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Strain-engineered pseudomagnetic fields realized in two-dimensional photonic crystals induce flat-band Landau levels at discrete energies as well as chiral edge states. The high density of states and high degeneracy of the flat bands has implications for both on-chip and radiating light fields.

Photonic Landau levels are demonstrated via a strain-induced pseudomagnetic field in a silicon photonic crystal slab.

Circularly polarised luminescence (CPL) is essential for asymmetric synthetic photochemistry. Here, the authors integrate white quantum dots with chiral nematic liquid crystal or liquid crystal polymer to achieve single-emitted tuneable full-colour or white CPL for enantioselective polymerization.

One-dimensional photonic crystals provide a platform to modulate Weyl quasiparticles with properties of bound states in the continuum both dynamically (transition and rotation) and topologically (singularities in bilateral drumhead surface states).

Here, the authors experimentally discover a class of higher-order Weyl semimetal phase in a three-dimensional photonic crystal, exhibiting the concurrence of the surface and hinge Fermi arcs from the nonzero Chern number and the nontrivial generalized real Chern number, respectively, coined a real higher-order Weyl photonic crystals.

The Authors in this work predict the radiation of twisted bilayer photonic crystals to host an optical vortex in the far field, which is enabled by connecting BIC modes in photonic crystals with the free space through a ‘moiré channel’.

Photonic crystals have a range of desirable properties for manipulating light. Here, the authors calculate and use the photonic band gap for thousands of such crystals to examine heuristics for their design and predict new photonic crystal structures.

THz integrate light sources represent an important building blocks for various applications. Here the authors report an electrically driven topological laser based on photonic Majorana zero mode that can convert electricity directly into THz single-mode laser with topologically nontrivial beams.

Generation and control of short pulse is desired for ultrafast applications. Here the authors demonstrate ultrafast pulse generation using self-evolving photonic crystal that can transition from high loss to low loss state based on dynamic dispersion compensation.

A monolayer WS₂ membrane patterned as a photonic crystal sustains guided optical modes that propagate via total internal reflection.

Traditional photonic crystals consist of periodic media with a pre-defined optical response. Here, the authors combine nanostructured back-gate insulators with a continuous layer of graphene to demonstrate an electrically tunable two-dimensional photonic crystal suitable for controlling the propagation of surface plasmon polaritons.

Color construction of black carbon fibers is a challenge due to their stable physicochemical properties. Here, the authors demonstrate the tunable structural color of carbon fibers endowed by the dynamic growth of carbon spheres using glucose.

Photonic topological insulators offer unconventional, yet still difficult, ways to control light flow. Here the authors demonstrate a 3D photonic topological insulator with surface states confined and guided on the surfaces without adding any cladding.

Non-Hermitian systems have many physical properties without Hermitian counterparts. Here, the authors demonstrate a non-Hermitian topolectrical circuit hosting continuous bound states under pseudomagnetic fields with no counterparts in Hermitian systems.

Owing to the nonequilibrium nature, photonic topological phenomena can involve multiple band gaps. Here the authors report on the discovery of a class of hybrid topological photonic crystals that host quantum anomalous Hall and valley Hall phases simultaneously.

An experimental design consisting of a photonic-crystal nanoslab covered with upconversion nanoparticles demonstrates the phenomenon of supercritical coupling, resulting in giant enhancement of upconversion by photonic bound states in the continuum.

Non-classical vibrations are generated and transmitted along a mechanical waveguide, providing a platform for distributing quantum information and realizing hybrid quantum devices using phonons in a solid-state system.

Generation of light with desirable amplitude and phase profiles with nonlinear wavefront shaping is of great interest for optical technologies. Here, the authors demonstrate efficient nonlinear beam shaping using three-dimensional lithium niobate photonic crystals fabricated using a femtosecond-laser-engineering technique.

Topological slow light is of fundamental importance for science and technology. Here the authors reveal that the presence of magnetic phase vortices along with glide symmetric interfaces is crucial for the existence of slow light modes in topological valley photonic crystal waveguide.

Researchers demonstrate the transfer of photons from one storage nanocavity into another by applying a voltage pulse. A transfer efficiency of 76% is achieved.

Quasicrystals promise exciting technological advances in optical devices, but their formation mechanism is yet not fully understood. Here, the authors describe a two-dimensional dodecagonal fullerene quasicrystal, forming on a Pt₃Ti(111)-surface due to the complex adsorption-energy landscape.

Chaotic behaviour of optomechanical systems has only recently been investigated and observed. Here, Wuet al. study the chaos dynamics in a silicon platform where coupled electron-hole plasma dynamics is possible, providing a route towards chip-scale mesoscopic nonlinear dynamics.

The mechanism underpinning the photovoltaic effect in hybrid perovskite solar cells has remained unclear. Here, Green and co-workers suggest that iodide ions in methylammonium lead iodide perovskite migrate via interstitial sites and undergo a redox reaction to form molecular iodine and free electrons.

The development of fast and dynamic topological photonic platforms is an ongoing challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate a reprogrammable plasmonic topological insulator in which ultrafast electric switches allow for nanosecond-level switching time between different configurations.

Understanding and manipulating the photonic band structure formed in stacked Fabry-Pérot microcavity organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is key to optimizing their performance. Here, through intelligent device design, the authors tune the photonic band gap in vertically-stacked OLED microcavities.

The Purcell effect predicts a spontaneous emission rate enhancement of several orders of magnitude, but experimental demonstrations have been much lower. Here, Song et al. show emission enhancement of Er³⁺ions in a metallic nanocavity with a 170 Purcell factor at room temperature and 55% extraction efficiency.

Efficient coupling to photonic structures is essential to exploit the emission properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Here, Miura et al.demonstrate spontaneous emission coupling efficiency exceeding 85% from a single CNT to a silicon photonic crystal nanobeam cavity with an ultralow mode-volume.

Metamaterials offer optical functionality, such as cloaking, that is impossible to achieve with natural bulk materials. Here, Shi and colleagues fabricate colloidal metamaterials made from silicon whose magneto-optical response considerably exceeds that of related bulk materials.

Quantum light–matter interfaces connecting stationary qubits to photons are fundamental elements of future quantum optical networks. Here, the authors report a quantum interface based on highly coherent rare-earth ions—the solid-state qubits—coupled to a nanophotonic cavity fabricated in the host crystal.

Dynamic control of components is required for large-scale quantum photonic networks. Here, Kapfingeret al. show dynamic control of the interaction between two coupled photonic crystal nanocavities forming a photonic molecule. Tuning is achieved by using an electrically generated radio frequency surface acoustic wave.

Photonic sensing is a method for detecting individual chemical species, but can fail when they are sufficiently similar in physical properties. Here, the authors report a method that can distinguish even very closely related species, such as homologues and chemical isomers.

Slow-light propagation provides the means to enhance and control light–matter interactions and it has been predicted to increase the gain coefficient of active waveguides. Here, Ek et al.experimentally demonstrate that the gain of a material can be enhanced using slow-light effects in photonic crystals.

Rydberg atoms are appealing for sensing, atomic and quantum information studies, if they can be suitably integrated with optical devices. Towards this end, Epple et al. show that caesium-filled kagome-lattice hollow-core photonic crystal fibres provide a platform for fibre-based spectroscopy of Rydberg states.

Distinguishing between photonic crystals and metamaterials can provide a path for designing low-loss artificial materials with a range of novel applications. Here, Rybin et al. introduce a concept of phase transitions between all-dielectric metamaterials and photonic crystals based on the physics of Mie and Bragg resonances.

Smart shape-memory polymers based on pressure stimuli have potential biomedical and aerospace applications but are largely unexplored. Here, Fang et al.present a reconfigurable photonic crystal that is reprogrammed at ambient conditions by a pressure-responsive shape-memory polymer.

Controlling the coherent evolution of cavity quantum electrodynamics systems is key for future quantum networks. Here Pagliano et al.demonstrate dynamic control of the coupling of a single exciton to a photonic micro-resonator using electrical tuning of the exciton energy in a photonic crystal cavity diode.

A second-order topological Weyl semimetal based on a 3D-printed acoustic crystal, exhibiting Weyl points, Fermi arc surface states, and hinge states, has been experimentally demonstrated.

Typically, phonon trapping is performed using mechanically suspended structures which have many limitations. Here the authors study a phononic structure that supports mechanical bound states in the continuum (BICs) at microwave frequencies with topological features.

The role of polymers in stabilizing liquid crystal (LC)-water interfaces is well studied but how the LC affects stabilizers is not fully explored yet. Here, Ma et al. show that amphiphilic polymers change their behavior when the LC is heated towards its transition to the isotropic state, and propose that this is due to an entropic repulsion active at low temperatures where the orientationally ordered LC restricts the mobility of the flexible polymer chains.

Robust terahertz wave transport is demonstrated on a silicon chip using the valley Hall topological phase. Error-free communication is achieved at a data rate of 11 Gbit s⁻¹, enabling real-time transmission of uncompressed 4K high-definition video.

Topological photonic structures can be understood by solving the eigenvalue problem of Maxwell’s equations in the static case. Here, the authors study Floquet topological phases in nonlinear photonic crystals under external drive and show how non-reciprocal transport can be achieved in a Floquet Chern insulator.

Most higher order topological phases are realized by emulations of tight binding models. Extending these concepts to continuum theories requires the identification of invariants describing the bulk multipole order. Here the authors realize the analog of quadrupole order for a gyromagnetic photonic crystal.

A photonic-crystal platform enables attojoule-energy electro-optic modulators and amplifier-free photoreceivers.

Bound states in the continuum are merged in momentum space by varying the periodicity of the photonic crystal lattice, giving high-quality-factor guided resonances that are robust to out-of-plane scattering.

Observing the photonic analogue of an unpaired Dirac point is hard, as it requires breaking the time-reversal symmetry. Here, the authors use gyromagnetic materials to do that, and thus succeed in observing an unpaired Dirac point in a planar photonic crystal operating at microwave frequencies.

Conventional electrophoretic color displays require a permanent electric field, increasing power consumption. Here, the authors report an electrically responsive photonic crystal with switchable bistable states by particle rearrangement for low power consumption displays.

Three-dimensional laser-written waveguide arrays are used to demonstrate type-II Weyl points, along with Fermi arc-like surface states, for light at optical wavelengths.

We achieve the first deterministic coupling of a topological corner state with a single quantum dot, observing Purcell enhancement and polarized single-photon emission. This extends the effect of higher-order topological phase into the quantum realm.