Mode evolution and nanofocusing of grating-coupled surface plasmon polaritons on metallic tip

We present a detailed analysis on mode evolution of gratingcoupled surface plasmonic polaritons （SPPs） on a conical metal tip based on the guidedwave theory. The eigenvalue equations for SPPs modes are discussed, revealing that cylindrical metal waveguides only support TM01 and HEm1 surface modes. During propagation on the metal tip, the gratingcoupled SPPs are converted to HE31, HE21, HE11 and TM01 successively, and these modes are sequentially cut off except TM01. The TM01 mode further propagates with drastically increasing effective mode index and is converted to localized surface plasmons （LSPs） at the tip apex, which is responsible for plasmonic nanofocusing. The gapmode plasmons can be excited with the focusing TM01 mode by approaching a metal substrate to the tip apex, resulting in further enhanced electric field and reduced size of the plasmonic focus.

Moisture-sensitive torsional cotton artificial muscle and textile

Developing moisture-sensitive artificial muscles from industrialized natural fibers with large abundance is highly desired for smart textiles that can respond to humidity or temperature change.However,currently most of fiber artificial muscles are based on non-common industrial textile materials or of a small portion of global textile fiber market.In this paper,we developed moisture-sensitive torsional artificial muscles and textiles based on cotton yarns.It was prepared by twisting the cotton yarn followed by folding in the middle point to form a self-balanced structure.The cotton yarn muscle showed a torsional stroke of 42.55°/mm and a rotational speed of 720 rpm upon exposure to water moisture.Good reversibility and retention of stroke during cyclic exposure and removal of water moisture were obtained.A moisturesensitive smart window that can close when it rains was demonstrated based on the torsional cotton yarn muscles.This twist-based technique combining natural textile fibers provides a new insight for construction of smart textile materials.

Recent Advances in MoiréSuperlattice Structures of Twisted Bilayer and Multilayer Graphene

Twisted bilayer graphene(TBG),which has drawn much attention in recent years,arises from van der Waals materials gathering each component together via van der Waals force.It is composed of two sheets of graphene rotated relatively to each other.Moirépotential,resulting from misorientation between layers,plays an essential role in determining the band structure of TBG,which directly relies on the twist angle.Once the twist angle approaches a certain critical value,flat bands will show up,indicating the suppression of kinetic energy,which significantly enhances the importance of Coulomb interaction between electrons.As a result,correlated states like correlated insulators emerge from TBG.Surprisingly,superconductivity in TBG is also reported in many experiments,which drags researchers into thinking about the underlying mechanism.Recently,the interest in the atomic reconstruction of TBG at small twist angles comes up and reinforces further understandings of properties of TBG.In addition,twisted multilayer graphene receives more and more attention,as they could likely outperform TBG although they are more difficult to handle experimentally.In this review,we mainly introduce theoretical and experimental progress on TBG.Besides the basic knowledge of TBG,we emphasize the essential role of atomic reconstruction in both experimental and theoretical investigations.The consideration of atomic reconstruction in small-twist situations can provide us with another aspect to have an insight into physical mechanism in TBG.In addition,we cover the recent hot topic,twisted multilayer graphene.While the bilayer situation can be relatively easy to resolve,multilayer situations can be really complicated,which could foster more unique and novel properties.Therefore,in the end of the review,we look forward to future development of twisted multilayer graphene.

Optical anisotropy of black phosphorus by total internal reflection

Although abundant research on the anisotropy of van der Waals(vd W)materials has been published,we undertake an in-depth study of their optical properties as they have an important guiding role for light control in two-dimensional(2D)nanospace.As an example,we study the reflectance of few-layered black phosphorus(BP)in the total internal reflection(TIR)mode in detail.We demonstrate that its optical anisotropy can be changed on a large scale by varying the incident angles,polarization states,and the in-plane rotation angles of the BP samples.Theoretical analysis indicates that the phenomena observed are common to all the atom-thick biaxial crystals,so these conclusions can be widely applied to other anisotropic 2D materials.This research furthers the current understanding of the properties of BP more comprehensively,and provides guidance for developing new optoelectronic applications,especially when BP and other atom-thick biaxial crystals are integrated with TIR devices.

Ultraviolet light A irradiation induces immunosuppression associated with the generation of reactive oxygen species in human neutrophils

Ultraviolet blood irradiation has been used as a physical therapy to treat many nonspeci¯c diseases in clinics;however,the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear.Neutrophils,the first line of host defense,play a crucial role in a variety of in°ammatory responses.In the present work,we investigated the effects of ultraviolet light A(UVA)on the immune functions of human neutrophils at the single-cell level by using an inverted°uorescence microscope.N-Formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine(FMLP),a classic physiological chemotactic peptide,was used to induce a series of immune responses in neutrophils in vitro.FMLP-induced calcium mobilization,migration,and phagocytosis in human neutrophils was significantly blocked after treatment with 365 nm UVA irradiation,demonstrating the immunosuppressive effects of UVA irradiation on neutrophils.Similar responses were also observed when the cells were pretreated with H2O2,a type of reactive oxygen species(ROS).Furthermore,UVA irradiation resulted in an increase in NAD(P)H,a member of host oxidative stress in cells.Taken together,our data indicate that UVA irradiation results in immunosuppression associated with the production of ROS in human neutrophils.

Information‑entropy enabled identifying topological photonic phase in real space

The topological photonics plays an important role in the fields of fundamental physics and photonic devices.The traditional method of designing topological system is based on the momentum space,which is not a direct and convenient way to grasp the topological properties,especially for the perturbative structures or coupled systems.Here,we propose an interdisciplinary approach to study the topological systems in real space through combining the information entropy and topological photonics.As a proof of concept,the Kagome model has been analyzed with information entropy.We reveal that the bandgap closing does not correspond to the topological edge state disappearing.This method can be used to identify the topological phase conveniently and directly,even the systems with perturbations or couplings.As a promotional validation,Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model and the valley-Hall photonic crystal have also been studied based on the information entropy method.This work provides a method to study topological photonic phase based on information theory,and brings inspiration to analyze the physical properties by taking advantage of interdisciplinarity.

Realization of photonic p-orbital higher-order topological insulators

The orbital degrees of freedom play a pivotal role in understanding fundamental phenomena in solid-state materials as well as exotic quantum states of matter including orbital superfluidity and topological semimetals.Despite tremendous efforts in engineering synthetic cold-atom,as well as electronic and photonic lattices to explore orbital physics,thus far high orbitals in an important class of materials,namely,higher-order topological insulators(HOTIs),have not been realized.Here,we demonstrate p-orbital corner states in a photonic HOTI,unveiling their underlying topological invariant,symmetry protection,and nonlinearity-induced dynamical rotation.In a Kagome-type HOTI,we find that the topological protection of p-orbital corner states demands an orbital-hopping symmetry in addition to generalized chiral symmetry.Due to orbital hybridization,nontrivial topology of the p-orbital HOTI is“hidden”if bulk polarization is used as the topological invariant,but well manifested by the generalized winding number.Our work opens a pathway for the exploration of intriguing orbital phenomena mediated by higher-band topology applicable to a broad spectrum of systems.

Nonlinear harmonic generation of terahertz waves in a topological valley polaritonic microcavity

Compact terahertz(THz)devices,especially for nonlinear THz components,have received more and more attention due to their potential applications in THz nonlinearity-based sensing,communications,and computing devices.However,effective means to enhance,control,and confine the nonlinear harmonics of THz waves remain a great challenge for micro-scale THz nonlinear devices.In this work,we have established a technique for nonlinear harmonic generation of THz waves based on phonon polariton-enhanced giant THz nonlinearity in a 2D-topologically protected valley photonic microcavity.Effective THz harmonic generation has been observed in both noncentrosymmetric and centrosymmetric nonlinear materials.These results can provide a valuable reference for the generation and control of THz high-harmonics,thus developing new nonlinear devices in the THz regime.

Anomalous refinement and uniformization of grains in metallic thin films

When a laser beam writes on a metallic film,it usually coarsens and deuniformizes grains because of Ostwald ripening,similar to the case of annealing.Here we show an anomalous refinement effect of metal grains:A metallic silver film with large grains melts and breaks into uniform,close-packed,and ultrafine(~10 nm)grains by laser direct writing with a nanoscale laser spot size and nanosecond pulse that causes localized heating and adaptive shock-cooling.This method exhibits high controllability in both grain size and uniformity,which lies in a linear relationship between the film thickness(h)and grain size(D),D∝h.The linear relationship is significantly different from the classical spinodal dewetting theory obeying a nonlinear relationship(D∝h5/3)in common laser heating.We also demonstrate the application of such a silver film with a grain size of~10.9 nm as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering chip,exhibiting superhigh spatial-uniformity and low detection limit down to 10-15 M.This anomalous refinement effect is general and can be extended to many other metallic films.

Biophotonic rogue waves in red blood cell suspensions

Rogue waves are ubiquitous in nature,appearing in a variety of physical systems ranging from acoustics,microwave cavities,optical fibers,and resonators to plasmas,superfluids,and Bose–Einstein condensates.Unlike nonlinear solitary waves,rogue waves are extreme events that can occur even without nonlinearity by,for example,spontaneous synchronization of waves with different spatial frequencies in a linear system.Here,we report the observation of rogue-wave-like events in human red blood cell(RBC)suspensions under weak light illumination,characterized by an abnormal L-shaped probability distribution.Such biophotonic extreme events arise mostly due to the constructive interference of Mie-scattered waves from the suspended RBCs,whose biconcave shape and mutable orientation give rise to a time-dependent random phase modulation to an incident laser beam.We numerically simulate the beam propagation through the colloidal suspensions with added disorder in both spatial and temporal domains to mimic random scattering due to Brownian motion.In addition,at high power levels,nonlinear beam self-focusing is also observed,leading to a dual-exponential probability distribution associated with the formation of multiple soliton-like spots.Such rogue wave events should also exist in environments with cells of other species such as swimming bacteria,and understanding of their underlying physics may lead to unexpected biophotonic applications.

All-atomristor logic gates

The atomristor(monolayer two-dimensional(2D)-material memristor)is competitive in high-speed logic computing due to its binary feature,lower energy consumption,faster switch response,and so on.Yet to date,all-atomristor logic gates used for logic computing have not been reported due to the poor consistency of different atomristors in performance.Here,by studying band structures and electron transport properties of MoS2 atomristor,a comprehensive memristive mechanism is obtained.Guided by the simulation results,monolayer MoS2 with moderated defect concentration has been fabricated in the experiment,which can build atomristors with high performance and good consistency.Based on this,for the first time,MoS2 all-atomristor logic gates are realized successfully.As a demonstration,a half-adder based on the logic gates and a binary neural network(BNN)based on crossbar arrays are evaluated,indicating the applicability in various logic computing circumstances.Owing to shorter transition time and lower energy consumption,all-atomristor logic gates will open many new opportunities for next-generation logic computing and data processing.

Symmetry-protected third-order exceptional points in staggered flatband rhombic lattices

Higher-order exceptional points(EPs), which appear as multifold degeneracies in the spectra of non-Hermitian systems, are garnering extensive attention in various multidisciplinary fields. However, constructing higher-order EPs still remains a challenge due to the strict requirement of the system symmetries. Here we demonstrate that higher-order EPs can be judiciously fabricated in parity–time(PT)-symmetric staggered rhombic lattices by introducing not only on-site gain/loss but also non-Hermitian couplings. Zero-energy flatbands persist and symmetry-protected third-order EPs(EP3s) arise in these systems owing to the non-Hermitian chiral/sublattice symmetry, but distinct phase transitions and propagation dynamics occur. Specifically, the EP3 arises at the Brillouin zone(BZ) boundary in the presence of on-site gain/loss. The single-site excitations display an exponential power increase in the PT-broken phase. Meanwhile, a nearly flatband sustains when a small lattice perturbation is applied. For the lattices with non-Hermitian couplings, however, the EP3 appears at the BZ center. Quite remarkably, our analysis unveils a dynamical delocalization-localization transition for the excitation of the dispersive bands and a quartic power increase beyond the EP3. Our scheme provides a new platform toward the investigation of the higher-order EPs and can be further extended to the study of topological phase transitions or nonlinear processes associated with higher-order EPs.

Advances in on-chip photonic devices based on lithium niobate on insulator

Crystalline lithium niobate(LN)is an important optical material because of its broad transmission window that spans from ultraviolet to mid-infrared and its large nonlinear and electro-optic coefficients.Furthermore,the recent development and commercialization of LN-on-insulator(LNOI)technology has opened an avenue for the realization of integrated on-chip photonic devices with unprecedented performances in terms of propagation loss,optical nonlinearity,and electro-optic tunability.This review begins with a brief introduction of the history and current status of LNOI photonics.We then discuss the fabrication techniques of LNOI-based photonic structures and devices.The recent revolution in the LN photonic industry has been sparked and is still being powered by innovations of the nanofabrication technology of LNOI,which enables the production of building block structures,such as optical microresonators and waveguides of unprecedented optical qualities.The following sections present various on-chip LNOI devices categorized into nonlinear photonic and electro-optic tunable devices and photonic-integrated circuits.Some conclusions and future perspectives are provided.

Electro-optic lithium niobate metasurfaces

Many applications of metasurfaces require an ability to dynamically change their properties in the time domain. Electrical tuning techniques are of particular interest, since they pave a way to on-chip integration of metasurfaces with optoelectronic devices.In this work, we propose and experimentally demonstrate an electro-optic lithium niobate(EO-LN) metasurface that shows dynamic modulations to phase retardation of transmitted light. Quasi-bound states in the continuum(QBIC) are observed from this metasurface. By applying external electric voltages, the refractive index of lithium niobate(LN) is changed by Pockels EO nonlinearity, leading to efficient phase modulations to the transmitted light around the QBIC wavelength. The EO-LN metasurface developed in this study opens up new routes for potential applications in the field of displaying, pulse shaping, and spatial light modulating.

Controllable optical activity with non-chiral plasmonic metasurfaces

Optical activity is the rotation of the plane of linearly polarized light along the propagation direction as the light travels through optically active materials.In existing methods,the strength of the optical activity is determined by the chirality of the materials,which is difficult to control quantitatively.Here we numerically and experimentally investigated an alternative approach to realize and control the optical activity with non-chiral plasmonic metasurfaces.Through judicious design of the structural units of the metasurfaces,the right and left circular polarization components of the linearly polarized light have different phase retardations after transmitting through the metasurfaces,leading to large optical activity.Moreover,the strength of the optical activity can be easily and accurately tuned by directly adjusting the phase difference.The proposed approach based on non-chiral plasmonic metasurfaces exhibits large optical activity with a high controllable degree of freedom,which may provide more possibilities for applications in photonics.

Plasmonic tip internally excited via an azimuthal vector beam for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

The synergy of a plasmonic tip and fiber-based structure light field excitation can provide a powerful tool for Raman examination. Here, we present a method of Raman spectrum enhancement with an Ag-nanoparticles(Ag-NPs)-coated fiber probe internally excited via an azimuthal vector beam(AVB), which is directly generated in a few-mode fiber by using an acoustically induced fiber grating. Theoretical analysis shows that gap mode can be effectively generated on the surface of the Ag-NPs-coated fiber probe excited via an AVB. The experimental result shows that the intensity of Raman signal obtained with analyte molecules of malachite green by exciting the Ag-NPs-coated fiber probe via an AVB is approximately eight times as strong as that via the linear polarization beam(LPB), and the activity of the AVB-excited fiber probe can reach 10^-11 mol∕L, which cannot be achieved by LPB excitation.Moreover, the time stability and reliability are also examined, respectively.

Stacking of Exfoliated Two-Dimensional Materials: A Review

In recent years,two-dimensfonal(2D)atomic crystals represented by graphene have opened up new fields of 2D physics.Layered materials with atomic layer thickness are self-assembled into van der Waals heterostructures by weak van der Waals forces without considering lattice matching.Van der Waals heterostructures can not only enhance the performance of its constituent materials but also show new characteristics.High-quality heterostructures require mechanically cleaved intrinsic 2D materials and flexible 2D material stacking techniques.Here,we summarize in detail the reliable exfoliation methods for large-area single-layer 2D materials and the dry and wet stacking techniques with high success rates.The twisted bilayer graphene is used as an example to briefly introduce the single-crystal tearing method,which is currently the most practical method for preparing isotropic twisted heterostructures with high-precision rotation angles.We hope to provide a valuable reference for researchers of 2D materials.

Optical disassembly of cellular clusters by tunable ‘tug-of-war’ tweezers

Bacterial biofilms underlie many persistent infections,posing major hurdles in antibiotic treatment.Here we design and demonstrate‘tug-of-war’optical tweezers that can facilitate the assessment of cell–cell adhesion—a key contributing factor to biofilm development,thanks to the combined actions of optical scattering and gradient forces.With a customized optical landscape distinct from that of conventional tweezers,not only can such‘tug-of-war’tweezers stably trap and stretch a rod-shaped bacterium in the observing plane,but,more importantly,they can also impose a tunable lateral force that pulls apart cellular clusters without any tethering or mechanical movement.As a proof of principle,we examined a Sinorhizobium meliloti strain that forms robust biofilms and found that the strength of intercellular adhesion depends on the growth medium.This technique may herald new photonic tools for optical manipulation and biofilm study,as well as other biological applications.

Highlighting photonics: looking into the next decade

Let there be light-to change the world we want to be!Over the past several decades,and ever since the birth of the first laser,mankind has witnessed the development of the science of light,as light-based technologies have revolutionarily changed our lives.Needless to say,photonics has now penetrated into many aspects of science and technology,turning into an important and dynamically changing field of increasing interdisciplinary interest.In this inaugural issue of eLight,we highlight a few emerging trends in photonics that we think are likely to have major impact at least in the upcoming decade,spanning from integrated quantum photonics and quantum computing,through topological/non-Hermitian photonics and topological insulator lasers,to AI-empowered nanophotonics and photonic machine learning.This Perspective is by no means an attempt to summarize all the latest advances in photonics,yet we wish our subjective vision could fuel inspiration and foster excitement in scientific research especially for young researchers who love the science of light.

Machine learning powered ellipsometry

Ellipsometry is a powerful method for determining both the optical constants and thickness of thin films.For decades,solutions to ill-posed inverse ellipsometric problems require substantial human-expert intervention and have become essentially human-in-the-loop trial-and-error processes that are not only tedious and time-consuming but also limit the applicability of ellipsometry.Here,we demonstrate a machine learning based approach for solving ellipsometric problems in an unambiguous and fully automatic manner while showing superior performance.The proposed approach is experimentally validated by using a broad range of films covering categories of metals,semiconductors,and dielectrics.This method is compatible with existing ellipsometers and paves the way for realizing the automatic,rapid,high-throughput optical characterization of films.