{"title":"Quantum imaging with ultra-thin metasurfaces","authors":"Jongwon Lee","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01830-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01830-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Nonlinear optical metasurfaces, which relax the phase-matching constraints of bulk nonlinear crystals and allow for precise engineering, are opening new possibilities in the field of quantum photonics. Recent advancements have experimentally demonstrated high-resolution 2D imaging using a 1D detector array by combining quantum ghost imaging and all-optical scanning with spatially entangled photon pairs generated from a nonlinear metasurface. These findings establish metasurfaces as a promising platform for quantum imaging, communications, and sensing applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Excitonic insulator powers room-temperature ultra-sensitive visible to terahertz detection","authors":"Yi Wu, Wenjie Deng, Yongzhe Zhang","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01828-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01828-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Phase transitions induce significant changes in the electrical and photonic properties of materials. Ultra-sensitive photodetectors leveraging material phase transitions can be realized near the transition temperature. Photodetectors based on Ta<sub>2</sub>NiSe<sub>5</sub>, a room-temperature excitonic insulator phase transition material, exhibit exceptional performance from visible to terahertz frequencies. Specifically, in the terahertz range, the electronic bandwidth is 360 kHz, and the specific detectivity (D*) reaches 5.3 × 10<sup>11</sup> cm·Hz<sup>1/2</sup>·W<sup>−1</sup>. The van der Waals heterostructure of Ta<sub>2</sub>NiSe<sub>5</sub>/WS<sub>2</sub> further enhances performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"235 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Topologically trivial graphene enables mid-infrared orbital angular momentum detection toward on-chip integration","authors":"Jiayue Han, Jun Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01829-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01829-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A mid-infrared orbital angular momentum detector based on multilayer graphene has been successfully developed, overcoming the previous reliance on C<sub>2V</sub> point group topological Weyl semimetals via the orbital photogalvanic effect. This CMOS-compatible two-dimensional material system is crucial for advancing the large-scale practical application of orbital angular momentum detectors.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yueming Zhuo, Mohajeet Bhuckory, Huakun Li, Junya Hattori, Davis Pham-Howard, David Veysset, Tong Ling, Daniel Palanker
{"title":"Retinal thermal deformations measured with phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography in vivo","authors":"Yueming Zhuo, Mohajeet Bhuckory, Huakun Li, Junya Hattori, Davis Pham-Howard, David Veysset, Tong Ling, Daniel Palanker","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01798-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01798-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Controlling the tissue temperature rise during retinal laser therapy is essential for predictable outcomes, especially at non-damaging settings. We demonstrate a method for determining the temperature rise in the retina using phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (pOCT) in vivo. Measurements based on the thermally induced optical path length changes (ΔOPL) in the retina during a 10-ms laser pulse allow detection of the temperature rise with a precision less than 1 °C, which is sufficient for calibration of the laser power for patient-specific non-damaging therapy. We observed a significant difference in confinement of the retinal deformations between the normal and the degenerate retina: in wild-type rats, thermal deformations are localized between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and the photoreceptors’ inner segments (IS), as opposed to a deep penetration of the deformations into the inner retinal layers in the degenerate retina. This implies the presence of a structural component within healthy photoreceptors that dampens the tissue expansion induced by the laser heating of the RPE and pigmented choroid. We hypothesize that the thin and soft cilium connecting the inner and outer segments (IS, OS) of photoreceptors may absorb the deformations of the OS and thereby preclude the tissue expansion further inward. Striking difference in the confinement of the retinal deformations induced by a laser pulse in healthy and degenerate retina may be used as a biomechanical diagnostic tool for the characterization of photoreceptors degeneration.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jinyong Ma, Kenneth B. Crozier, Andrey A. Sukhorukov
{"title":"Integrated generation of vortices and frequency conversion with metasurfaces","authors":"Jinyong Ma, Kenneth B. Crozier, Andrey A. Sukhorukov","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01831-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01831-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The generation of optical vortices in compact systems and across different spectral regions can open new horizons for their applications in end-user devices. Latest advances in the design and fabrication of optical metasurfaces made of a quadratically nonlinear material enable highly precise creation of vortices with different topological charges at the second-harmonic frequency, with the potential to obtain various other structured states of light.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Noa Konforty, Moshe-Ishay Cohen, Ohad Segal, Yonatan Plotnik, Vladimir M. Shalaev, Mordechai Segev
{"title":"Second harmonic generation and nonlinear frequency conversion in photonic time-crystals","authors":"Noa Konforty, Moshe-Ishay Cohen, Ohad Segal, Yonatan Plotnik, Vladimir M. Shalaev, Mordechai Segev","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01788-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01788-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We study the nonlinear process of second harmonic generation in photonic time-crystals, materials with refractive index that varies abruptly and periodically in time, and obtain the phase matching condition for this process. We find conditions for which the second harmonic generation is highly enhanced even in the absence of phase matching, governed by the exponential growth of the modes residing in the momentum gap of the photonic time crystal. Additionally, under these conditions, a cascade of higher-order harmonics is generated at growing exponential rates. The process is robust, with no requirement for phase-matching, the presence of a resonance or a threshold, drawing energy from the modulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nicola Martino, Hao Yan, Geoffrey Abbott, Marissa Fahlberg, Sarah Forward, Kwon-Hyeon Kim, Yue Wu, Han Zhu, Sheldon J. J. Kwok, Seok-Hyun Yun
{"title":"Large-scale combinatorial optical barcoding of cells with laser particles","authors":"Nicola Martino, Hao Yan, Geoffrey Abbott, Marissa Fahlberg, Sarah Forward, Kwon-Hyeon Kim, Yue Wu, Han Zhu, Sheldon J. J. Kwok, Seok-Hyun Yun","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01809-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01809-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The identification of individual cells is crucial for advancements in single-cell analysis. Optically readable barcodes provide a means to distinguish and track cells through repeated, non-destructive measurements. Traditional fluorophore-based methods are limited by the finite number of unique barcodes they can produce. Laser particles (LPs), which emit narrowband peaks over a wide spectral range, have emerged as a promising technology for single-cell barcoding. Here, we demonstrate the use of multiple LPs to generate combinatorial barcodes, enabling the identification of a vast number of live cells. We introduce a theoretical framework for estimating the number of LPs required for unique barcodes and the expected identification error rate. Additionally, we present an improved LP-tagging method that is highly effective across a variety of cell types and evaluate its biocompatibility. Our experimental results show successful barcoding of several million cells, closely matching our theoretical predictions. This research marks a significant step forward in the scalability of LP technology for single-cell tracking and analysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143744695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Guibin Liu, Xuhong Ma, Kang Zhou, Binbin Liu, Lulu Zheng, Xianglong Bi, Shumin Wu, Yanming Lu, Ziping Li, Wenjian Wan, Zhenzhen Zhang, Junsong Peng, Ya Zhang, Heping Zeng, Hua Li
{"title":"Farey tree locking of terahertz quantum cascade laser frequency combs","authors":"Guibin Liu, Xuhong Ma, Kang Zhou, Binbin Liu, Lulu Zheng, Xianglong Bi, Shumin Wu, Yanming Lu, Ziping Li, Wenjian Wan, Zhenzhen Zhang, Junsong Peng, Ya Zhang, Heping Zeng, Hua Li","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01819-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01819-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Frequency combs show various applications in molecular fingerprinting, imaging, communications, and so on. In the terahertz frequency range, semiconductor-based quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are ideal platforms for realizing the frequency comb operation. Although self-started frequency comb operation can be obtained in free-running terahertz QCLs due to the four-wave mixing locking effects, resonant/off-resonant microwave injection, phase locking, and femtosecond laser based locking techniques have been widely used to broaden and stabilize terahertz QCL combs. These active locking methods indeed show significant effects on the frequency stabilization of terahertz QCL combs, but they simultaneously have drawbacks, such as introducing large phase noise and requiring complex optical coupling and/or electrical circuits. Here, we demonstrate Farey tree locking of terahertz QCL frequency combs under microwave injection. The frequency competition between the Farey fraction frequency and the cavity round-trip frequency results in the frequency locking of terahertz QCL combs, and the Farey fraction frequencies can be accurately anticipated based on the downward trend of the Farey tree hierarchy. Furthermore, dual-comb experimental results show that the phase noise of the dual-comb spectral lines is significantly reduced by employing the Farey tree locking method. These results pave the way to deploying compact and low phase noise terahertz frequency comb sources.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143736697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rui Wang, Wei Li, Zhiwen Xia, Hongchang Deng, Yao Zhang, Rongxin Fu, Shuailong Zhang, Tijmen G. Euser, Libo Yuan, Ningfang Song, Yi Jiang, Shangran Xie
{"title":"Optical trapping of mesoscale particles and atoms in hollow-core optical fibers: principle and applications","authors":"Rui Wang, Wei Li, Zhiwen Xia, Hongchang Deng, Yao Zhang, Rongxin Fu, Shuailong Zhang, Tijmen G. Euser, Libo Yuan, Ningfang Song, Yi Jiang, Shangran Xie","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01801-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01801-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Hollow-core fiber (HCF) is a special optical waveguide type that can guide light in the air or liquid core surrounded by properly designed cladding structures. The guiding modes of the fiber can generate sufficient optical gradient forces to balance the gravity of the particles or confine the atom clouds, forming a stable optical trap in the hollow core. The levitated objects can be propelled over the fiber length along the beam axis through an imbalance of the optical scattering forces or by forming an optical lattice by the counter-propagating beams. The ability to overcome the diffraction of the laser beam in HCF can significantly increase the range of the optical manipulation compared with standard free-space optical tweezers, opening up vast ranges of applications that require long-distance optical control. Since the first demonstration of optical trapping in HCF, hollow-core-fiber-based optical trap (HCF-OT) has become an essential branch of optical tweezer that draws intense research interests. Fast progress on the fundamental principle and applied aspects of HCF-OT has been visible over the past two decades. In recent years, significant milestones in reducing the propagation loss of HCF have been achieved, making HCF an attractive topic in the field of optics and photonics. This further promotes the research and applications of HCF-OT. This review starts from the mechanism of light guidance of HCF, mainly focusing on the issues related to the optical trap in the hollow core. The basic principles and key features of HCF-OT, from optical levitation to manipulation and the detection of macroscopic particles and atoms, are summarized in detail. The key applications of HCF-OT, the challenges and future directions of the technique are also discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143736693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shihan Hong, Long Zhang, Jiachen Wu, Yingying Peng, Linyan Lyu, Yinpeng Hu, Yiwei Xie, Daoxin Dai
{"title":"Multimode-enabled silicon photonic delay lines: break the delay-density limit","authors":"Shihan Hong, Long Zhang, Jiachen Wu, Yingying Peng, Linyan Lyu, Yinpeng Hu, Yiwei Xie, Daoxin Dai","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01820-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01820-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Integrated optical delay lines have become imperative to meet the growing demand as large aperture antennas and high number of subarrays required for microwave beamforming, high-speed optical communication, and integrated quantum photonics. It is very challenging to achieve large delay ranges, small footprints, and broad bandwidths simultaneously due to the strong trade-off between the propagation loss and the group refractive index of optical waveguides. In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate multimode-enabled silicon photonic delay line for the first time, which breaks the delay-density limit of singlemode waveguide spirals, towards a broadband, mm<sup>2</sup>-scale, and ultra-large time delay. By demonstrating low-loss-propagation possibilities for different polarizations and modes, we introduce a novel multimode delay unit by integrating the mode (de)multiplexers and the ultralow-loss multimode waveguide spiral supporting the TE<sub>0</sub>, TE<sub>1</sub>, and TE<sub>2</sub> modes propagating in parallel. The measured propagation losses for the TE<sub>0</sub>, TE<sub>1</sub>, and TE<sub>2</sub> modes are 0.2 dB/cm, 0.31 dB/cm, and 0.49 dB/cm, respectively. In this way, the <i>highest</i> line delay-density of 376.9 ps/cm and low delay loss of 0.004 dB/ps are achieved. Furthermore, we implement a 7-bit tunable multimode photonic delay line and experimentally demonstrate an ultra-large delay range of 12.7 ns with a delay resolution of 100 ps and within an ultra-compact footprint of 3.85 mm<sup>2</sup>, enabling a delay density over 3299 ps/mm<sup>2</sup>, showing the <i>largest</i> delay range and the <i>highest</i> delay density among on-chip delay lines reported to date, to the best of our knowledge.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143736728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}