Pub Date : 2026-02-11DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02091-7
Jingbo Yin, Hao Luo, Tun Cao, Minghui Hong
Ultrafast lasers have garnered significant interest in the realm of surface nanofabrication. However, their dynamic electric field distribution is influenced by the polarization direction when pursuing high machining precision, which leads to high polarization dependence of laser nanostructuring. Here, polarization-independent surface nanostructuring is realized on Sb2S3 thin films by femtosecond laser irradiation via a microsphere in the far field and ambient air. The formation of nanogrooves is ascribed to surface thermal stress during melting, re-solidification, and super-cooling under high-repetition-rate femtosecond laser irradiation. The influence of materials melting and ablation on the electric field distribution during the laser processing is analyzed. In the molten state, the distribution of the electric field remains unaffected by polarization, enabling the realization of polarization-independent nanoprocessing based on the thermal stress induced by a temperature gradient. The feature sizes of surface nanostructures can be precisely adjusted by varying laser fluence, and the minimum size down to approximately 38 nm (λ/27) is achieved. This innovative laser nanostructuring technique, operating in the far field and ambient air, holds considerable promise for advancing next-generation nanofabrication.
{"title":"Polarization-independent surface nanostructuring by femtosecond laser irradiation via microsphere in far field and ambient air","authors":"Jingbo Yin, Hao Luo, Tun Cao, Minghui Hong","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02091-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02091-7","url":null,"abstract":"Ultrafast lasers have garnered significant interest in the realm of surface nanofabrication. However, their dynamic electric field distribution is influenced by the polarization direction when pursuing high machining precision, which leads to high polarization dependence of laser nanostructuring. Here, polarization-independent surface nanostructuring is realized on Sb2S3 thin films by femtosecond laser irradiation via a microsphere in the far field and ambient air. The formation of nanogrooves is ascribed to surface thermal stress during melting, re-solidification, and super-cooling under high-repetition-rate femtosecond laser irradiation. The influence of materials melting and ablation on the electric field distribution during the laser processing is analyzed. In the molten state, the distribution of the electric field remains unaffected by polarization, enabling the realization of polarization-independent nanoprocessing based on the thermal stress induced by a temperature gradient. The feature sizes of surface nanostructures can be precisely adjusted by varying laser fluence, and the minimum size down to approximately 38 nm (λ/27) is achieved. This innovative laser nanostructuring technique, operating in the far field and ambient air, holds considerable promise for advancing next-generation nanofabrication.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"240 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146152303","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}
High-throughput trapping and precision manipulation of individual pathogenic bioparticles in complex microenvironments are of great importance for in-vitro diagnostics and drug screening. Although optical tweezers have been widely used for bioparticle trapping and manipulation, the throughput, functionality, and adaptability are still limited for on-chip integrated bioparticle manipulation in complex and dynamic bioenvironments. Here, we report flexible, stretchable, on-chip optical tweezers (FSOT) based on large-scale orderly assembled microlenses for high-throughput manipulation of bioparticles in complex bio-environments and on flexible substrates, including soft bio-substrates such as skin and intestines. Large-scale (up to 1000) photonic nanojet effect of the microlenses enables high-throughput trapping, sorting, and modulation of individual bioparticles with sizes ranging from sub-100 nm to tens of micrometers, such as exosomes, bacteria and mammalian cells. Our FSOT exhibits high flexibility, which enables bioparticle trapping and sorting in complex and curved biological microenvironments. Importantly, our FSOT also exhibits high deformability and stretchability, which facilitates the control of inter-cellular distance between trapped neighboring cells, enabling real-time modulating and monitoring the interaction between single pathogenic bacteria and macrophage. Our FSOT represents a new class of on-chip optical tweezers for high-throughput bioparticle trapping and manipulation with the features of high flexibility and stretchability, and holds great promises as an integrated on-chip platform for high-throughput dynamic analysis of bioparticles, for revealing inter-cellular interactions between pathogenic bioparticles and host cells, and for precise drug screening.
{"title":"Flexible, stretchable, on-chip optical tweezers for high-throughput bioparticle manipulation","authors":"Ziyi He, Jianyun Xiong, Yang Shi, Ting Pan, Shaobiao Chen, Xin Zhang, Yizhen Chen, Xiangxian Wang, Baojun Li, Hongbao Xin","doi":"10.1038/s41377-026-02199-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02199-4","url":null,"abstract":"High-throughput trapping and precision manipulation of individual pathogenic bioparticles in complex microenvironments are of great importance for in-vitro diagnostics and drug screening. Although optical tweezers have been widely used for bioparticle trapping and manipulation, the throughput, functionality, and adaptability are still limited for on-chip integrated bioparticle manipulation in complex and dynamic bioenvironments. Here, we report flexible, stretchable, on-chip optical tweezers (FSOT) based on large-scale orderly assembled microlenses for high-throughput manipulation of bioparticles in complex bio-environments and on flexible substrates, including soft bio-substrates such as skin and intestines. Large-scale (up to 1000) photonic nanojet effect of the microlenses enables high-throughput trapping, sorting, and modulation of individual bioparticles with sizes ranging from sub-100 nm to tens of micrometers, such as exosomes, bacteria and mammalian cells. Our FSOT exhibits high flexibility, which enables bioparticle trapping and sorting in complex and curved biological microenvironments. Importantly, our FSOT also exhibits high deformability and stretchability, which facilitates the control of inter-cellular distance between trapped neighboring cells, enabling real-time modulating and monitoring the interaction between single pathogenic bacteria and macrophage. Our FSOT represents a new class of on-chip optical tweezers for high-throughput bioparticle trapping and manipulation with the features of high flexibility and stretchability, and holds great promises as an integrated on-chip platform for high-throughput dynamic analysis of bioparticles, for revealing inter-cellular interactions between pathogenic bioparticles and host cells, and for precise drug screening.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"67 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146102184","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 : 2026-02-03DOI: 10.1038/s41377-026-02188-7
Zhiqi Huang, Yufei Liu, Nan Zhang, Zian Zhang, Qiming Liao, Cong He, Shendong Liu, Youhai Liu, Hongtao Wang, Xingdu Qiao, Joel K. W. Yang, Yan Zhang, Lingling Huang, Yongtian Wang
Optical neural networks (ONNs) are emerging as a promising neuromorphic computing paradigm for object recognition, offering unprecedented advantages in light-speed computation, ultra-low power consumption, and inherent parallelism. However, most of ONNs are only capable of performing simple object classification tasks. These tasks are typically constrained to single-object scenarios, which limits their practical applications in multi-object recognition tasks. Here, we propose an anti-interference diffractive deep neural network (AI D2NN) that can accurately and robustly recognize targets in multi-object scenarios, including intra-class, inter-class, and dynamic interference. By employing different deep-learning-based training strategies for targets and interference, two transmissive diffractive layers form a physical network that maps the spatial information of targets all-optically into the power spectrum of the output light, while dispersing all interference as background noise. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this framework in classifying unknown handwritten digits under dynamic scenarios involving 40 categories of interference, achieving a simulated blind testing accuracy of 87.4% using terahertz waves. The presented framework can be physically scaled to operate at any electromagnetic wavelength by simply scaling the diffractive features in proportion to the wavelength range of interest. This work can greatly advance the practical application of ONNs in target recognition and pave the way for the development of real-time, high-throughput, low-power all-optical computing systems, which are expected to be applied to autonomous driving perception, precision medical diagnosis, and intelligent security monitoring.
{"title":"Anti-interference diffractive deep neural networks for multi-object recognition","authors":"Zhiqi Huang, Yufei Liu, Nan Zhang, Zian Zhang, Qiming Liao, Cong He, Shendong Liu, Youhai Liu, Hongtao Wang, Xingdu Qiao, Joel K. W. Yang, Yan Zhang, Lingling Huang, Yongtian Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41377-026-02188-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02188-7","url":null,"abstract":"Optical neural networks (ONNs) are emerging as a promising neuromorphic computing paradigm for object recognition, offering unprecedented advantages in light-speed computation, ultra-low power consumption, and inherent parallelism. However, most of ONNs are only capable of performing simple object classification tasks. These tasks are typically constrained to single-object scenarios, which limits their practical applications in multi-object recognition tasks. Here, we propose an anti-interference diffractive deep neural network (AI D2NN) that can accurately and robustly recognize targets in multi-object scenarios, including intra-class, inter-class, and dynamic interference. By employing different deep-learning-based training strategies for targets and interference, two transmissive diffractive layers form a physical network that maps the spatial information of targets all-optically into the power spectrum of the output light, while dispersing all interference as background noise. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this framework in classifying unknown handwritten digits under dynamic scenarios involving 40 categories of interference, achieving a simulated blind testing accuracy of 87.4% using terahertz waves. The presented framework can be physically scaled to operate at any electromagnetic wavelength by simply scaling the diffractive features in proportion to the wavelength range of interest. This work can greatly advance the practical application of ONNs in target recognition and pave the way for the development of real-time, high-throughput, low-power all-optical computing systems, which are expected to be applied to autonomous driving perception, precision medical diagnosis, and intelligent security monitoring.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146102182","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 : 2026-02-02DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02125-0
Shi Zhang, Shuguang Zhu, Shijian Tian, Libo Zhang, Cheng Chen, Kening Xiao, Wenqi Mo, Shicong Hou, Yunduo Zhang, Yuanfeng Wen, Yiran Tan, Kaixuan Zhang, Jiayue Han, Changlong Liu, Jiale He, Weiwei Tang, Jun Wang, Guanhai Li, Kai Zhang, Lin Wang, Xiaoshuang Chen
Polarization-sensitive neuromorphic vision sensing excels in distinguishing light polarization states, offering intrinsic advantages in reducing glare and enhancing visual clarity in complex lighting environments, enabling advanced applications in autonomous driving, optical communication, and bioinspired imaging across the visible-to-infrared spectrum. Here, we present a polarization-sensitive neuromorphic phototransistor based on a high-quality, intrinsically anisotropic two-dimensional black arsenic-phosphorus nanosheet, which exhibits exceptional optoelectronic performance with a peak responsivity of 2.88 A W-1, a polarization ratio of 4.7 and a dynamic range of 40 dB within the near-infrared communication band. Through multidimensional input control, including polarization and gate voltage, the phototransistor successfully simulates synaptic behaviors analogous to human neural responses to visual stimuli, with paired-pulse facilitation values reaching 201%. Critically, the device demonstrates gate-tunable short-term plasticity, with optical persistence triggering stable long-term plasticity states that underpin memory consolidation. The neuromorphic properties enable the development of a hybrid optical-electronic neural network which achieves a classification accuracy of over 90% on the Fashion-MNIST dataset and a reconstruction accuracy of 71.38% using data from the Yale Face Database under 0º linear polarization. We demonstrate a polarization-resolved imaging approach utilizing the black arsenic-phosphorus phototransistor to reconstruct hidden targets with high fidelity through Stokes parameter extraction and degree of linear polarization mapping, revealing intricate polarization features invisible to conventional imaging systems. Our work establishes a foundational platform for high-performance neuromorphic vision systems with integrated polarization imaging, computation, and communication functionalities, addressing critical challenges in scalable brain-inspired optoelectronic technologies.
偏振敏感的神经形态视觉传感在区分光偏振状态方面表现出色，在复杂的照明环境中提供了减少眩光和提高视觉清晰度的内在优势，使自动驾驶，光通信和生物启发成像在可见到红外光谱中的先进应用成为可能。在这里，我们提出了一种极化敏感的神经形态光电晶体管，基于高质量的，本质各向异性的二维黑色砷磷纳米片，具有优异的光电性能，峰值响应率为2.88 a W-1，极化比为4.7，近红外通信波段动态范围为40 dB。通过多维输入控制，包括极化和栅极电压，光电晶体管成功地模拟了类似于人类神经对视觉刺激反应的突触行为，其对脉冲易化值达到201%。关键的是，该器件显示出门可调的短期可塑性，光持久性触发稳定的长期可塑性状态，巩固记忆。该神经形态特性使光电混合神经网络的发展成为可能，该网络在Fashion-MNIST数据集上实现了超过90%的分类精度，在0º线偏振下使用耶鲁人脸数据库的数据实现了71.38%的重建精度。我们展示了一种偏振分辨成像方法，利用黑色砷磷光电晶体管通过Stokes参数提取和线性偏振度映射来高保真地重建隐藏目标，揭示了传统成像系统不可见的复杂偏振特征。我们的工作建立了一个具有集成偏振成像、计算和通信功能的高性能神经形态视觉系统的基础平台，解决了可扩展的脑启发光电技术的关键挑战。
{"title":"Polarization-sensitive neuromorphic vision sensing enabled by pristine black arsenic-phosphorus","authors":"Shi Zhang, Shuguang Zhu, Shijian Tian, Libo Zhang, Cheng Chen, Kening Xiao, Wenqi Mo, Shicong Hou, Yunduo Zhang, Yuanfeng Wen, Yiran Tan, Kaixuan Zhang, Jiayue Han, Changlong Liu, Jiale He, Weiwei Tang, Jun Wang, Guanhai Li, Kai Zhang, Lin Wang, Xiaoshuang Chen","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02125-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02125-0","url":null,"abstract":"Polarization-sensitive neuromorphic vision sensing excels in distinguishing light polarization states, offering intrinsic advantages in reducing glare and enhancing visual clarity in complex lighting environments, enabling advanced applications in autonomous driving, optical communication, and bioinspired imaging across the visible-to-infrared spectrum. Here, we present a polarization-sensitive neuromorphic phototransistor based on a high-quality, intrinsically anisotropic two-dimensional black arsenic-phosphorus nanosheet, which exhibits exceptional optoelectronic performance with a peak responsivity of 2.88 A W-1, a polarization ratio of 4.7 and a dynamic range of 40 dB within the near-infrared communication band. Through multidimensional input control, including polarization and gate voltage, the phototransistor successfully simulates synaptic behaviors analogous to human neural responses to visual stimuli, with paired-pulse facilitation values reaching 201%. Critically, the device demonstrates gate-tunable short-term plasticity, with optical persistence triggering stable long-term plasticity states that underpin memory consolidation. The neuromorphic properties enable the development of a hybrid optical-electronic neural network which achieves a classification accuracy of over 90% on the Fashion-MNIST dataset and a reconstruction accuracy of 71.38% using data from the Yale Face Database under 0º linear polarization. We demonstrate a polarization-resolved imaging approach utilizing the black arsenic-phosphorus phototransistor to reconstruct hidden targets with high fidelity through Stokes parameter extraction and degree of linear polarization mapping, revealing intricate polarization features invisible to conventional imaging systems. Our work establishes a foundational platform for high-performance neuromorphic vision systems with integrated polarization imaging, computation, and communication functionalities, addressing critical challenges in scalable brain-inspired optoelectronic technologies.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"217 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146102183","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}
III-V photonic crystal (PhC) lasers with small footprints and low power consumption are potential ultra-compact and power-efficient light sources for future on-chip optical interconnects. Conventional PhC lasers fabricated by vertical epitaxy require suspended air-bridge structures and air holes etched through the gain medium, severely compromising mechanical resistance to external impacts and pumping efficiency. While bonding and regrowth can mitigate these issues, their fabrication complexity substantially increases process costs and hinders mass production. Here, we address these issues using selective lateral heteroepitaxy and demonstrate monolithically integrated III-V membrane PhC lasers on (001) silicon-on-insulator (SOI). By leveraging selective lateral heteroepitaxy and metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), we achieved the growth of dislocation-free InP membranes on SOI wafers patterned in Si-photonics foundries. The unique III-V-on-insulator avoids the formation of air-suspended structures and significantly enhances the mechanical stability of the devices. We also precisely positioned the laterally grown InGaAs/InP quantum wells (QWs) at the center of the InP membrane to avoid etching air holes through the gain medium, thus eliminating surface recombination and drastically improving pumping efficiency. We fabricated near-infrared and telecom PhC lasers using laterally grown III-V membranes, and achieved room-temperature lasing at 910 nm and 1430 nm with low thresholds of 17.5 μJ/cm² and 5.7 μJ/cm², respectively. Our results establish a novel approach for fabricating PhC lasers and provide an elegant solution for monolithically integrated PhC lasers in next-generation optical interconnects.
III-V光子晶体（PhC）激光器占地面积小，功耗低，是未来片上光学互连的潜在超紧凑和节能光源。通过垂直外延制造的传统PhC激光器需要悬浮的气桥结构和通过增益介质蚀刻的空气孔，这严重影响了外部冲击的机械阻力和泵浦效率。虽然粘合和再生可以缓解这些问题，但它们的制造复杂性大大增加了工艺成本，阻碍了大规模生产。在这里，我们利用选择性横向异质外延解决了这些问题，并在（001）绝缘体上硅（SOI）上展示了单片集成III-V膜PhC激光器。通过利用选择性横向异质外延和金属有机化学气相沉积（MOCVD），我们在硅光子学代工厂的SOI晶圆上实现了无位错InP膜的生长。独特的iii - v -on-绝缘子避免了空气悬浮结构的形成，显著提高了设备的机械稳定性。我们还精确地将横向生长的InGaAs/InP量子阱（QWs）定位在InP膜的中心，以避免通过增益介质蚀刻空气孔，从而消除表面复合并大大提高泵浦效率。利用横向生长的III-V薄膜制备了近红外和电信PhC激光器，实现了910 nm和1430 nm的室温激光，低阈值分别为17.5 μJ/cm²和5.7 μJ/cm²。我们的研究结果建立了一种制造PhC激光器的新方法，并为下一代光互连中的单片集成PhC激光器提供了一种优雅的解决方案。
{"title":"Monolithic III-V membrane photonic crystal lasers on SOI using selective lateral heteroepitaxy.","authors":"Cong Zeng,Zhaojie Ren,Zili Lei,Donghui Fu,Yingzhi Zhao,Ying Yu,Yu Han,Siyuan Yu","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02074-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02074-8","url":null,"abstract":"III-V photonic crystal (PhC) lasers with small footprints and low power consumption are potential ultra-compact and power-efficient light sources for future on-chip optical interconnects. Conventional PhC lasers fabricated by vertical epitaxy require suspended air-bridge structures and air holes etched through the gain medium, severely compromising mechanical resistance to external impacts and pumping efficiency. While bonding and regrowth can mitigate these issues, their fabrication complexity substantially increases process costs and hinders mass production. Here, we address these issues using selective lateral heteroepitaxy and demonstrate monolithically integrated III-V membrane PhC lasers on (001) silicon-on-insulator (SOI). By leveraging selective lateral heteroepitaxy and metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), we achieved the growth of dislocation-free InP membranes on SOI wafers patterned in Si-photonics foundries. The unique III-V-on-insulator avoids the formation of air-suspended structures and significantly enhances the mechanical stability of the devices. We also precisely positioned the laterally grown InGaAs/InP quantum wells (QWs) at the center of the InP membrane to avoid etching air holes through the gain medium, thus eliminating surface recombination and drastically improving pumping efficiency. We fabricated near-infrared and telecom PhC lasers using laterally grown III-V membranes, and achieved room-temperature lasing at 910 nm and 1430 nm with low thresholds of 17.5 μJ/cm² and 5.7 μJ/cm², respectively. Our results establish a novel approach for fabricating PhC lasers and provide an elegant solution for monolithically integrated PhC lasers in next-generation optical interconnects.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"104 1","pages":"98"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146088905","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}
Photonic crystal fibers have significantly advanced optoelectronics, enabling a wide range of applications from communications to sensing and imaging. A long-standing challenge in these areas has been achieving pure single-polarization single-mode (SPSM) waveguiding for high-quality information transmission. Traditional approaches, however, inevitably introduce polarization dispersion and operate within a narrow bandwidth. Recent advancements in topological phases offer a promising opportunity to access previously unattainable mode properties, though experimental demonstrations remain scarce. In this work, we present the first experimental observation of a topologically protected photonic Dirac vortex mode that supports pure SPSM propagation in terahertz fibers. Utilizing terahertz scanning near-field microscopic spectroscopy, we map the temporal, spectral, and spatial characteristics of the topological mode, providing insights into its mode profile, dispersion, effective area, and numerical aperture. We demonstrate a single linearly dispersed Dirac vortex mode with a single vortex polarization and a broad 85.7% fractional bandwidth. This breakthrough fills a crucial gap in the development of SPSM fibers and introduces a comprehensive methodology for exploring mode properties, paving the way for advancements in terahertz optoelectronics, topological photonics, and specialty optical fibers.
{"title":"Experimental observation of topological Dirac vortex mode in terahertz photonic crystal fibers.","authors":"Hongyang Xing,Zhanqiang Xue,Perry Ping Shum,Longqing Cong","doi":"10.1038/s41377-026-02197-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02197-6","url":null,"abstract":"Photonic crystal fibers have significantly advanced optoelectronics, enabling a wide range of applications from communications to sensing and imaging. A long-standing challenge in these areas has been achieving pure single-polarization single-mode (SPSM) waveguiding for high-quality information transmission. Traditional approaches, however, inevitably introduce polarization dispersion and operate within a narrow bandwidth. Recent advancements in topological phases offer a promising opportunity to access previously unattainable mode properties, though experimental demonstrations remain scarce. In this work, we present the first experimental observation of a topologically protected photonic Dirac vortex mode that supports pure SPSM propagation in terahertz fibers. Utilizing terahertz scanning near-field microscopic spectroscopy, we map the temporal, spectral, and spatial characteristics of the topological mode, providing insights into its mode profile, dispersion, effective area, and numerical aperture. We demonstrate a single linearly dispersed Dirac vortex mode with a single vortex polarization and a broad 85.7% fractional bandwidth. This breakthrough fills a crucial gap in the development of SPSM fibers and introduces a comprehensive methodology for exploring mode properties, paving the way for advancements in terahertz optoelectronics, topological photonics, and specialty optical fibers.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"43 1","pages":"97"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146088906","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 : 2026-01-30DOI: 10.1038/s41377-026-02185-w
Ying Shi,Bozhang Dong,Xiangpeng Ou,Artem Prokoshin,Chen Shang,John E Bowers,Yating Wan
Reflections from on-chip components pose significant challenges to stable laser operation in photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Quantum dot (QD) lasers, with low linewidth enhancement factors and high damping rates, are promising for isolator-free integration, yet earlier feedback studies were capped near -10 dB feedback and never reached coherence collapse (CC). As a result, one could only conclude that QD lasers tolerate feedback up to -10 dB, leaving open whether they remain reliable in practical PICs where lower coupling losses allow much stronger feedback. Here, we optimized QD lasers through advanced epitaxial growth and fabrication and developed a setup that delivers feedback up to 0 dB. Under these conditions, we observed CC at -6.7 dB (21.4% feedback), extending the feedback tolerance by tens of decibels beyond quantum-well (QW) lasers. We further demonstrated penalty-free 10 Gbps operation, robust thermal stability with ±0.5 dB drift across 15-45 °C, >100 h continuous testing, and ~±0.3 dB reproducibility across devices. Modeling indicates even stronger tolerance in realistic PIC cavities, and benchmarking shows our device rivals hybrid DFB-resonator platforms while outperforming other QW, QD, and VCSEL lasers. Together, this work provides the most comprehensive assessment of QD laser feedback tolerance to date and establishes practical design rules for isolator-free PICs.
{"title":"Exploring the feedback limits of quantum dot lasers for isolator-free photonic integrated circuits.","authors":"Ying Shi,Bozhang Dong,Xiangpeng Ou,Artem Prokoshin,Chen Shang,John E Bowers,Yating Wan","doi":"10.1038/s41377-026-02185-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02185-w","url":null,"abstract":"Reflections from on-chip components pose significant challenges to stable laser operation in photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Quantum dot (QD) lasers, with low linewidth enhancement factors and high damping rates, are promising for isolator-free integration, yet earlier feedback studies were capped near -10 dB feedback and never reached coherence collapse (CC). As a result, one could only conclude that QD lasers tolerate feedback up to -10 dB, leaving open whether they remain reliable in practical PICs where lower coupling losses allow much stronger feedback. Here, we optimized QD lasers through advanced epitaxial growth and fabrication and developed a setup that delivers feedback up to 0 dB. Under these conditions, we observed CC at -6.7 dB (21.4% feedback), extending the feedback tolerance by tens of decibels beyond quantum-well (QW) lasers. We further demonstrated penalty-free 10 Gbps operation, robust thermal stability with ±0.5 dB drift across 15-45 °C, >100 h continuous testing, and ~±0.3 dB reproducibility across devices. Modeling indicates even stronger tolerance in realistic PIC cavities, and benchmarking shows our device rivals hybrid DFB-resonator platforms while outperforming other QW, QD, and VCSEL lasers. Together, this work provides the most comprehensive assessment of QD laser feedback tolerance to date and establishes practical design rules for isolator-free PICs.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"143 1","pages":"96"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146073015","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}
Narrow-linewidth vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are key enablers for chip-scale atomic clocks and quantum sensors, yet conventional designs suffer from short cavity lengths and excess spontaneous emission, resulting in broad linewidths and degraded frequency stability. Here, we demonstrate a monolithically integrated VCSEL operating at the cesium D1 line (894.6 nm) that achieves intrinsic linewidth compression to ~1 MHz, without requiring external optical feedback. This performance is enabled by embedding a passive cavity adjacent to the active region, which spatially redistributes the optical field into a low-loss region, extending photon lifetime while suppressing higher-order transverse and longitudinal modes. The resulting device exhibits robust single-mode operation over a wide current and temperature range, with side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) > 35 dB, orthogonal polarization suppression ratio (OPSR) > 25 dB and a beam divergence of ~7°. Integrated into a Cesium vapor-cell atomic clock, the VCSEL supports a frequency stability of 1.89 × 10-12 τ-1/2. These results position this VCSEL architecture as a compact, scalable solution for next-generation quantum-enabled frequency references and sensing platforms.
{"title":"1-MHz linewidth VCSEL enabled by monolithically integrated passive cavity for high-stability chip-scale atomic clocks.","authors":"Zhiting Tang,Chuanlin Li,Xuhao Zhang,Wuyang Ren,Kai Shen,Chuang Li,Qingsong Bai,Jin Li,Aobo Ren,Hao Wang,Xiaorong Luo,Hongxing Xu,Jiang Wu","doi":"10.1038/s41377-026-02192-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02192-x","url":null,"abstract":"Narrow-linewidth vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are key enablers for chip-scale atomic clocks and quantum sensors, yet conventional designs suffer from short cavity lengths and excess spontaneous emission, resulting in broad linewidths and degraded frequency stability. Here, we demonstrate a monolithically integrated VCSEL operating at the cesium D1 line (894.6 nm) that achieves intrinsic linewidth compression to ~1 MHz, without requiring external optical feedback. This performance is enabled by embedding a passive cavity adjacent to the active region, which spatially redistributes the optical field into a low-loss region, extending photon lifetime while suppressing higher-order transverse and longitudinal modes. The resulting device exhibits robust single-mode operation over a wide current and temperature range, with side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) > 35 dB, orthogonal polarization suppression ratio (OPSR) > 25 dB and a beam divergence of ~7°. Integrated into a Cesium vapor-cell atomic clock, the VCSEL supports a frequency stability of 1.89 × 10-12 τ-1/2. These results position this VCSEL architecture as a compact, scalable solution for next-generation quantum-enabled frequency references and sensing platforms.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"1 1","pages":"94"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146069989","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 : 2026-01-29DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02179-0
Liat Nemirovsky-Levy, Amit Kam, Meir Lederman, Meir Orenstein, Uzi Pereg, Guy Bartal, Mordechai Segev
Quantum nanophotonics merges the precision of nanoscale light manipulation with the capabilities of quantum technologies, offering a pathway for enhanced light-matter interaction and compact realization of quantum devices. Here, we show how a recently-demonstrated nonlinear nanophotonic process can be employed to selectively create photonic high-dimensional quantum states (qudits). We utilize the nonlinearity on the surface of the nanophotonic device to dress, through the polarization of the pump field, the near-field modes carrying angular momentum and their superpositions. This idea is an important step towards experimental realizations of quantum state generation and manipulation through nonlinearity within nanophotonic platforms, and enables new capabilities for on-chip quantum devices.
{"title":"Nonlinear nanophotonics for high-dimensional quantum states","authors":"Liat Nemirovsky-Levy, Amit Kam, Meir Lederman, Meir Orenstein, Uzi Pereg, Guy Bartal, Mordechai Segev","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02179-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02179-0","url":null,"abstract":"Quantum nanophotonics merges the precision of nanoscale light manipulation with the capabilities of quantum technologies, offering a pathway for enhanced light-matter interaction and compact realization of quantum devices. Here, we show how a recently-demonstrated nonlinear nanophotonic process can be employed to selectively create photonic high-dimensional quantum states (qudits). We utilize the nonlinearity on the surface of the nanophotonic device to dress, through the polarization of the pump field, the near-field modes carrying angular momentum and their superpositions. This idea is an important step towards experimental realizations of quantum state generation and manipulation through nonlinearity within nanophotonic platforms, and enables new capabilities for on-chip quantum devices.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"260 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146089286","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}
Non-destructive and accurate characterization of high aspect ratio (HAR) and composite micro-trenches is critical for advanced microfabrication but remains a major challenge. Conventional coherence scanning interferometry (CSI), while widely adopted, suffers from low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and limited lateral resolution when applied to HAR and composite microstructures. Here, we present Fourier ptychographic coherence scanning interferometry (FP-CSI), the first transmissive CSI modality that integrates the aperture synthesis strategy of Fourier ptychographic microscopy with the quantitative phase-resolved capability of interferometry. FP-CSI enables robust three-dimensional morphology reconstruction with enhanced SNR and improved lateral resolution, without reliance on iterative phase retrieval. We demonstrate accurate measurements of a HAR micro-trench (300 μm depth, 30:1 aspect ratio) and micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) devices (aspect ratios 6:1-20:1). FP-CSI achieves lateral resolution up to the incoherent diffraction limit and maintains this performance even at trench bottoms. Owing to its fidelity, robustness, and non-destructive operation, FP-CSI provides a powerful new metrology platform for next-generation semiconductor inspection, precision manufacturing, and emerging micro-optoelectronic systems.
{"title":"Fourier ptychographic coherence scanning interferometry for 3D morphology of high aspect ratio and composite micro-trenches.","authors":"Yin Li,Qun Yuan,Xiao Huo,Shumin Wang,Hongtao He,Zhishan Gao","doi":"10.1038/s41377-026-02189-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02189-6","url":null,"abstract":"Non-destructive and accurate characterization of high aspect ratio (HAR) and composite micro-trenches is critical for advanced microfabrication but remains a major challenge. Conventional coherence scanning interferometry (CSI), while widely adopted, suffers from low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and limited lateral resolution when applied to HAR and composite microstructures. Here, we present Fourier ptychographic coherence scanning interferometry (FP-CSI), the first transmissive CSI modality that integrates the aperture synthesis strategy of Fourier ptychographic microscopy with the quantitative phase-resolved capability of interferometry. FP-CSI enables robust three-dimensional morphology reconstruction with enhanced SNR and improved lateral resolution, without reliance on iterative phase retrieval. We demonstrate accurate measurements of a HAR micro-trench (300 μm depth, 30:1 aspect ratio) and micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) devices (aspect ratios 6:1-20:1). FP-CSI achieves lateral resolution up to the incoherent diffraction limit and maintains this performance even at trench bottoms. Owing to its fidelity, robustness, and non-destructive operation, FP-CSI provides a powerful new metrology platform for next-generation semiconductor inspection, precision manufacturing, and emerging micro-optoelectronic systems.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"71 1","pages":"93"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146069985","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}
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