terahertz frequency range of the detection system was 0.90 Thz–1.83 THz.Besides,the effects of pump energy and effective gain length on the detection sensitivity were studied in experiment.The results showed that higher pump energy and longer effective gain length are helpful for improving the detection sensitivity of parametric up-conversion detector.

Active terahertz beam steering based on mechanical deformation of liquid crystal elastomer metasurface

Active metasurfaces are emerging as the core of next-generation optical devices with their tunable optical responses and flat-compact topography.Especially for the terahertz band,active metasurfaces have been developed as fascinating devices for optical chopping and compressive sensing imaging.However,performance regulation by changing the dielectric parameters of the integrated functional materials exhibits severe limitations and parasitic losses.Here,we introduce a C-shape-split-ring-based phase discontinuity metasurface with liquid crystal elastomer as the substrate for infrared modulation of terahertz wavefront.Line-focused infrared light is applied to manipulate the deflection of the liquid crystal elastomer substrate,enabling controllable and broadband wavefront steering with a maximum output angle change of 22°at 0.68THz.Heating as another control method is also investigated and compared with infrared control.We further demonstrate the performance of liquid crystal elastomer metasurface as a beam steerer,frequency modulator,and tunable beam splitter,which are highly desired in terahertz wireless communication and imaging systems.The proposed scheme demonstrates the promising prospects of mechanically deformable metasurfaces,thereby paving the path for the development of reconfigurable metasurfaces.

Extraordinarily stable and wide-temperature range sodium/potassium-ion batteries based on 1D SnSe2-SePAN composite nanofibers

Developing electrodes with long lifespan and wide-temperature adaptability is crucial important to achieve high-performance sodium/potassium-ion batteries(SIBs/PIBs).Herein,the SnSe2-SePAN composite was fabricated for extraordinarily stable and wide-temperature range SIBs/PIBs through a coupling strategy between controllable electrospinning and selenylation,in which SnSe2 nanoparticles were uniformly encapsulated in the SePAN matrix.The unique structure of SnSe2-SePAN not only relieves drastic volume variation but also guarantees the structural integrity of the composite,endowing SnSe2-SePAN with excellent sodium/potassium storage properties.Consequently,SnSe2-SePAN displays a high sodium storage capacity and excellent feasibility in a wide working temperature range(-15 to 60℃:300 mAh g^(-1)/700 cycles/-15℃;352 mAh g^(-1)/100 cycles/60℃at 0.5 A g^(-1)).At room temperature,it delivers a record-ultralong cycling life of 192 mAh g^(-1)that exceeds 66000 cycles even at 15 A g^(-1).It exhibits extremely superb electrochemical performance in PIBs(157 mAh g^(-1)exceeding 15000 cycles at 5 A g^(-1)).The ex situ XRD and TEM results attest the conversion-alloy mechanism of SnSe2-SePAN.Also,computational calculations verify that SePAN takes an important role in intensifying the electrochemical performance of SnSe2-SePAN electrode.Therefore,this study breaks new ground on solving the polyselenide dissolution issue and improving the wide temperature workable performance of sodium/potassium storage.

Bose-Einstein condensates in an eightfold symmetric optical lattice

We investigate the properties of Bose-Einstein condensates(BECs)in a two-dimensional quasi-periodic optical lattice(OL)with eightfold rotational symmetry by numerically solving the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.In a stationary external harmonic trapping potential,we first analyze the evolution of matter-wave interference pattern from periodic to quasiperiodic as the OL is changed continuously from four-fold periodic to eight-fold quasi-periodic.We also investigate the transport properties during this evolution for different interatomic interaction and lattice depth,and find that the BEC crosses over from ballistic diffusion to localization.Finally,we focus on the case of eightfold symmetric lattice and consider a global rotation imposed by the external trapping potential.The BEC shows vortex pattern with eightfold symmetry for slow rotation,becomes unstable for intermediate rotation,and exhibits annular solitons with approximate axial symmetry for fast rotation.These results can be readily demonstrated in experiments using the same configuration as in Phys.Rev.Lett.122110404(2019).

Predicted High-Temperature Superconductivity in Rare Earth Hydride ErH2 at Moderate Pressure

Hydrides offer an opportunity to study high critical temperature(high-Tc)superconductivity at experimentally achievable pressures.However,the pressure needed remains extremely high.Using density functional theory calculations,herein we demonstrate that a new rare earth hydride ErH2could be superconducting with Tc~80 K at 14.5 GPa,the lowest reported value for compressed hydrides to date.Intriguingly,due to Kondo destruction,superconductivity was prone to exist at 15 GPa.We also reveal an energy gap at 20 GPa on the background of normal metallic states.At 20 GPa,this compressed system could act as a host of superconductor judged from a sharp jump of spontaneous magnetic susceptibility with an evanescent spin density of state at Fermi level.Finally,electron pairing glue for ErH2at these three typical pressures was attributed to the antiferromagnetic spin fluctuation.

A continuous-wave Nd:YVO_(4)-KGW intracavity Raman laser with over 34% diode-to-Stokes optical efficiency

We demonstrate a continuous-wave(CW)Nd:YVO_(4)-potassium gadolinium tungstate(KGW)intracavity Raman laser with a diode-to-Stokes optical efficiency of 34.2%.By optimizing the cavity arrangement and reducing the cavity losses,8.47 W Stokes output at 1177 nm was obtained under an incident 878.6 nm diode pump power of 24.8 W.The influence of cavity losses on the power and efficiency of the CW Raman laser,as well as the potential for further optimization,was investigated based on the numerical model.The observation of thermally-induced output rollover was well explained by the calculation of the thermal lensing and cavity stability,indicating that the end-face curvature played an important role when the end-face of the crystal was highly reflective coated to make the cavity.A 10.9 W Stokes output under 40.9 W incident pump was also demonstrated with a cavity arrangement less sensitive to the end-face curvature,which is the highest output power of CW intracavity Raman lasers reported.

High-response formamidine bromide lead hybrid cadmium sulfide photodetector

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite formamidinium lead bromide nanosheet(FAPb Br_(3)NS)is regarded as a superior substance used to construct optoelectronic devices.However,its uncontrollable stability seriously affects its application in the field of photodetectors.In this paper,FAPb Br_(3)is combined with cadmium sulfide nanobelt(Cd S NB)to construct a hybrid device that greatly improves the stability and performance of the photodetector.The response of the FAPb Br_(3)NS/Cd S NB detector under 490 nm light illumination reaches 5712 A/W,while the response of the FAPb Br_(3)photodetector under equivalent conditions is only 25.45 A/W.The photocurrent of the FAPb Br_(3)NS/Cd S NB photodetector is nearly 80.25%of the initial device after exposure to air for 60 days.The difference in electric field distribution between the single material device and the composite device is simulated by the finite-difference time-domain method.It shows the advantages of composite devices in photoconductive gain and directly promotes the hybrid device performance.This paper presents a new possibility for high stability,fast response photodetectors.

Characteristic analysis of a novel F-P interferometer based on a pair of FBGs with built-in LPFGs

The transmission characteristics of a Fabry-Perot （F-P） interferometer based on a fiber Bragg grating （FBG） pair with a built-in long-period fiber grating （LPFG） are theoretically analyzed, and the shift of transmission interference fringe as a function of environmental refractive index is acquired. The influence of the lengths of F-P cavity, LPFG and FBG on the transmission characteristics of the proposed interferometer has been numerieaUy investigated, and the simulation results indicate that the sensitivity of refractive index reaches 2.27 × 10-6 for an optical spectrum analyzer （OSA） with a resolution of 1 pm.

Generation of few-cycle laser pulses by coherent synthesis based on a femtosecond Yb-doped fiber laser amplification system

We demonstrate a coherent synthesis system based on femtosecond Yb-doped fiber laser technology. The output pulse of the amplification system is divided into two replicas and seeded into photonic crystal fibers of two parallel branches for nonlinear pulse compression. Because of the different nonlinear dynamics in the photonic crystal fibers, the compressed pulses show different spectra, which can be spliced to form a broad coherent spectrum. The integrated timing jitter between the pulses of two branches is less than one tenth of an optical cycle.By coherently synthesizing pulses from these two branches, 8 fs few-cycle pulses are produced.

High-repetition-rate femtosecond laser micromachining of poly(methyl methacrylate)

Investigations are performed to explore high-repetition-rate femtosecond laser ablation effects on the physical and chemical properties of poly（methyl methacrylate） （PMMA）. A scanning electron microscopy （SEM） is used to characterize the morphology change in the laser-ablated regions. The infrared and Raman spectroscopy reveals that the fundamental structure of the PMMA is altered after laser ablation. We demonstrate the cumulative heating is much greater during high-repetition-rate femtosecond laser ablation, supporting a photothermal depolymerization mechanism during the ablation process.

Linear polarization conversion of transmitted terahertz wave with double-layer meta-grating surfaces

In this Letter, we demonstrate a linear polarization conversion of transmitted terahertz wave with double-layer meta-grating surfaces, which integrated the frequency selectivity of a split ring resonator metasurface and the polarization selectivity of a metallic grating surface. Since the double-layer can reduce the loss, and the Fabry- Perot like resonant effect between the two layers can improve the conversion efficiency, this converter can rotate the incident y-polarized terahertz wave into an x-polarized transmitted wave with relatively low loss and high efficiency. Experimental results show that an average conversion efficiency exceeding 75% from 0.25 to 0.65 THz with the highest efficiency of 90% at 0.43 THz with onlv -2 dB loss has been achieved.

Numerical simulation of the thermal response of continuous-wave terahertz irradiated skin

We report a two-layer model to describe the thermal response of continuous-wave (CW) terahertz (THz) irradiated skin. Based on the Pennes bio-heat conduction equation, the finite element method (FEM) is utilized to calculate the temperature distribution. The THz wave with a Gaussian beam profile is used to simulate the photo-thermal mechanism. The simulation results show the dynamic process of temperature increasing with irradiation time and possible thermal damage. The factors which can affect temperature distribution, such as beam radius, incident power and THz frequency, are investigated. With a beam radius of 0.5 mm, the highest temperature increase is 3.7 K/mW.

Meta-optics inspired surface plasmon devices

Surface plasmons(SPs)are electromagnetic surface waves that propagate at the interface between a conductor and a dielectric.Due to their unique ability to concentrate light on two-dimensional platforms and produce very high local-field intensity,SPs have rapidly fueled a variety of fundamental advances and practical applications.In parallel,the development of metamaterials and metasurfaces has rapidly revolutionized the design concepts of traditional optical devices,fostering the exciting field of meta-optics.This review focuses on recent progress of meta-optics inspired SP devices,which are implemented by the careful design of subwavelength structures and the arrangement of their spatial distributions.Devices of general interest,including coupling devices,on-chip tailoring devices,and decoupling devices,as well as nascent SP applications empowered by sophisticated usage of meta-optics,are introduced and discussed.

Reconfigurable and nonvolatile terahertz lithography-free photonic devices based on phase change films

High-performance terahertz(THz)devices with reconfigurable features are highly desirable in many promising THz applications.However,most of the existing reconfigurable THz elements are still limited to volatile responses,single functionality,and time-consuming multistep manufacturing procedures.In this paper,we report a lithography-free approach to create reconfigurable and nonvolatile THz components by exploring the reversible,nonvolatile,and continuous THz modulation capability of the phase change material Ge_(2)Sb_(2)Te_(5).As a proof of concept,THz gratings with significant Rayleigh anomalies and diffraction as well as ultrathin THz flat lenses with subwavelength and ultra-broadband focusing capabilities are designed and fabricated on ultrathin Ge_(2)Sb_(2)Te_(5)films using the presented photo-imprint strategy.Moreover,such a method can also be adopted to create more complex THz devices,such as Pancharatnam–Berry phase metasurfaces and grayscale holographic plates.With these findings,the proposed method will provide a promising solution to realize reconfigurable and nonvolatile THz elements.

All-optical active THz metasurfaces for ultrafast polarization switching and dynamic beam splitting

Miniaturized ultrafast switchable optical components with an extremely compact size and a high-speed response will be the core of next-generation all-optical devices instead of traditional integrated circuits,which are approaching the bottleneck of Moore’s Law.Metasurfaces have emerged as fascinating subwavelength flat optical components and devices for light focusing and holography applications.However,these devices exhibit a severe limitation due to their natural passive response.Here we introduce an active hybrid metasurface integrated with patterned semiconductor inclusions for all-optical active control of terahertz waves.Ultrafast modulation of polarization states and the beam splitting ratio are experimentally demonstrated on a time scale of 667 ps.This scheme of hybrid metasurfaces could also be extended to the design of various free-space all-optical active devices,such as varifocal planar lenses,switchable vector beam generators,and components for holography in ultrafast imaging,display,and high-fidelity terahertz wireless communication systems.