Stretchable AgS-MXene Photodetector Designed for Enhanced Electrical Durability and High Sensitivity.

In this work, we present a facile and straightforward approach for fabricating highly stretchable photodetectors based on AgS and TiCT MXene hybrid materials. These devices exhibit exceptional mechanical resilience, maintaining stable electrical and optical performance even after 10 000 cycles of 30% strain. The incorporation of MXene not only enhances the device's electrical durability but also ensures the retention of conductivity under significant mechanical deformation, positioning MXene as a critical material for the advancement of flexible electronics.

Microscale Diffractive Lenses Integrated into Microfluidic Devices for Size-Selective Optical Trapping of Particles.

Integration of optical components into microfluidic devices can enhance particle manipulations, separations, and analyses. We present a method to fabricate microscale diffractive lenses composed of aperiodically spaced concentric rings milled into a thin metal film to precisely position optical tweezers within microfluidic channels. Integrated thin-film microlenses perform the laser focusing required to generate sufficient optical forces to trap particles without significant off-device beam manipulation.

Real-Time Optical Measurements of Nanoparticle-Induced Melting and Resolidification Dynamics.

The photothermally induced nanoscale dynamics of rapid melting and resolidification of a thin layer of molecular material surrounding a nanoparticle is examined in real time by an all-optical approach. The method employs pulsed periodic modulation of the medium's dielectric constant through absorption of a low-duty-cycle laser pulse train by a single nanoparticle that acts as a localized heating source. Interpretation of experimental data, including inference of a phase change and of the liquid/solid interface dynamics, is obtained by comparing experimental data with results from coupled optical-thermal numerical simulations.