It is intractable to perform information processing and computation on single ultrafast optical pulses, within picoseconds or even femtoseconds. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an optical spatiotemporal differentiator, a mirror-symmetry-breaking dielectric metagrating, which performs analog computations of both spatial and temporal differentiations on single ultrafast optical wavepackets. The spatiotemporal differentiator is designed with a transfer function with linear dependence on spatial wavevector and temporal frequency and fabricated by using a double-exposure E-beam lithography process. We achieve the first-order spatiotemporal differentiation with experimental resolutions of approximately 14 μm (in space) and 260 fs (in time). Furthermore, we report a parabolic relationship between the transverse velocity of a front-tilted photonic wavepacket and the normalized intensity of its first-order spatiotemporal-differentiation wavepacket. This relationship allows direct measurement of the transverse velocity using only the normalized intensity, fundamentally simplifying velocity detection. These capabilities of optical spatiotemporal computation endow emerging space-time optics with fundamental computation blocks.
{"title":"Experimental demonstration of spatiotemporal analog computation in ultrafast optics.","authors":"Junyi Huang,Dong Zhao,Jixuan Shi,Hongliang Zhang,Hengyi Wang,Fang-Wen Sun,Qiwen Zhan,Shiyao Zhu,Kun Huang,Zhichao Ruan","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02109-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02109-0","url":null,"abstract":"It is intractable to perform information processing and computation on single ultrafast optical pulses, within picoseconds or even femtoseconds. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an optical spatiotemporal differentiator, a mirror-symmetry-breaking dielectric metagrating, which performs analog computations of both spatial and temporal differentiations on single ultrafast optical wavepackets. The spatiotemporal differentiator is designed with a transfer function with linear dependence on spatial wavevector and temporal frequency and fabricated by using a double-exposure E-beam lithography process. We achieve the first-order spatiotemporal differentiation with experimental resolutions of approximately 14 μm (in space) and 260 fs (in time). Furthermore, we report a parabolic relationship between the transverse velocity of a front-tilted photonic wavepacket and the normalized intensity of its first-order spatiotemporal-differentiation wavepacket. This relationship allows direct measurement of the transverse velocity using only the normalized intensity, fundamentally simplifying velocity detection. These capabilities of optical spatiotemporal computation endow emerging space-time optics with fundamental computation blocks.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"31 1","pages":"77"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146015241","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 : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02102-7
Qingsong Yao,Zile Li,Guoxing Zheng
The ability to create complex three-dimensional structures of light is extremely challenging. Now, a technique combining Dammann optimization with metasurfaces has been developed, enabling control over all parameters, including polarization, phase, angular momentum, and spatial modes. The generation of three-dimensional generalized vortex beams can open new horizons for their applications in photonics.
{"title":"Generation of vectorial generalized vortex array with metasurfaces.","authors":"Qingsong Yao,Zile Li,Guoxing Zheng","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02102-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02102-7","url":null,"abstract":"The ability to create complex three-dimensional structures of light is extremely challenging. Now, a technique combining Dammann optimization with metasurfaces has been developed, enabling control over all parameters, including polarization, phase, angular momentum, and spatial modes. The generation of three-dimensional generalized vortex beams can open new horizons for their applications in photonics.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"07 1","pages":"78"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146015332","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}
Dispersion engineering is pivotal for nonlinear optics, yet it often faces challenges posed by material and structural limitations. Here, we establish rotational symmetry breaking as the guiding principle for dispersion engineering in optical microcavities. Through boundary deformation, multi-branch global dispersion emerges in island modes, and local dispersion is controlled via resonance-assisted tunneling between quasi-whispering gallery modes. Enabled by the global dispersion, the optical parametric oscillation is predicted in blue-violet light spectrum with high efficiency (>55%) and large frequency separation (>180 THz). Using the local dispersion engineering, the doubly-resonant enhancement of second-harmonic generation is regulated by the resonance-assisted tunneling.
{"title":"Dispersion engineering by rotational symmetry breaking in an optical microcavity.","authors":"Jian-Zheng Ren,Li-Jie Li,Rui-Qi Zhang,Zhi-Yan Wang,Qi-Tao Cao,Yun-Feng Xiao","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02169-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02169-2","url":null,"abstract":"Dispersion engineering is pivotal for nonlinear optics, yet it often faces challenges posed by material and structural limitations. Here, we establish rotational symmetry breaking as the guiding principle for dispersion engineering in optical microcavities. Through boundary deformation, multi-branch global dispersion emerges in island modes, and local dispersion is controlled via resonance-assisted tunneling between quasi-whispering gallery modes. Enabled by the global dispersion, the optical parametric oscillation is predicted in blue-violet light spectrum with high efficiency (>55%) and large frequency separation (>180 THz). Using the local dispersion engineering, the doubly-resonant enhancement of second-harmonic generation is regulated by the resonance-assisted tunneling.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"5 1","pages":"81"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146015312","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 : 2026-01-21DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02172-7
Ke-Jin Zhou,Qiushi Huang,Mirian Garcia-Fernandez,Yeqi Zhuang,Stefano Agrestini,Shengyou Wen,Thomas Rice,Sahil Tippireddy,Jaewon Choi,Andrew Walters,Igor V Kozhevnikov,Zhe Zhang,Runze Qi,Zhong Zhang,Hongchang Wang,Zhanshan Wang
Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is a photon-in/photon-out spectroscopic technique which has become increasingly important for the condensed matter physics community. The development of the RIXS instrumentation in soft X-ray and hard X-ray range facilitated the research in 3d and 5d transition metal (TM)-based materials, respectively. However, the tender X-ray (2000-3000 eV) RIXS covering most of 4d TM-based materials severely falls behind due to the lack of high-performance energy dispersive optics. Here, we demonstrate the design and fabrication of a laterally graded multilayer grating (MLG) optics for the establishment of the tender RIXS at the I21 RIXS beamline in Diamond Light Source. The successful implementation of the MLG boosts the photon flux by more than an order of magnitude at the Sulfur K-edge (2475 eV) and the Ru L3-edge (2838 eV) in comparison to the solution of a single-layer coated grating (SLG). More importantly, MLG retains the high energy resolution of the SLG design (~10,000) and works continuously across the full range of 2000-3000 eV. It renders the I21 beamline as the very first RIXS facility in the world that covers both soft and tender X-rays (280-3000 eV) using a grating-based spectrometer for a wide range of science applications.
{"title":"TRIXS: a multilayer grating solution towards highly efficient resonant inelastic tender X-ray scattering.","authors":"Ke-Jin Zhou,Qiushi Huang,Mirian Garcia-Fernandez,Yeqi Zhuang,Stefano Agrestini,Shengyou Wen,Thomas Rice,Sahil Tippireddy,Jaewon Choi,Andrew Walters,Igor V Kozhevnikov,Zhe Zhang,Runze Qi,Zhong Zhang,Hongchang Wang,Zhanshan Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02172-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02172-7","url":null,"abstract":"Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is a photon-in/photon-out spectroscopic technique which has become increasingly important for the condensed matter physics community. The development of the RIXS instrumentation in soft X-ray and hard X-ray range facilitated the research in 3d and 5d transition metal (TM)-based materials, respectively. However, the tender X-ray (2000-3000 eV) RIXS covering most of 4d TM-based materials severely falls behind due to the lack of high-performance energy dispersive optics. Here, we demonstrate the design and fabrication of a laterally graded multilayer grating (MLG) optics for the establishment of the tender RIXS at the I21 RIXS beamline in Diamond Light Source. The successful implementation of the MLG boosts the photon flux by more than an order of magnitude at the Sulfur K-edge (2475 eV) and the Ru L3-edge (2838 eV) in comparison to the solution of a single-layer coated grating (SLG). More importantly, MLG retains the high energy resolution of the SLG design (~10,000) and works continuously across the full range of 2000-3000 eV. It renders the I21 beamline as the very first RIXS facility in the world that covers both soft and tender X-rays (280-3000 eV) using a grating-based spectrometer for a wide range of science applications.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"21 1","pages":"76"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146005098","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 integration of surface-regular micro/nanostructured electrodes within a limited footprint area is promising to enhance the electrochemical performance of planar micro-supercapacitors (P-MSCs), while developing simple yet efficient manufacturing methods for such electrodes remains a challenge. Here, we propose a universal strategy combining femtosecond laser plasma lithography with spatial light modulation (SLM-FPL), fabricating well-ordered sub-wavelength micro/nanostructured electrodes of interdigital P-MSCs (SEP-MSCs) on graphene oxide (GO) films. Achieving 500/50 µm finger widths/spacings and 680 nm internal grating periods, this method enables device densities >25 units inch-2 with processing efficiency orders of magnitude higher than conventional laser direct writing. Further performance optimizations via wettability modification, electric field engineering, and hybrid composites (GO-MXene/COF) yield outstanding specific capacitance (~41.4 F cm-3) and cycling stability (93% retention over 5000 cycles), supporting applications in flexible sensors and compact power supplies. This SLM-FPL technology shows strong potential for high-performance, spatially efficient SEP-MSCs in next-generation integrated systems.
在有限的占地面积内集成表面规则的微/纳米结构电极有望提高平面微超级电容器（P-MSCs）的电化学性能，但开发简单而高效的制造方法仍然是一个挑战。在这里，我们提出了一种将飞秒激光等离子体光刻与空间光调制（SLM-FPL）相结合的通用策略，在氧化石墨烯（GO）薄膜上制备有序的亚波长间P-MSCs （SEP-MSCs）微/纳米结构电极。该方法实现了500/50 μ m的指宽/间距和680 nm的内部光栅周期，使器件密度达到25单位英寸-2，处理效率比传统的激光直接写入高几个数量级。通过润湿性改性、电场工程和混合复合材料（GO-MXene/COF）进一步优化性能，可获得出色的比电容（~41.4 F cm-3）和循环稳定性（超过5000次循环保持93%），支持柔性传感器和紧凑型电源的应用。这种SLM-FPL技术显示了下一代集成系统中高性能、空间高效SEP-MSCs的强大潜力。
{"title":"High-efficiency femtosecond laser fabrication of graphene-hybrid planar micro-supercapacitors with micro/nanostructured electrodes.","authors":"Yuyuan Zhang,Tingting Zou,Haobo Jiang,Xiuyan Fu,Wei Xin,Yiyang Meng,Xilin Li,Jun-Ming Cao,Lin Yang,Yuanzheng Li,Weizhen Liu,Dongdong Han,Xing-Long Wu,Jianjun Yang,Haiyang Xu,Yichun Liu","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02182-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02182-5","url":null,"abstract":"The integration of surface-regular micro/nanostructured electrodes within a limited footprint area is promising to enhance the electrochemical performance of planar micro-supercapacitors (P-MSCs), while developing simple yet efficient manufacturing methods for such electrodes remains a challenge. Here, we propose a universal strategy combining femtosecond laser plasma lithography with spatial light modulation (SLM-FPL), fabricating well-ordered sub-wavelength micro/nanostructured electrodes of interdigital P-MSCs (SEP-MSCs) on graphene oxide (GO) films. Achieving 500/50 µm finger widths/spacings and 680 nm internal grating periods, this method enables device densities >25 units inch-2 with processing efficiency orders of magnitude higher than conventional laser direct writing. Further performance optimizations via wettability modification, electric field engineering, and hybrid composites (GO-MXene/COF) yield outstanding specific capacitance (~41.4 F cm-3) and cycling stability (93% retention over 5000 cycles), supporting applications in flexible sensors and compact power supplies. This SLM-FPL technology shows strong potential for high-performance, spatially efficient SEP-MSCs in next-generation integrated systems.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"6 1","pages":"75"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146005572","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 : 2026-01-15DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02094-4
Sabrina M. Corsetti, Ashton Hattori, Ethan R. Clements, Felix W. Knollmann, Milica Notaros, Reuel Swint, Tal Sneh, Patrick T. Callahan, Gavin N. West, Dave Kharas, Thomas Mahony, Colin D. Bruzewicz, Cheryl Sorace-Agaskar, Robert McConnell, Isaac L. Chuang, John Chiaverini, Jelena Notaros
Trapped ions are a promising modality for quantum systems, with demonstrated utility as the basis for quantum processors and optical clocks. However, traditional trapped-ion systems are implemented using complex free-space optical configurations, whose large size and susceptibility to vibrations and drift inhibit scaling to large numbers of qubits. In recent years, integrated-photonics-based systems have been demonstrated as an avenue to address the challenge of scaling trapped-ion systems while maintaining high fidelities. While these previous demonstrations have implemented both Doppler and resolved-sideband cooling of trapped ions, these cooling techniques are fundamentally limited in efficiency. In contrast, polarization-gradient cooling can enable faster and more power-efficient cooling and, therefore, improved computational efficiencies in trapped-ion systems. While free-space implementations of polarization-gradient cooling have demonstrated advantages over other cooling mechanisms, polarization-gradient cooling has never previously been implemented using integrated photonics. In this paper, we design and experimentally demonstrate key polarization-diverse integrated-photonics devices and utilize them to implement a variety of integrated-photonics-based polarization-gradient-cooling systems, culminating in the first experimental demonstration of polarization-gradient cooling of a trapped ion by an integrated-photonics-based system. By demonstrating polarization-gradient cooling using an integrated-photonics-based system and, in general, opening up the field of polarization-diverse integrated-photonics-based devices and systems for trapped ions, this work facilitates new capabilities for integrated-photonics-based trapped-ion platforms.
{"title":"Integrated-photonics-based systems for polarization-gradient cooling of trapped ions","authors":"Sabrina M. Corsetti, Ashton Hattori, Ethan R. Clements, Felix W. Knollmann, Milica Notaros, Reuel Swint, Tal Sneh, Patrick T. Callahan, Gavin N. West, Dave Kharas, Thomas Mahony, Colin D. Bruzewicz, Cheryl Sorace-Agaskar, Robert McConnell, Isaac L. Chuang, John Chiaverini, Jelena Notaros","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02094-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02094-4","url":null,"abstract":"Trapped ions are a promising modality for quantum systems, with demonstrated utility as the basis for quantum processors and optical clocks. However, traditional trapped-ion systems are implemented using complex free-space optical configurations, whose large size and susceptibility to vibrations and drift inhibit scaling to large numbers of qubits. In recent years, integrated-photonics-based systems have been demonstrated as an avenue to address the challenge of scaling trapped-ion systems while maintaining high fidelities. While these previous demonstrations have implemented both Doppler and resolved-sideband cooling of trapped ions, these cooling techniques are fundamentally limited in efficiency. In contrast, polarization-gradient cooling can enable faster and more power-efficient cooling and, therefore, improved computational efficiencies in trapped-ion systems. While free-space implementations of polarization-gradient cooling have demonstrated advantages over other cooling mechanisms, polarization-gradient cooling has never previously been implemented using integrated photonics. In this paper, we design and experimentally demonstrate key polarization-diverse integrated-photonics devices and utilize them to implement a variety of integrated-photonics-based polarization-gradient-cooling systems, culminating in the first experimental demonstration of polarization-gradient cooling of a trapped ion by an integrated-photonics-based system. By demonstrating polarization-gradient cooling using an integrated-photonics-based system and, in general, opening up the field of polarization-diverse integrated-photonics-based devices and systems for trapped ions, this work facilitates new capabilities for integrated-photonics-based trapped-ion platforms.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145968742","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}
Optical activity in chiral structures, i.e., circular dichroism (CD), has led to significant advances in nanoscale optical manipulation, including chiral metasurfaces, helicoid crystals, and chiral macromolecules. Although the local geometric design of chiral structures fundamentally governs their optical responses, the microscopic origin of CD remains unresolved due to the inability to probe optical chirality generation and local geometry effects with sufficient spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we unveil the light transformation process in a Γ-shaped chiral metasurface by combining far-field ellipticity measurements with direct near-field imaging at nanometer-femtosecond scale using photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM). By decomposing the near-field distributions into local symmetric and asymmetric components, we define a near-field ellipticity that quantitatively follows the wavelength-dependent far-field ellipticity. Finite-element simulations reveal that an electric dipole at the top-right corner of the Γ-shaped meta-atom dominates the ellipticity, which increases as the dipole contribution grows with wavelength. Crucially, time-resolved PINEM reveals that asymmetric near-fields dissipate faster than the symmetric counterparts by tens to hundreds of femtoseconds, indicating chiral-geometry-dependent energy dissipation pathways. This work provides microscopic insight into light transformation in chiral structures and lays the foundation for advanced chiral photonic device design.
{"title":"Deciphering light transformation in chiral metasurface in real space and time by ultrafast electron microscopy.","authors":"Ling Tong,Fei Xie,Xiaochen Gao,Yuxuan Chen,Shaozheng Ji,Bin Zhang,Jing Li,Jiangteng Guo,Fang Liu,Cuntao Gao,Min Feng,Wei Wu,Shibin Deng,Yiming Pan,Yunquan Liu,Jingjun Xu,Mengxin Ren,Xuewen Fu","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02163-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02163-8","url":null,"abstract":"Optical activity in chiral structures, i.e., circular dichroism (CD), has led to significant advances in nanoscale optical manipulation, including chiral metasurfaces, helicoid crystals, and chiral macromolecules. Although the local geometric design of chiral structures fundamentally governs their optical responses, the microscopic origin of CD remains unresolved due to the inability to probe optical chirality generation and local geometry effects with sufficient spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we unveil the light transformation process in a Γ-shaped chiral metasurface by combining far-field ellipticity measurements with direct near-field imaging at nanometer-femtosecond scale using photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM). By decomposing the near-field distributions into local symmetric and asymmetric components, we define a near-field ellipticity that quantitatively follows the wavelength-dependent far-field ellipticity. Finite-element simulations reveal that an electric dipole at the top-right corner of the Γ-shaped meta-atom dominates the ellipticity, which increases as the dipole contribution grows with wavelength. Crucially, time-resolved PINEM reveals that asymmetric near-fields dissipate faster than the symmetric counterparts by tens to hundreds of femtoseconds, indicating chiral-geometry-dependent energy dissipation pathways. This work provides microscopic insight into light transformation in chiral structures and lays the foundation for advanced chiral photonic device design.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"18 1","pages":"70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145961303","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 : 2026-01-12DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02145-w
Rui Qin,Huanzheng Zhu,Rongxuan Zhu,Pintu Ghosh,Min Qiu,Qiang Li
Camouflage is essential in modern security and military operations, playing a critical role in evading detection and enhancing the survivability of equipment. However, most existing camouflage devices operate in a single dimension, rendering them inadequate against emerging multi-dimensional detection techniques, including visible to near-infrared (VIS-NIR) hyperspectral imaging and mid-infrared (MIR) polarization imaging. In this work, we propose a multi-dimensional camouflage strategy that realizes simultaneous VIS-NIR spectrum camouflage, MIR intensity, and polarization camouflage by a hierarchical structure. The multi-dimensional camouflage device exhibits an emissivity of 0.7, a low degree of linear polarization (< 1.5%) at large observation angles in MIR range, and high spectral similarity (>96.9%) in the VIS-NIR range. Moreover, it deceives hyperspectral classification in vegetative background and blends into its environment under MIR intensity and polarization imaging. This work introduces a novel paradigm for multi-dimensional camouflage techniques and opens up new avenues for electromagnetic waves manipulation.
{"title":"Multi-dimensional camouflage against VIS-NIR hyperspectral, MIR intensity, and MIR polarization imaging.","authors":"Rui Qin,Huanzheng Zhu,Rongxuan Zhu,Pintu Ghosh,Min Qiu,Qiang Li","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02145-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02145-w","url":null,"abstract":"Camouflage is essential in modern security and military operations, playing a critical role in evading detection and enhancing the survivability of equipment. However, most existing camouflage devices operate in a single dimension, rendering them inadequate against emerging multi-dimensional detection techniques, including visible to near-infrared (VIS-NIR) hyperspectral imaging and mid-infrared (MIR) polarization imaging. In this work, we propose a multi-dimensional camouflage strategy that realizes simultaneous VIS-NIR spectrum camouflage, MIR intensity, and polarization camouflage by a hierarchical structure. The multi-dimensional camouflage device exhibits an emissivity of 0.7, a low degree of linear polarization (< 1.5%) at large observation angles in MIR range, and high spectral similarity (>96.9%) in the VIS-NIR range. Moreover, it deceives hyperspectral classification in vegetative background and blends into its environment under MIR intensity and polarization imaging. This work introduces a novel paradigm for multi-dimensional camouflage techniques and opens up new avenues for electromagnetic waves manipulation.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"82 1","pages":"63"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145949540","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}
Accurate transverse displacement measurement is essential for precise mask-to-wafer positioning in lithography. While lateral displacement metrology has achieved nanometer-level precision, the limitations imposed by coherent state and grating challenge in-situ measurement speed and precision. Here, we introduce a two-photon state transverse displacement measurement method utilizing a polarization gradient metasurface by employing two-photon state interference. Compared with the classical method, our new method can experimentally reduce the number of detected photons to around 3% with equivalent precision. These attributes make the two-photon state polarization gradient metasurface approach highly suitable for integration with semiconductor lithography processes and show its promise in realizing equivalent measurement precision within notably shorter acquisition durations, providing a robust solution for next-generation transverse displacement measurement requirements.
{"title":"Meta-device for sensing subwavelength lateral displacement.","authors":"Shufan Chen,Yubin Fan,Hao Li,Xiaodong Qiu,Ben Wang,Lijian Zhang,Shumin Xiao,Din Ping Tsai","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-02067-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02067-7","url":null,"abstract":"Accurate transverse displacement measurement is essential for precise mask-to-wafer positioning in lithography. While lateral displacement metrology has achieved nanometer-level precision, the limitations imposed by coherent state and grating challenge in-situ measurement speed and precision. Here, we introduce a two-photon state transverse displacement measurement method utilizing a polarization gradient metasurface by employing two-photon state interference. Compared with the classical method, our new method can experimentally reduce the number of detected photons to around 3% with equivalent precision. These attributes make the two-photon state polarization gradient metasurface approach highly suitable for integration with semiconductor lithography processes and show its promise in realizing equivalent measurement precision within notably shorter acquisition durations, providing a robust solution for next-generation transverse displacement measurement requirements.","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"27 1","pages":"68"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145949541","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 : 2026-01-12DOI: 10.1038/s41377-025-02050-2
Pietro Tassan,Darius Urbonas,Bartos Chmielak,Jens Bolten,Thorsten Wahlbrink,Max C Lemme,Michael Forster,Ullrich Scherf,Rainer F Mahrt,Thilo Stöferle
All-optical logic has the potential to overcome the operation speed barrier that has persisted in electronic circuits for two decades. However, the development of scalable architectures has been prevented so far by the lack of materials with sufficiently strong nonlinear interactions needed to realize compact and efficient ultrafast all-optical switches with optical gain. Microcavities with embedded organic material in the strong light-matter interaction regime have recently enabled all-optical transistors operating at room temperature with picosecond switching times. However, the vertical cavity geometry, which is predominantly used in polaritonics, is not suitable for complex circuits with on-chip coupled transistors. Here, by leveraging state-of-the-art silicon photonics technology, we have achieved exciton-polariton condensation at ambient conditions in fully integrated high-index contrast sub-wavelength grating microcavities filled with a π-conjugated polymer as optically active material. We demonstrate ultrafast all-optical transistor action by coupling two resonators and utilizing seeded polariton condensation. With a device area as small as 2 × 2 µm2, we realize picosecond switching and amplification up to 60x, with extinction ratio up to 8:1. This compact ultrafast transistor device with in-plane integration is a key component for a scalable platform for all-optical logic circuits that could operate two orders of magnitude faster than electronic counterparts.
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