Nonlinear optical materials, especially two-dimensional materials, are anticipated to reveal broadband optical nonlinearity for future miniaturized photonic applications. Herein, we report a physical vapor deposition method to produce β-In2Se3 thin film and investigate the broadband nonlinear absorption (β) and refraction (n2) characteristics. The β-In2Se3 semiconductor shows an excellent optical nonlinearity with large β in 102 cm GW−1 scale and n2 in 10−12 cm2 W−1 scale from visible to NIR wavelengths, which are superior to those of metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) and metal-organic frameworks. This excellent optical nonlinearity makes β-In2Se3 a promising candidate for advanced nanophotonic devices and beyond.

In this research, a 1064 nm single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) vortex beam was generated from an annular-pumped Nd:YVO4 microchip laser, in which a circular Dammann grating was used to reshape the 808 nm pump light into an annular intensity profile. As a result, the laser emitted a SLM LG01 beam with a maximum output power of 192 mW. A straightforward technique for producing SLM vortex beams is made available by this work.

Efficient reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) is an important process for thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) to suppress efficiency roll-off in organic LEDs (OLEDs). Enhancing spin–orbit coupling is effective for fast RISC and is achieved by mediating a locally excited triplet state when RISC occurs between charge transfer states. Here, we experimentally confirmed that efficient RISC occurred in triarylborane-based TADF emitters named Phox- Me π , Phox- MeO π , and MeO3 Ph- FMe π . The three emitters showed large RISC rate constants exceeding 106 s−1. The Phox- Me π -based OLED exhibited higher maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax = 10.0%) compared to the Phox- MeO π -based OLED (EQEmax = 6.7%).

The present study focused on CO2 capture, storage, and conversion through the innovative integration of plasma–ionic liquid (IL) technology. For the first time, we employed plasma-IL technology to confront climate change challenges. We utilized 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride IL to capture and store CO2 under atmospheric pressure, and subsequently employed plasma to induce the transformation of IL-captured CO2 into CO. Furthermore, we performed computer simulations to enhance our understanding of the CO2 and CO capture processes of water and IL solutions. This comprehensive approach provides valuable insights into the potential of plasma–IL technology as a viable solution for climate change.

We developed a low-temperature ohmic contact formation process for N-polar GaN surfaces. Specific-contact-resistances of 9.4 × 10−5 and 2.0 × 10−5 Ω cm2 were obtained using Ti/Al metal stacks on heavily-germanium-doped GaN films, which were deposited at 500 °C and 600 °C using a radical-assisted reactive sputtering method, respectively. The electrode sintering temperature was as low as 475 °C. Carrier concentrations for the 500 °C and 600 °C samples were 2.6 × 1020 and 1.8 × 1020 cm−3, respectively. These results suggest that this method is highly effective in reducing the contact resistance of GaN devices with low thermal budgets.

Density functional theory was used to investigate the geometric structure of bilayer graphene under an external electric field with carrier doping. Our calculations revealed the crucial impact of external electric fields and the hole injection on determining the geometric structure of bilayer graphene. The bond length of graphene monotonically increased when increasing the hole doping concentration, while it remained insensitive to electron doping. Additionally, there accumulated carriers predominantly distributed in the outermost layer located just below the gate electrode. These results enabled the construction of moiré superlattices in the bilayer graphene, possessing different moiré periodicity depending on the carrier concentration.

The three-dimensional ordering of the gallium (Ga) adlayers on GaN(0001) and (000 1¯ ) surfaces was probed using in situ X-ray scattering under MBE conditions. An ordered bilayer of Ga forms on GaN(0001) but the ordering decreases at substrate temperatures of <450 °C, consistent with the mechanism of non-equilibrium epitaxial growth. Monolayer Ga that forms on GaN(000 1¯ ) is laterally disordered and has no temperature dependence, along with droplets of excess Ga. The vertical and lateral B-factors for each Ga layer were confirmed using first-principles molecular dynamics calculations.

Multi-modality imaging is significant for biomedical applications. We propose a dual-sensitive sensor to simultaneously detect optical and ultrasonic signals. Based upon the classical piezoelectric structure, we attach a photosensitive layer made of carbon nanotubes-polydimethylsiloxane (CNTs-PDMS) composite to the surface. The photosensitive layer absorbs light and converts it into ultrasound, while allowing acoustic energy to transmit through concurrently. After optimizing the ratio of PDMS to CNTs, we increase the sensor’s light detection sensitivity and maintain the ultrasound detection sensitivity. Finally, the successful implementation in mouse ear optical attenuation–photoacoustic imaging demonstrates the dual-sensitive sensor’s potential application in multi-modality imaging.

We present a new approach for designing thermal shielding materials using two-dimensional oxide nanosheets. Our approach uses hetero-assembly design [(Ti0.87O2) m (Cs2.7W11O35−d )20 (m = 0, 5, 10)] by overlaying high refractive index (n) Ti0.87O2 nanosheets with transparent conducting Cs2.7W11O35−d nanosheets. Through proper design of the thickness of high-n Ti0.87O2 layers, we achieved the optimum thermal shielding properties with a high NIR reflectance (>46%), a high visible transparency (>76%) and a neutral color in an ultrathin form (<60 nm). Our nanosheet approach is of technological importance for exploring new thermal shielding materials.

We compared the grain and grain boundary (GB) nanostructures in two Ba122 tapes with similarly high J c. The Ag-sheathed tape made by hot pressing has larger, more plate-like grains with better c-axis alignment but has more GBs blocked by FeAs and Ba–O. In contrast, the tape made by cold pressing with an Ag-Sn/stainless steel sheath possesses fewer plate-like grains and weaker grain alignment but has more continuous current paths with clean physically well-connected GBs. Our nanostructural comparison emphasizes the strong need to achieve both good grain alignment and clean GBs for further J c improvement of Ba122 tapes.