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Tandem solar cells, inverted triple-junction solar cells and photonic-crystal-based solar cells were among the photovoltaic devices discussed at the 73rd Autumn Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics.

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology was established in Saudi Arabia in 2009. Nature Photonics recently visited the campus to see how things are shaping up.

Scientists gathered at the spring meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics to discuss quantum devices based on silicon and diamond, imaging using the X-ray Berry-phase effect and terahertz near-field microscopy.

Nanophotonics is of both fundamental and applied importance. This field has a wide range of applications, including light-emitting devices and optical integrated circuits.

Research on solar cells, optical frequency combs, high-power laser diodes and brain monitoring were all topics of discussion at the autumn meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics in Nagasaki this September.

Next-generation wireless communication, high-harmonic generation of sub-cycle pulses and ultrafast probing of the excitation dynamics of materials were all topics of discussion at this year's IRMMW-THz conference in Hong Kong.

A high energy conversion efficiency and a low fabrication cost are required to make the widespread implementation of solar cells attractive. Researchers are striving to enhance cell performance by developing heterojunction techniques, introducing photonic-crystal structures and proposing new device designs.

The integrated optical components used for optical data transmission are technically complex. To keep pace with the exponential growth in communication traffic, researchers are exploring every potential avenue for inexpensively enhancing device performance.

Long-distance secure quantum communication has long been one of the goals of quantum optics research. Ambitions are now growing following the realization of fibre-based links to free-space satellite–ground communication networks.

Quantum plasmonics, Fano resonances, surface plasmon–polariton Airy beams and plasmon-enhanced Raman spectroscopy are some of the new aspects of plasmonics that are now being explored.

Amalgamating the interdisciplinary domains of nanotechnology and terahertz technology, particularly the field of terahertz science in nanomaterials and nanodevices, seems to be where the terahertz research community is now heading.

At the 63rd Spring Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics, scientists described how femtosecond laser pulses can be used to perform tasks such as quantum beat spectroscopy, control of magnetization, cell sorting and crystal growth.

Scientists in Japan struggled in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake, radiation problems and power cuts. Nevertheless, they have now largely recovered from the desperate situation.

A laser-annealing technique for increasing the dopant concentration in semiconductors, the creation of a glass with second-order optical nonlinearity and the realization of optical topological insulators were highlights at the Japan Society of Applied Physics Spring Meeting.

The ability to make measurements of time and fundamental physical constants with extreme precision makes it possible to test theories to ever greater levels of scrutiny. A workshop in Tokyo in January discussed the challenges involved and the progress being made.

Frequency combs based on quantum cascade lasers are a thriving topic of research and offer the attractive vision of more compact and higher performance comb systems for spectroscopy or metrology.

Visual encryption, manipulation of terahertz waves and the improved surface-treatment of GaN crystals were all topics of discussion at this year's JSAP meeting in Toyama, Japan.

Methods to improve the transmission distance of quantum communication, to combat channel loss and to implement an optical Ising machine were just some of the topics discussed at QCrypt 2015 in Tokyo, Japan.

Competitive activities around the globe to develop the world's brightest synchrotron light source have accelerated in recent years. Taiwanese scientists now aspire to be at the top of the list with the recently constructed Taiwan Photon Source.

The demonstration of live video conferencing using quantum key distribution suggests that applications exploiting secure video communication may be just around the corner.