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Reports of perovskite solar cells fabricated at temperatures compatible with polymer substrates indicate that high-performance flexible cells are now an exciting proposition. However, increasing the cell area and stability and addressing environmental concerns are aspects requiring attention.
When promoting the value of their research or procuring funding, researchers often need to explain the significance of their work to the community — something that can be just as tricky as the research itself.
Optical generation of hot electrons in metallic structures and its potential as an alternative to conventional electron–hole separation in semiconductor devices are reviewed. The possibilities for realizing high conversion efficiencies with low fabrication costs are discussed along with challenges in terms of the materials, architectures and fabrication methods
A quantum memory for orbital angular momentum qubits is demonstrated in the single-photon regime. It is based on cold cesium atoms and the dynamic electromagnetically induced transparency protocol. Retrieved states were analysed by quantum tomography, and fidelities after readout of over 92% were obtained, confirming the quantum functionality of the storage process.
An optical-frequency comb-based scheme is demonstrated that transfers a 4.5 × 10−16 fractional frequency stability from a 1,062-nm-wavelength laser to a 1,542-nm-wavelength laser. Transfer is also reported down to 4 × 10−18 at 1 s, which is one order of magnitude below that of previously reported work with comparable systems.
Mid-infrared spectroscopy with nanometre spatial resolution is highly desired for materials and life sciences applications. A nanoscale mid-infrared spectrometer is demonstrated that detects mechanical forces exerted by molecules on an atomic force microscope tip upon light excitation. It operates under ambient conditions with a high sensitivity and a spatial resolution of better than 25 nm.
A universal pseudo-cooling method based on a Maxwell-demon-like swapping sequence is proposed. A controlled Hamiltonian gate is used to identify lower energy states of the system and to drive the system to those states. An experimental implementation using a quantum optical network exhibits a fidelity higher than 0.978.
A dual-wavelength fibre laser source has been developed for stimulated Raman scattering microscopy. It is precisely tunable over the entire high-wavenumber region of Raman spectra, where most stimulated Raman scattering imaging is performed. Imaging speeds of up to 1 frame s−1 with shot-noise-limited sensitivity were achieved.
Terahertz waveforms with peak fields of 72 MV cm−1 and a central frequency of 30 THz drive interband polarization in bulk GaSe off-resonantly and accelerate excited electron–hole pairs, inducing dynamical Bloch oscillations. This results in the emission of phase-stable, high-harmonic transients over the whole frequency range of 0.1–675 THz.
The three-dimensional structures of transparent objects, such as living cells, are captured by an imaging technique that uses white-light illumination and diffraction tomography to collect a stack of phase-based images.
Perovskite solar cells are currently generating great interest in the photovoltaics community, but a detailed understanding of why they are so efficient is lacking. Femtosecond laser spectroscopy and microwave photoconductivity measurements now reveal important insights into the photoinduced charge transfer processes and dynamics of such cells.
A solid-state device is demonstrated that can detect the absolute offset between the carrier wave and envelope of an ultrashort pulse, the carrier–envelope phase. It holds promise for routine measurement and monitoring of the carrier–envelope phase in attosecond experimental set-ups.
A means for localizing fluorescent molecules over distances of hundreds of nanometres exploits the energy transfer between a donor molecule and surface plasmons on a metal film. The technique is demonstrated by using it to profile the membranes of living cells.
