Pub Date : 2026-01-04DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02111-6
Ji Wang
Editorial “To eyelids in the Sepulchre—/ How dumb the Dancer lies—/ While Color’s Revelations break—/ And blaze—the Butterflies!” A renowned American poet, Emily Dickinson’s poem vividly mirrors the journey of women’s growth: No matter how many hardships they encounter in their development or constraints they face, they will eventually break free from their “cocoons” and transform into colorful butterflies radiating “light”. In this issue of “Light People”, Professor Siying Peng is invited to share how the optical properties of butterfly wings have inspired her metamorphosis in the field of photonics.
{"title":"Prof. Siying Peng: caterpillars to butterflies, chasing light in photonics","authors":"Ji Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02111-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02111-6","url":null,"abstract":"Editorial “To eyelids in the Sepulchre—/ How dumb the Dancer lies—/ While Color’s Revelations break—/ And blaze—the Butterflies!” A renowned American poet, Emily Dickinson’s poem vividly mirrors the journey of women’s growth: No matter how many hardships they encounter in their development or constraints they face, they will eventually break free from their “cocoons” and transform into colorful butterflies radiating “light”. In this issue of “Light People”, Professor Siying Peng is invited to share how the optical properties of butterfly wings have inspired her metamorphosis in the field of photonics.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"1 1","pages":"34"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894262","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}
The ability to achieve comprehensive control over all Stokes parameters, including both the state of polarization (SoP) and the degree of polarization (DoP), is fundamental to advancements in quantum optics, imaging, and optical communications. While metasurfaces have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in polarization manipulation, existing designs typically rely on locally periodic unit cells and deterministic phase profiles, limiting their flexibility in controlling both SoP and DoP simultaneously. Here, we introduce the generalized lattice approach for metasurface design, which enables the decoupling of structural parameters from the full-Stokes polarization response. Our approach introduces a spatially global but structurally disordered arrangement, constructed on a generalized lattice framework. This framework enables the flexible placement of an arbitrary number and type of meta-atoms within a generalized lattice, where the relative quantity ratios among different meta-atoms serve as a new design degree of freedom. This decoupling enables the azimuthal and elevation angles of the SoP on the Poincaré sphere to be governed by the in-plane rotation and size of individual meta-atoms, while the DoP is controlled independently via the quantity ratio. This establishes a direct and analytically tractable mapping between metasurface geometry and polarization space, offering new physical insights into metasurface-based polarization control. A computationally efficient algorithm optimizes the metasurface arrangement, achieving a polarization similarity (evaluated by Stokes Euclidean Distance) of 0.93 in theory and 0.90 in experiment. Our findings demonstrate that the generalized lattice approach provides an effective and versatile route to full-Stokes polarization control with greater flexibility than conventional metasurface designs.
{"title":"Decoupling metasurface parameters for independent Stokes polarization control via generalized lattice","authors":"Zhi Cheng, Zhou Zhou, Zhuo Wang, Yue Wang, Changyuan Yu","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02084-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02084-6","url":null,"abstract":"The ability to achieve comprehensive control over all Stokes parameters, including both the state of polarization (SoP) and the degree of polarization (DoP), is fundamental to advancements in quantum optics, imaging, and optical communications. While metasurfaces have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in polarization manipulation, existing designs typically rely on locally periodic unit cells and deterministic phase profiles, limiting their flexibility in controlling both SoP and DoP simultaneously. Here, we introduce the generalized lattice approach for metasurface design, which enables the decoupling of structural parameters from the full-Stokes polarization response. Our approach introduces a spatially global but structurally disordered arrangement, constructed on a generalized lattice framework. This framework enables the flexible placement of an arbitrary number and type of meta-atoms within a generalized lattice, where the relative quantity ratios among different meta-atoms serve as a new design degree of freedom. This decoupling enables the azimuthal and elevation angles of the SoP on the Poincaré sphere to be governed by the in-plane rotation and size of individual meta-atoms, while the DoP is controlled independently via the quantity ratio. This establishes a direct and analytically tractable mapping between metasurface geometry and polarization space, offering new physical insights into metasurface-based polarization control. A computationally efficient algorithm optimizes the metasurface arrangement, achieving a polarization similarity (evaluated by Stokes Euclidean Distance) of 0.93 in theory and 0.90 in experiment. Our findings demonstrate that the generalized lattice approach provides an effective and versatile route to full-Stokes polarization control with greater flexibility than conventional metasurface designs.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"35 1","pages":"33"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894269","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-04DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02049-9
Pedro Tovar, Jean Pierre von der Weid, Yuan Wang, Liang Chen, Xiaoyi Bao
Fibre laser-sensors have emerged as a promising solution for long-distance sensing, offering high SNR and fine spatial resolution. However, their adoption is constrained by fundamental limitations: they typically require a fixed mirror at the sensing location or access to both fibre ends for electronic selection of the sensing location. This work introduces a random optical parametric oscillator (R-OPO) fibre sensor that addresses these challenges. Similar to a laser-sensor but exploiting modulation instability and continuous weak reflections, the R-OPO sensor enables long-distance access ( > 25 km) sensing by arbitrarily addressing 1 m-long fibre sections over a long sensing range ( > 1 km). It supports both backward and forward sensing, but unlike most forward sensors, the sensing location information is readily available at both fibre ends. Most importantly, it eliminates the need for a fixed mirror at the sensing location, offering electronically tunable sensing locations. The proposed detection scheme enables straightforward quantitative measurement of dynamic perturbations, requiring only a single fast Fourier transform, thus enabling real-time monitoring. Temperature and strain noise-limited sensitivities of 10.73 ({mu }^{o}C/sqrt{Hz}) and 80.6 (pvarepsilon /sqrt{Hz}) were obtained. Taking advantage of four-wave-mixing by-products inherent to R-OPOs, the sensitivity to external perturbations could be enhanced by a factor of two compared to conventional Rayleigh-based sensors. A simple frequency-unwrapping algorithm is proposed to extend the dynamic measurement range, and the continuous monitoring of a 2 °C temperature increase was accurately measured. This first demonstration of a R-OPO fibre sensor establishes the foundations for parametric fibre sensors.
{"title":"Random optical parametric oscillator fibre sensor","authors":"Pedro Tovar, Jean Pierre von der Weid, Yuan Wang, Liang Chen, Xiaoyi Bao","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02049-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02049-9","url":null,"abstract":"Fibre laser-sensors have emerged as a promising solution for long-distance sensing, offering high SNR and fine spatial resolution. However, their adoption is constrained by fundamental limitations: they typically require a fixed mirror at the sensing location or access to both fibre ends for electronic selection of the sensing location. This work introduces a random optical parametric oscillator (R-OPO) fibre sensor that addresses these challenges. Similar to a laser-sensor but exploiting modulation instability and continuous weak reflections, the R-OPO sensor enables long-distance access ( > 25 km) sensing by arbitrarily addressing 1 m-long fibre sections over a long sensing range ( > 1 km). It supports both backward and forward sensing, but unlike most forward sensors, the sensing location information is readily available at both fibre ends. Most importantly, it eliminates the need for a fixed mirror at the sensing location, offering electronically tunable sensing locations. The proposed detection scheme enables straightforward quantitative measurement of dynamic perturbations, requiring only a single fast Fourier transform, thus enabling real-time monitoring. Temperature and strain noise-limited sensitivities of 10.73 ({mu }^{o}C/sqrt{Hz}) and 80.6 (pvarepsilon /sqrt{Hz}) were obtained. Taking advantage of four-wave-mixing by-products inherent to R-OPOs, the sensitivity to external perturbations could be enhanced by a factor of two compared to conventional Rayleigh-based sensors. A simple frequency-unwrapping algorithm is proposed to extend the dynamic measurement range, and the continuous monitoring of a 2 °C temperature increase was accurately measured. This first demonstration of a R-OPO fibre sensor establishes the foundations for parametric fibre sensors.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"3 1","pages":"52"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894268","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-03DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02108-1
Stephan Wong, Simon Betzold, Sven Höfling, Alexander Cerjan
The propagation path of topologically protected states is bound to the interface between regions with different topology, and as such, the functionality of linear photonic devices leveraging these states is fixed during fabrication. Here, we propose a mechanism for dynamic control over a driven dissipative system’s local topology, yielding reconfigurable topological interfaces and thus tunable paths for protected routing. We illustrate our approach in non-resonantly pumped polariton lattices, where the nonlinear interaction between the polaritons and the exciton reservoir due to non-resonant pumping can yield picosecond-scale changes in the propagation paths of the chiral edge states. To analytically confirm the numerically observed topological dynamics, we generalize the spectral localizer framework to non-linear non-Hermitian Chern materials and apply this framework to a continuous model of the polariton system based on a driven-dissipative Gross-Pitaevskii equation. In doing so, we show that the local changes in the polariton lattice’s topology are captured by a local Chern marker. Looking forward, we anticipate such reconfigurable topological routing will enable the realization of novel classes of topological photonic devices.
{"title":"Dynamically reconfigurable topological routing in nonlinear photonic systems","authors":"Stephan Wong, Simon Betzold, Sven Höfling, Alexander Cerjan","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02108-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02108-1","url":null,"abstract":"The propagation path of topologically protected states is bound to the interface between regions with different topology, and as such, the functionality of linear photonic devices leveraging these states is fixed during fabrication. Here, we propose a mechanism for dynamic control over a driven dissipative system’s local topology, yielding reconfigurable topological interfaces and thus tunable paths for protected routing. We illustrate our approach in non-resonantly pumped polariton lattices, where the nonlinear interaction between the polaritons and the exciton reservoir due to non-resonant pumping can yield picosecond-scale changes in the propagation paths of the chiral edge states. To analytically confirm the numerically observed topological dynamics, we generalize the spectral localizer framework to non-linear non-Hermitian Chern materials and apply this framework to a continuous model of the polariton system based on a driven-dissipative Gross-Pitaevskii equation. In doing so, we show that the local changes in the polariton lattice’s topology are captured by a local Chern marker. Looking forward, we anticipate such reconfigurable topological routing will enable the realization of novel classes of topological photonic devices.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"53 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894296","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-03DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02150-z
Andreas Maeder, Robert J. Chapman, Alessandra Sabatti, Giovanni Finco, Jost Kellner, Rachel Grange
Entanglement is central to quantum technologies such as cryptography, sensing, and computing. Photon pairs generated via nonlinear optical processes are excellent for preparing entangled states due to their long coherence times and compatibility with fiber optic networks. Steady progress in nanofabrication has positioned lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) as a leading platform for monolithic integration of photon pair sources into optical circuits, leveraging its strong second-order nonlinearity. Here, we present a reconfigurable photonic integrated circuit on LNOI, which combines two on-chip photon pair sources with programmable interferometers, enabling the generation of entangled states. The photon pair sources achieve a source brightness of 26 MHz nm−1mW−1 while maintaining a coincidence-to-accidental ratio above 100. We successfully interfere the two sources with 99.0 ± 0.7% visibility, demonstrating the indistinguishability required for producing entanglement on-chip. We show the preparation of any of the maximally entangled Bell states with fidelity above 90% verified by quantum state tomography. These results establish LNOI as a compelling, scalable platform to explore integrated quantum photonic technologies enabled by high-brightness sources of entangled quantum states.
{"title":"Programmable Bell state generation in an integrated thin film lithium niobate circuit","authors":"Andreas Maeder, Robert J. Chapman, Alessandra Sabatti, Giovanni Finco, Jost Kellner, Rachel Grange","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02150-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02150-z","url":null,"abstract":"Entanglement is central to quantum technologies such as cryptography, sensing, and computing. Photon pairs generated via nonlinear optical processes are excellent for preparing entangled states due to their long coherence times and compatibility with fiber optic networks. Steady progress in nanofabrication has positioned lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) as a leading platform for monolithic integration of photon pair sources into optical circuits, leveraging its strong second-order nonlinearity. Here, we present a reconfigurable photonic integrated circuit on LNOI, which combines two on-chip photon pair sources with programmable interferometers, enabling the generation of entangled states. The photon pair sources achieve a source brightness of 26 MHz nm−1mW−1 while maintaining a coincidence-to-accidental ratio above 100. We successfully interfere the two sources with 99.0 ± 0.7% visibility, demonstrating the indistinguishability required for producing entanglement on-chip. We show the preparation of any of the maximally entangled Bell states with fidelity above 90% verified by quantum state tomography. These results establish LNOI as a compelling, scalable platform to explore integrated quantum photonic technologies enabled by high-brightness sources of entangled quantum states.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894298","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-03DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02058-8
Shi Guo, Sung-Gyu Lee, Xiangxin Gong, Lalit Singh, Rui Yu, Ahmad Sholehin Bin Juperi, Seoungbum Lim, Yuhui Yang, Jinpeng Huo, Jeremy Leong, Ce Liang, Hyojin Seung, Yangchen He, Daniel Rhodes, Min Sup Choi, Takashi Taniguchi, Kenji Watanabe, Wonkeun Chang, Beng Kang Tay, Luigi Ranno, Juejun Hu, Qingyun Wu, Lay Kee Ang, Jia Xu Brian Sia, Sang Hoon Chae
Optical phase modulators are critical components in integrated photonics, but conventional designs suffer from a trade-off between modulation efficiency and optical loss. Two-dimensional materials like graphene offer strong electro-optic effects, yet their high optical absorption at telecom wavelengths leads to significant insertion losses. Although monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) provide exceptional telecom-band transparency for low-loss electro-refractive response, their practical implementation in phase modulators requires top electrodes to enable vertical electric field tuning, which typically introduces parasitic absorption. Here, we address this challenge by developing hybrid tungsten oxyselenide/graphene (TOS/Gr) electrodes that minimize optical loss while enabling efficient phase modulation in TMD-based devices. The UV-ozone-converted TOS (from WSe2) acts as a heavy p-type dopant for graphene, making the graphene transparent in the NIR region while enhancing its conductivity. Our complete device integrates a hybrid TOS/graphene transparent electrode with a hexagonal boron nitride dielectric spacer and monolayer WS2 electro-optic material on a SiN microring platform. This achieves a high modulation efficiency of 0.202 V·cm while maintaining an exceptionally low extinction ratio change of just 0.08 dB, demonstrating superior performance compared to modulators employing conventional electrodes. Our breakthrough in near-lossless phase modulation opens new possibilities for energy-efficient optical communications, photonic computing, and fault-tolerant quantum networks.
{"title":"Hybrid tungsten oxyselenide/graphene electrodes for near-lossless 2D semiconductor phase modulators","authors":"Shi Guo, Sung-Gyu Lee, Xiangxin Gong, Lalit Singh, Rui Yu, Ahmad Sholehin Bin Juperi, Seoungbum Lim, Yuhui Yang, Jinpeng Huo, Jeremy Leong, Ce Liang, Hyojin Seung, Yangchen He, Daniel Rhodes, Min Sup Choi, Takashi Taniguchi, Kenji Watanabe, Wonkeun Chang, Beng Kang Tay, Luigi Ranno, Juejun Hu, Qingyun Wu, Lay Kee Ang, Jia Xu Brian Sia, Sang Hoon Chae","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02058-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02058-8","url":null,"abstract":"Optical phase modulators are critical components in integrated photonics, but conventional designs suffer from a trade-off between modulation efficiency and optical loss. Two-dimensional materials like graphene offer strong electro-optic effects, yet their high optical absorption at telecom wavelengths leads to significant insertion losses. Although monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) provide exceptional telecom-band transparency for low-loss electro-refractive response, their practical implementation in phase modulators requires top electrodes to enable vertical electric field tuning, which typically introduces parasitic absorption. Here, we address this challenge by developing hybrid tungsten oxyselenide/graphene (TOS/Gr) electrodes that minimize optical loss while enabling efficient phase modulation in TMD-based devices. The UV-ozone-converted TOS (from WSe2) acts as a heavy p-type dopant for graphene, making the graphene transparent in the NIR region while enhancing its conductivity. Our complete device integrates a hybrid TOS/graphene transparent electrode with a hexagonal boron nitride dielectric spacer and monolayer WS2 electro-optic material on a SiN microring platform. This achieves a high modulation efficiency of 0.202 V·cm while maintaining an exceptionally low extinction ratio change of just 0.08 dB, demonstrating superior performance compared to modulators employing conventional electrodes. Our breakthrough in near-lossless phase modulation opens new possibilities for energy-efficient optical communications, photonic computing, and fault-tolerant quantum networks.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"94 1","pages":"42"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894302","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-03DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02157-6
Junbo Xu, Ke Yu, Xiang Ni, Enrico M. Renzi, Lei Zhou, Yanzhen Yin, Zhou Zhou, Zhichen Zhao, Tao He, Di Huang, Kyoung-Duck Park, Zhanshan Wang, Andrea Alù, Tao Jiang
Phonon polaritons, arising from the coupling of photons with lattice vibrations, enable light confinement on deeply subwavelength scales. Phonon polaritonic crystals (PoCs), leveraging these inherently low-dissipation excitations, have further shown exceptional potential for nanoscale light manipulation through engineered Bloch modes. Yet, their static nature has so far hindered dynamic modulation, thus limiting their adaptability for real-time applications. Here, we demonstrate in situ electrostatic control of low-loss anisotropic phonon-polaritonic Bloch modes in α-MoO3 patterned into a periodic hole array with a graphene gate. Through theoretical calculation and real-space nano-imaging, we show that electrostatic gating dynamically modulates key characteristics of Bloch modes in hybrid α-MoO3/graphene PoCs. Critically, gating reshapes the PoC band structure, spectrally aligning high-density-of-states flat-band regions with the excitation laser frequency, thereby selectively amplifying Bloch mode resonances. We further achieve on-demand switching over far-field leakage of Bloch modes by electrostatically steering these flat bands across the light cone. Our work establishes a platform for adaptive nanostructured phonon polaritonic devices. This advancement not only facilitates directional control of low-loss anisotropic phonon-polaritonic Bloch modes, but also paves the way for their practical application in nanophotonics.
{"title":"Dynamic tuning of Bloch modes in anisotropic phonon polaritonic crystals","authors":"Junbo Xu, Ke Yu, Xiang Ni, Enrico M. Renzi, Lei Zhou, Yanzhen Yin, Zhou Zhou, Zhichen Zhao, Tao He, Di Huang, Kyoung-Duck Park, Zhanshan Wang, Andrea Alù, Tao Jiang","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02157-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02157-6","url":null,"abstract":"Phonon polaritons, arising from the coupling of photons with lattice vibrations, enable light confinement on deeply subwavelength scales. Phonon polaritonic crystals (PoCs), leveraging these inherently low-dissipation excitations, have further shown exceptional potential for nanoscale light manipulation through engineered Bloch modes. Yet, their static nature has so far hindered dynamic modulation, thus limiting their adaptability for real-time applications. Here, we demonstrate in situ electrostatic control of low-loss anisotropic phonon-polaritonic Bloch modes in α-MoO3 patterned into a periodic hole array with a graphene gate. Through theoretical calculation and real-space nano-imaging, we show that electrostatic gating dynamically modulates key characteristics of Bloch modes in hybrid α-MoO3/graphene PoCs. Critically, gating reshapes the PoC band structure, spectrally aligning high-density-of-states flat-band regions with the excitation laser frequency, thereby selectively amplifying Bloch mode resonances. We further achieve on-demand switching over far-field leakage of Bloch modes by electrostatically steering these flat bands across the light cone. Our work establishes a platform for adaptive nanostructured phonon polaritonic devices. This advancement not only facilitates directional control of low-loss anisotropic phonon-polaritonic Bloch modes, but also paves the way for their practical application in nanophotonics.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"11 1","pages":"41"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894301","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-03DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02115-2
Simeng Jin, Shuai Yao, Zhisheng Yang, Zixuan Du, Xiaobin Hong, Marcelo A. Soto, Jingjing Xie, Long Zhang, Fan Yang, Jian Wu
Spontaneous Brillouin scattering (SpBS) enables non-contact probing of mechanical and thermodynamic material properties, underpinning transformative technologies such as distributed optical fiber sensing and high-resolution microscopy. Achieving ultimate precision in these systems demands a fundamental understanding of noise limits. Yet, an intrinsic SpBS noise phenomenon proposed over three decades ago has remained largely unexplored, particularly in metrological contexts. Here, we revisit the physical mechanism and stochastic nature of this long-overlooked noise source, developing a comprehensive analytical framework, validated through dedicated experiments. Crucially, we propose, for the first time, that SpBS noise constitutes a universal and fundamental limit capable of surpassing conventional constraints (e.g., the shot-noise limit) in spontaneous Brillouin metrological systems, such as imaging, microscopy and sensing. We experimentally demonstrate the SpBS-noise-limited regime in Brillouin imaging and sensing scenarios. This framework establishes a critical foundation for understanding and optimizing the performance of current and future Brillouin-based technologies across a broad range of applications.
{"title":"A framework for spontaneous Brillouin noise: unveiling fundamental limits in Brillouin metrology","authors":"Simeng Jin, Shuai Yao, Zhisheng Yang, Zixuan Du, Xiaobin Hong, Marcelo A. Soto, Jingjing Xie, Long Zhang, Fan Yang, Jian Wu","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02115-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02115-2","url":null,"abstract":"Spontaneous Brillouin scattering (SpBS) enables non-contact probing of mechanical and thermodynamic material properties, underpinning transformative technologies such as distributed optical fiber sensing and high-resolution microscopy. Achieving ultimate precision in these systems demands a fundamental understanding of noise limits. Yet, an intrinsic SpBS noise phenomenon proposed over three decades ago has remained largely unexplored, particularly in metrological contexts. Here, we revisit the physical mechanism and stochastic nature of this long-overlooked noise source, developing a comprehensive analytical framework, validated through dedicated experiments. Crucially, we propose, for the first time, that SpBS noise constitutes a universal and fundamental limit capable of surpassing conventional constraints (e.g., the shot-noise limit) in spontaneous Brillouin metrological systems, such as imaging, microscopy and sensing. We experimentally demonstrate the SpBS-noise-limited regime in Brillouin imaging and sensing scenarios. This framework establishes a critical foundation for understanding and optimizing the performance of current and future Brillouin-based technologies across a broad range of applications.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145894297","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-03DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02123-2
Krzysztof Tyszka
A silicon photonic deep optical neural network integrating convolutional and fully connected layers with on-chip optoelectronic nonlinear activations operates with partially coherent light to achieve high-speed, energy-efficient, end-to-end inference. This demonstration establishes a functional and scalable platform for evaluating complete optical neural processing, representing another step toward specialised, ultrafast photonic architectures beyond electronics.
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