The ideal material for nanophotonic applications will have a large refractive index at optical frequencies, respond to both the electric and magnetic fields of light, support large optical chirality and anisotropy, confine and guide light at the nanoscale, and be able to modify the phase and amplitude of incoming radiation in a fraction of a wavelength. Artificial electromagnetic media, or metamaterials, based on metallic or polar dielectric nanostructures can provide many of these properties by coupling light to free electrons (plasmons) or phonons (phonon polaritons), respectively, but at the inevitable cost of significant energy dissipation and reduced device efficiency. Recently, however, there has been a shift in the approach to nanophotonics. Low-loss electromagnetic responses covering all four quadrants of possible permittivities and permeabilities have been achieved using completely transparent and high-refractive-index dielectric building blocks. Moreover, an emerging class of all-dielectric metamaterials consisting of anisotropic crystals has been shown to support large refractive index contrast between orthogonal polarizations of light. These advances have revived the exciting prospect of integrating exotic electromagnetic effects in practical photonic devices, to achieve, for example, ultrathin and efficient optical elements, and realize the long-standing goal of subdiffraction confinement and guiding of light without metals. In this Review, we present a broad outline of the whole range of electromagnetic effects observed using all-dielectric metamaterials: high-refractive-index nanoresonators, metasurfaces, zero-index metamaterials and anisotropic metamaterials. Finally, we discuss current challenges and future goals for the field at the intersection with quantum, thermal and silicon photonics, as well as biomimetic metasurfaces.

All-dielectric metamaterials

Sera of camelids contain both conventional heterotetrameric antibodies and unique functional heavy (H)-chain antibodies (HCAbs). The H chain of these homodimeric antibodies consists of one antigen-binding domain, the VHH, and two constant domains. HCAbs fail to incorporate light (L) chains owing to the deletion of the first constant domain and a reshaped surface at the VHH side, which normally associates with L chains in conventional antibodies. The genetic elements composing HCAbs have been identified, but the in vivo generation of these antibodies from their dedicated genes into antigen-specific and affinity-matured bona fide antibodies remains largely underinvestigated. However, the facile identification of antigen-specific VHHs and their beneficial biochemical and economic properties (size, affinity, specificity, stability, production cost) supported by multiple crystal structures have encouraged antibody engineering of these single-domain antibodies for use as a research tool and in biotechnology and medicine.

Nanobodies: Natural Single-Domain Antibodies

Quantum dots embedded in photonics nanostructures provide unprecedented control over the interaction between light and matter. This review gives an overview of the theoretical principles involved, as well as applications ranging from high-precision quantum electrodynamics experiments to quantum-information processing.

Interfacing single photons and single quantum dots with photonic nanostructures

A review of nanoplasmonics is given. This includes fundamentals, nanolocalization of optical energy and hot spots, ultrafast nanoplasmonics and control of the spatiotemporal nanolocalization of optical fields, and quantum nanoplasmonics (spaser and gain-assisted plasmonics). This article reviews both fundamental theoretical ideas in nanoplasmonics and selected experimental developments. It is designed both for specialists in the field and general physics readership.

Nanoplasmonics: past, present, and glimpse into future

Organic (opto)electronic materials have received considerable attention due to their applications in thin-film-transistors, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, sensors, photorefractive devices, and many others. The technological promises include low cost of these materials and the possibility of their room-temperature deposition from solution on large-area and/or flexible substrates. The article reviews the current understanding of the physical mechanisms that determine the (opto)electronic properties of high-performance organic materials. The focus of the review is on photoinduced processes and on electronic properties important for optoelectronic applications relying on charge carrier photogeneration. Additionally, it highlights the capabilities of various experimental techniques for characterization of these materials, summarizes top-of-the-line device performance, and outlines recent trends in the further development of the field. The properties of materials based both on small molecules and on conjug...

Organic Optoelectronic Materials: Mechanisms and Applications

We developed a method to use any GFP-tagged construct in single-molecule super-resolution microscopy By targeting GFP with small, high-affinity antibodies coupled to organic dyes, we achieved nanometer spatial resolution and minimal linkage error when analyzing microtubules, living neurons and yeast cells We show that in combination with libraries encoding GFP-tagged proteins, virtually any known protein can immediately be used in super-resolution microscopy and that simplified labeling schemes allow high-throughput super-resolution imaging

A simple, versatile method for GFP-based super-resolution microscopy via nanobodies

Researchers exploit a dielectric planar antenna to tailor the angular emission of single photons from an oriented molecule. Record collection efficiency of 96% and detection rates of 50 MHz are demonstrated using a microscope objective at room temperature.

A planar dielectric antenna for directional single-photon emission and near-unity collection efficiency

Ink-jet printing methods are an attractive approach to nanofabrication, where electrohydrodynamic control allows for flexible and cheap fabrication. Here, a new approach is presented using electrostatic nanodroplet autofocussing to produce high aspect ratio nanoscale structures like plasmonic nanoantennas.

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Direct printing of nanostructures by electrostatic autofocussing of ink nanodroplets

Optical Metasurfaces: Evolving from Passive to Adaptive

Inhibiting ice accumulation on surfaces is an energy-intensive task and is of significant importance in nature and technology where it has found applications in windshields, automobiles, aviation, renewable energy generation, and infrastructure. Existing methods rely on on-site electrical heat generation, chemicals, or mechanical removal, with drawbacks ranging from financial costs to disruptive technical interventions and environmental incompatibility. Here we focus on applications where surface transparency is desirable and propose metasurfaces with embedded plasmonically enhanced light absorption heating, using ultrathin hybrid metal–dielectric coatings, as a passive, viable approach for de-icing and anti-icing, in which the sole heat source is renewable solar energy. The balancing of transparency and absorption is achieved with rationally nanoengineered coatings consisting of gold nanoparticle inclusions in a dielectric (titanium dioxide), concentrating broadband absorbed solar energy into a small vol...

Hadi Eghlidi

Papers

A simple, versatile method for GFP-based super-resolution microscopy via nanobodies

A planar dielectric antenna for directional single-photon emission and near-unity collection efficiency

Direct printing of nanostructures by electrostatic autofocussing of ink nanodroplets

Optical Metasurfaces: Evolving from Passive to Adaptive

Metasurfaces Leveraging Solar Energy for Icephobicity