Dual Type-II Colloidal Quantum Wells for Efficient Nonlinear Optical Limiting.

Colloidal II-VI nanocrystals have garnered significant research attention in nonlinear optical applications due to their low-cost synthesis, photophysical tunability, and ease of device integration. Herein, we report that dual-type II CdSe/CdTe/CdSe colloidal quantum wells (CQWs) with core/crown/crown structures achieve remarkable nonlinear optical limiting capabilities driven by an exceptionally large nonlinear absorption coefficient. Open aperture -scan reveals that these dual-type II CQWs exhibit a third-order nonlinear absorption coefficient of 33.

A review of progresses in theoretical modeling of polarization dynamics in ferroelectric materials.

Ferroelectric materials are considered as the candidates of functional device application since it was found in 1920. The functionality is realized by polarization evolution itself or the resulting effects. Studies on ferroelectrics have been going on over a century with a rough journey, because it has the excellent physical properties and also the fatal disadvantages for the device applications, where polarization microstructure and the dynamics are always the core issues.

Skin-Inspired Self-Aligned Silicon Nanowire Thermoreceptors for Rapid and Continuous Temperature Monitoring.

Real-time and precise evaluation of human body temperature offers crucial insights for health monitoring and disease diagnosis, while integration of high-performance and miniaturized sensors remains a challenge. Inspired by the thermal sensory pathway of skin, here we developed a new route for scalable fabrication of rapid-response and miniaturized thermoreceptor sensors using self-aligned in-plane silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays as sensitive channels. These SiNW arrays, with a diameter of 100 ± 14 nm, were integrated into temperature sensors with a density of 445 devices/cm without using any high-precision lithography.

Tailoring Electronic and Magnetic Properties of YcoO via Anharmonic Phononic Coupling and Vector Vortex Beam Interaction.

The ability to dynamically manipulate the optoelectronic and magnetic properties in functional materials under nonequilibrium conditions is essential for the advancement of quantum technologies and energy-related applications. Here, we demonstrate a novel method to regulate the optoelectronic and magnetic properties of YCoO, a representative perovskite oxide, using ultrafast vortex laser pulses coupled with nonlinear phonon interactions. Vortex light, characterized by its helical phase front and topological charge, allows selective excitation of infrared phonon modes, enabling anisotropic lattice distortions and precise modulation of material properties.

Two-Band Nodal Line Structure with Robust Surface States in the Cubic NaPdCl Compound.

Recent advancements in topological states have expanded from insulators to semimetals and metals, characterized by band crossings near the Fermi level. In this study, we use first-principles calculations and crystal symmetry analysis to uncover a complex nodal structure in cubic compound NaPdCl. This structure, formed by only two bands, features six intersecting butterfly-like nodal lines on the (110) surface, protected by mirror symmetry .

Single-shot simultaneous intensity, phase and polarization imaging with metasurface.

Optical imaging of the intensity, phase and polarization distributions of optical fields is fundamental to numerous applications. Traditional methods rely on bulky optical components and require multiple measurements. Recently, metasurface-based (MS-based) imaging strategies have emerged as a promising solution to address these challenges.

Magnetar emergence in a peculiar gamma-ray burst from a compact star merger.

The central engine that powers gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most powerful explosions in the universe, is still not identified. Besides hyper-accreting black holes, rapidly spinning and highly magnetized neutron stars, known as millisecond magnetars, have been suggested to power both long and short GRBs. The presence of a magnetar engine following compact star mergers is of particular interest as it would provide essential constraints on the poorly understood equation of state for neutron stars.

Deciphering Interfacial Stability of Sulfide and Halide-Based Electrolytes via Operando X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.

Combined solid electrolytes address cathode-anode compatibility in all-solid-state Li-ion batteries (ASSLBs), yet interface stability and ion transport mechanisms between different electrolytes remain unclear. Herein, we investigate LiPSCl (LPSC), LiInCl (LIC), and LiZrOCl (LZOC) composite electrolytes through electrochemical analysis and operando X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Our results reveal that the electrostatic potential difference between LPSC and LIC inhibits Li migration, leading to the decomposition of LIC into InCl and LiCl, causing battery failure.

Anion-Vacancy Defect Passivation for Efficient Antimony Selenosulfide Solar Cells via Magnesium Chloride Post-growth Activation.

The quasi-1D antimony selenosulfide (Sb(S,Se)) light-harvesting material has attracted tremendous attention for photovoltaic applications because of its superior materials and optoelectronic properties. However, one of the critical obstacles faced by Sb(S,Se) solar cells is the presence of many defects in absorbers, especially those deep-level anion-vacancy defects which are prone to serving as recombination centers. In this work, an effective defect engineering strategy via magnesium chloride (MgCl) postgrowth activation is explored for high performance antimony selenosulfide solar cells.

Mobile Oxygen Capture Enhances Photothermal Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells Under ISOS Protocols.

Stability testing protocols from the International Summit on Organic and Hybrid Solar Cell Stability (ISOS) are essential for standardizing studies on the photothermally operational stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Under photothermal conditions, the migration of oxygen from SnO layer induces cationic dehydrogenation at the A-site of the perovskite, accelerating degradation to PbI. This leads to the formation of photoinduced I and Pb defects, significantly compromising long-term stability.

Denoising of 3D magnetic resonance images via edge-enhanced low-rank tensor decomposition.

Magnetic Resonance images (MRI) denoising is to obtain high quality image from infectant version. Recently, low-rank tensor (LRT) methods have been developed and attained resounding success in MRI denoising. However, these pure LRT models are incapable of utilizing the comprehensive inherent information of clean MRI.

Self-powered droplet manipulation for full human-droplet interaction in multiple mediums.

Droplet manipulation holds significant promise across the energy, environmental, and medical fields. However, current methods still lack a solution that simultaneously satisfies the requirements for self-powered energy supply, high efficiency, human-droplet interaction, flexibility, and universality. Herein, we develop a human-droplet interaction platform based on an omni-directional triboelectric tweezer, which directly utilizes triboelectric charges induced by human motion to manipulate droplets.

Self-assembled polyelectrolytes with ion-separation accelerating channels for highly stable Zn-ion batteries.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries offer a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries due to their abundance, safety, and eco-friendliness. However, challenges like hydrogen evolution and uncontrolled diffusion of H⁺, Zn²⁺, and SO₄²⁻ in the electrolyte lead to the dendrite formation, side reactions, and reduced Coulombic efficiency for Zn nucleation. Here, to simultaneously regulate the diffusion of cations and anions in the electrolyte, an ion-separation accelerating channel is constructed by introducing layer-by-layer self-assembly of a flocculant poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and its tautomer poly(acrylic acid).

Flexible Optoelectronic Hybrid Microfiber Long-period Grating Multimodal Sensor.

Flexible wearable biosensors have emerged as a promising tool for tracking dynamic glycemic profiles of human body in diabetes management. However, it remains a challenge to balance the shrunken device space and multiple redundant sensing arrays for further advancement in miniaturization of multimodal sensors. Herein, this work proposes an entirely new optoelectronic hybrid multimodal optical fiber sensor which is composed of laser patterning of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to form laser-induced graphene (LIG) as the interdigital electrodes, and a long period grating (LPG) prepared from an optical microfiber encapsulated into the PDMS modulated by periodical structure of LIG electrodes.

Fluorine-Nitrogen Codoped Carbon Dots for Visualization Imaging of Nucleic Acids via Two-Photon Fluorescence Lifetime Microscopy.

Fluorescence imaging is a key tool for visualizing the morphology and dynamics of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) in living cells to understand their role in regulating the growth, development, and reproduction of organisms. However, effective probes capable of simultaneously targeting both DNA and RNA, as well as tools for analyzing their distribution and relative ratios in organisms, are currently lacking. Therefore, fluorine-nitrogen codoped carbon dots with two-photon absorption (F-NCDs) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method and exhibited stable fluorescence, good biocompatibility, and a fluorescence lifetime sensitive to nucleic acids (DNA and RNA).

Lattice Dynamics and Phonon Dispersion of the van der Waals Layered Ferromagnet FeGaTe.

Despite the tremendous progress in spintronic studies of the van der Waals (vdW) room-temperature ferromagnet FeGaTe, much less effort has been spent on studying its lattice dynamics and possible interaction with spintronic degrees of freedom. In this work, by combining Raman spectroscopy in a wide range of pressures (atmospheric pressure ∼19.5 GPa) and temperature (80-690 K) with first-principles calculations, we systematically studied the lattice dynamics and phonon dispersion of FeGaTe.

Selective Masking of Active Sites in Zinc Metal via Galvanic Replacement Reaction for Highly Reversible Ah-level Zinc-I2 Batteries.

Zinc metal anodes suffer from severe dendrite formation and corrosion due to active Zn sites. Here, we introduce an ultrathin, hydrophobic copper phosphate (CP) membrane that selectively masks active Zn sites with electrochemically inactive copper through a galvanic replacement reaction (Zn0 + Cu2+ = Cu0 + Zn2+). Copper is deliberately chosen for its higher redox potential (Cu2+/Cu0; +0.

Room-Temperature Lasing of Sn-Based Perovskite Single-Crystal Microsquare Plates (MSPs).

Lead-free Sn-based metal halide perovskites are low-cost, high-efficiency photoelectric materials with significant potential for micro/nanolasers, addressing the biological and environmental toxicity of lead. This study explores the lasing behavior of single-crystal CsSnBr microsquare plates (MSPs) synthesized via two-step high-temperature vapor-phase epitaxy with steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL and TRPL) spectroscopies. The lasing behavior, dominated by excitons from 193 to 313 K, shows a lasing threshold of 122.

High-Performance Broadband Mixed-Dimensional Phototransistors Based on the Boron Nitride Quantum Dots/MoSe Heterostructure with Enhanced UV Sensitivity.

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have been of great interest in phototransistors in recent years due to their unique optoelectronic and electronic properties. However, their discernible spectral range and the efficiency of light absorption are usually restricted. Here, we present phototransistors based on mixed-dimensional heterostructures formed by zero-dimensional (0D) boron nitride quantum dots (BNQDs) and molybdenum diselenide (MoSe), which have high responsivity (), specific detectivity (*), and external quantum efficiency (EQE), especially in the ultraviolet (UV) spectral range.

Structural, strength and fracture mechanisms of superconducting transition metal nitrides TMN (TM = W and Mo).

Transition metal (TM) nitrides are recognized for their outstanding and highly desirable properties, categorizing them as a class of multifunctional materials with diverse industrial applications. In particular, the newly synthesized WN is notable for its exceptional ultra-incompressibility (406 GPa for bulk modulus), remarkable hardness (34 GPa), and superconductivity (9.4 K), positioning it as a potential ultra-hard superconductor.

Pyroelectric-Enhanced Position Sensing and Its Multifunctional Imaging in a Si Nanowire/CdS Core-Shell Heterojunction.

Three different Si/CdS heterojunction position-sensitive detectors with planar, pyramid, and nanowire structures are successfully prepared and systematically investigated. Among these configurations, the nanowire core-shell structure demonstrates superior self-powered capability and exceptional lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) performance, achieving a broad optical response from 405 to 1064 nm, a peak positional sensitivity of 779.1 mV/mm, and a minimal nonlinearity of just 6.

Evidence of ferroelectricity in an antiferromagnetic vanadium trichloride monolayer.

A reduced dimensionality of multiferroic materials is highly desired for device miniaturization, but the coexistence of ferroelectricity and magnetism at the two-dimensional limit is yet to be conclusively demonstrated. Here, we used a NbSe substrate to break both the rotational and inversion symmetries in monolayer VCl and, thus, introduced exceptional in-plane ferroelectricity into a two-dimensional magnet. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy directly visualized ferroelectric domains and manipulated their domain boundaries in monolayer VCl, where coexisting antiferromagnetic order with canted magnetic moments was verified by vibrating sample magnetometer measurements.

A terahertz band multifunctional metamaterial transmission-absorption switching device based on vanadium dioxide.

In this paper, a vanadium dioxide (VO)-based terahertz device is proposed to realize the conversion between broadband absorption and broadband transmission functions, including the VO bottom layer, dielectric layer and VO pattern layer in a three-layer structure. With the change of the VO conductivity, the terahertz metamaterial device can switch between broadband absorption and broadband transmission. When the device exhibits broadband transmission, it has a high transmittance of 90% for terahertz waves in the 5.

3-D Printable Living Hydrogels as Portable Bio-energy Devices.

Harnessing engineered living materials for energy application represents a promising avenue to sustainable energy conversion and storage, with bio-batteries emerging as a pivotal direction for sustainable power supply. Whereas, the realization of miniaturized and portable bio-battery orchestrating off-the-shelf devices remains a significant challenge. Here, this work reports the development of a miniaturized and portable bio-battery using living hydrogels containing conductive biofilms encapsulated in an alginate matrix for nerve stimulation.

Well-Defined Nanostructures: Concept, Impact and Perspective.

Well-defined nanostructures (WDNSs) represent a transformative frontier in nanotechnology, enabling precise control over material properties through nanoscale engineering. The connectivity of nanoscale building blocks is increasingly critical in defining the properties and applications of WDNSs. Traditional dimensionality-based classifications provide foundational insights but overlook the delicate influence of connectivity architectures on functionality.