Advanced photonics research 

About: Advanced photonics research is an academic journal published by Wiley. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Computer science & Chemistry. It has an ISSN identifier of 2699-9293. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 273 publications have been published receiving 598 citations.

Applications of Hybrid Metal‐Dielectric Nanostructures: State of the Art

Abstract: Enhancing the light‐matter interactions is important for many different applications like sensing, surface enhanced spectroscopies, solar energy harvesting, and for quantum effects such as nonlinear frequency generation or spontaneous and stimulated emission. Hybrid metal‐dielectric nanostructures have shown extraordinary performance in this respect, demonstrating their superiority with respect to bare metallic or high refractive index dielectric nanostructures. Such hybrid nanostructures can combine the best of two worlds: strong confinement of the electromagnetic energy by metallic structures and high scattering directivity and low losses of the dielectric ones. In this review, following a general overview of the properties of metal‐dielectric nanostructures, some of their most relevant applications including directional scattering, sensing, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, absorption enhancement, fluorescence and quantum dot emission enhancement, nonlinear effects, as well as lasing, are summarized.

In Vivo Assessment and Monitoring of Burn Wounds Using a Handheld Terahertz Hyperspectral Scanner

Abstract: The accuracy of clinical assessment techniques in diagnosing partial‐thickness burn injuries has remained as low as 50–76%. Depending on the burn depth and environmental factors in the wound, such as reactive oxygen species, inflammation, and autophagy, partial‐thickness burns can heal spontaneously or require surgical intervention. Herein, it is demonstrated that terahertz time‐domain spectral imaging (THz‐TDSI) is a promising tool for in vivo quantitative assessment and monitoring of partial‐thickness burn injuries in large animals. We used a novel handheld THz‐TDSI scanner to characterize burn injuries in a porcine scald model with histopathological controls. Statistical analysis (n = 40) indicates that the THz‐TDSI modality can accurately differentiate between partial‐thickness and full‐thickness burn injuries (1‐way ANOVA, p < 0.05). THz‐TDSI has the potential to improve burn care outcomes by helping surgeons in making objective decisions for early excision of the wound.

Boron‐Based Narrowband Multiresonance Delayed Fluorescent Emitters for Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes

Abstract: Recently, the exploration of boron (B)/heteroatom‐embedded polycyclic nanographites featuring multiresonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR‐TADF) garners astonishing attention to promote the advancement of organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). Contrary to the traditional donor–acceptor (D–A)‐type TADF emitters, the MR‐TADF emitters manifest narrowband emission with full width at half maximum (FWHM ≤ 40 nm) and superior photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) coupled with the small singlet–triplet energy splitting, which appeal their potential as promising candidates in fabricating efficient OLEDs. Growingly, MR‐TADF emitters deliver benchmark device performance comparable to the conventional TADF/phosphorescent emitters. However, they are suffering from the major drawbacks such as difficult to realize full‐color emitters, slow exciton upconversion dynamics, aggregation‐caused emission quenching, severe efficiency roll‐off, and poor operational lifetime, which jeopardizes their practical applicability. Herein, a comprehensive review on B‐based MR‐TADF emitters reported till date is presented, focusing on the different design strategies documented for circumventing the aforementioned shortcomings. This review is divided into several subgroups based on the emission color of the materials to draw the attention of organic electronics community toward constructing efficient full‐color MR‐OLEDs. Finally, challenges and opportunities in the MR‐TADF emitters are discussed.

Gaze‐Matched Pupil Steering Maxwellian‐View Augmented Reality Display with Large Angle Diffractive Liquid Crystal Lenses

Abstract: Maxwellian‐view structure exhibits several advantages in augmented reality (AR) displays, such as high efficiency, always‐in‐focus (no vergence‐accommodation conflict (VAC)), and simple optical structure. However, the bottleneck of Maxwellian‐view is its tiny eyebox. Extensive efforts have been devoted to enlarge the eyebox of the Maxwellian‐view system based on pupil duplication or pupil steering by creating multiple viewing points, however, the important gaze matching is neglected. Once the virtual image center deviates from the user's eye gaze, it will bring an unnatural viewing experience. Herein, a gaze‐matching Maxwellian‐view AR system with an enlarged eyebox is demonstrated. In the meantime, this AR system also maintains the properties of aberration‐free, high efficiency, highly transparent for ambient light, and relatively large field of view. Moreover, two layers of off‐axis cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) lenses are applied as the optical combiner in the system, which is lightweight and compact. The off‐axis angle of such a CLC lens is as large as 60 degrees, which plays a vital role in future Maxwellian‐view AR headsets.

Ultrahigh Sensitive Detection of Tau Protein as Alzheimer's Biomarker via Microfluidics and Nanofunctionalized Optical Fiber Sensors

Abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative illnesses displaying the highest death rate in the elderly. However, the existing AD diagnostic system remains elusive due to lack of a technology that may ensure enough sensitivity and reproducibility, detection accuracy, and specificity. Herein, a straightforward approach is reported to realize lab‐on‐fiber (LoF) technology for AD biomarker detection based on a D‐shaped single‐mode fiber combined with nanometer‐scale metal‐oxide film. The proposed sensing system, which permits the generation of lossy‐mode resonance (LMR), remarkably increases the evanescent field of light guided through the fiber, and hence the fiber‐surrounding medium interaction. Moreover, such optical sensors are highly repeatable in results and can safely be embedded into a compact and stable microfluidic system. Herein, the specific detection of Tau protein (as one of the classical AD biomarkers that is highly correlated with AD progression) in a complex biofluid with a detection limit of 10−12 m and over a wide concentration range (10−3–10 μg mL−1) is successfully demonstrated. The proposed LoF biosensor is an appealing solution for rapid, sub‐microliter dose and highly sensitive detection of analytes at low concentrations, hereby having the potential toward early screening and personalized medicine in AD.