Optical materials news

Nanorattles could shake up cancer detection

Researchers have created a metal nanoparticle called a 'nanorattle' that can amplify and detect signals from cancer-detecting nanoprobes.

Novel metasurface puts photons in a quantum tangle

Researchers have developed a nano-engineered metasurface that can produce complex webs of entangled photons.

Fool’s gold seen breaking the rules

A novel iron pyrite metasurface can transcend the Moss rule, which describes a trade-off between a material’s optical absorption and how it refracts light.

Novel nanoparticle lights up the room

Researchers unexpectedly discovered that a nanoparticle they developed can exhibit superfluorescence at both room temperature and regular intervals.

Thin layer only place to go for trapped light

Researchers have built a 'light trap' that allows a beam of light to be completely absorbed by even the thinnest layers of material.

Spiral light rings out harmonics in topological insulator

Irradiating a topological insulator with circularly polarized laser light can generate harmonics that reveal information about its quantum properties.

Researchers float the idea of artificial leaves

Using thin-film metal oxides and perovskites, researchers have created fuel-producing artificial leaves that are light enough to float on water.

New precursors make spray pyrolysis a versatile alternative

novel precursors diethanolamine (DEA) and L-ascorbic acid (AA) in spray pyrolysis produces better cuprous oxide (Cu2O) thin films for electronics

Electrons help control nuclear spins in 2D material

For the first time, researchers have used photons and electron spin qubits to control nuclear spins in a 2D material.

Openings for Editors, the Acta Journals

Colorful films stretch back to the 19th century

By applying a 19th-century color photography technique to holographic materials, researchers were able to print large-scale images onto elastic materials.

Improved synthesis method lights up novel semiconductor

Researchers have developed an improved method for making a new type of semiconductor that is a few atoms thin and can interact with light.

Non-chiral tetrahedrons form chiral superstructures

Researchers have unexpectedly discovered that tetrahedron-shaped gold nanoparticles can arrange themselves into 2D chiral superstructures.

Quantum models reveal electronic properties of amorphous carbon

Using quantum mechanical models, researchers have more accurately predicted how amorphous carbon conducts electricity and absorbs light.

Materials Today Innovation Award 2022

Light gets squeezed by 2D materials

Researchers have demonstrated a new platform for guiding compressed light waves in very thin van der Waals crystals.

Nanowires and nanoparticles light up syngas production

A light-powered catalyst made from gallium nitride nanowires covered in nanoparticles can transform carbon dioxide into synthesis gas.

Composite sheds new light on photovoltaic devices

Researchers have shown that a novel photovoltaic device made from an antimony-based composite can distinguish between different colors of light.