Topological rainbow based on coupling of topological waveguide and cavity.

Topological photonics and topological photonic states have opened up a new frontier for optical manipulation and robust light trapping. The topological rainbow can separate different frequencies of topological states into different positions. This work combines a topological photonic crystal waveguide (topological PCW) with the optical cavity. The dipole and quadrupole topological rainbows are realized through increasing cavity size along the coupling interface. The flatted band can be obtained by increasing cavity length due to interaction strength between the optical field and defected region material which is extensively promoted. The light propagation through the coupling interface is built on the evanescent overlapping mode tails of the localized fields between bordering cavities. Thus, the ultra-low group velocity is realized at a cavity length more than the lattice constant, which is appropriate for realizing an accurate and precise topological rainbow. Hence, this is a novel release for strong localization with robust transmission and owns the possibility to realize high-performance optical storage devices.

Energy Level Prediction of Organic Semiconductors for Photodetectors and Mining of a Photovoltaic Database to Search for New Building Units.

Due to the large versatility in organic semiconductors, selecting a suitable (organic semiconductor) material for photodetectors is a challenging task. Integrating computer science and artificial intelligence with conventional methods in optimization and material synthesis can guide experimental researchers to develop, design, predict and discover high-performance materials for photodetectors. To find high-performance organic semiconductor materials for photodetectors, it is crucial to establish a relationship between photovoltaic properties and chemical structures before performing synthetic procedures in laboratories. Moreover, the fast prediction of energy levels is desirable for designing better organic semiconductor photodetectors. Herein, we first collected large sets of data containing photovoltaic properties of organic semiconductor photodetectors reported in the literature. In addition, molecular descriptors that make it easy and fast to predict the required properties were used to train machine learning models. Power conversion efficiency and energy levels were also predicted. Multiple models were trained using experimental data. The light gradient boosting machine (LGBM) regression model and Hist gradient booting regression model are the best models. The best models were further tuned to achieve better prediction ability. The reliability of our designed approach was further verified by mining the photovoltaic database to search for new building units. The results revealed that good consistency is obtained between experimental outcomes and model predictions, indicating that machine learning is a powerful approach to predict the properties of photodetectors, which can facilitate their rapid development in various fields.

Machine Learning-Assisted Prediction of the Biological Activity of Aromatase Inhibitors and Data Mining to Explore Similar Compounds.

Designing molecules for drugs has been a hot topic for many decades. However, it is hard and expensive to find a new molecule. Thus, the cost of the final drug is also increased. Machine learning can provide the fastest way to predict the biological activity of druglike molecules. In the present work, machine learning models are trained for the prediction of the biological activity of aromatase inhibitors. Data was collected from the literature. Molecular descriptors are calculated to be used as independent features for model training. The results showed that the R 2 values for linear regression, random forest regression, gradient boosting regression, and bagging regression are 0.58, 0.84, 0.77, and 0.80, respectively. Using these models, it is possible to predict the activity of new molecules in a short period of time and at a reasonable cost. Furthermore, Tanimoto similarity is used for similarity analysis, as well as a chemical database is mined to search for similar molecules. Nonetheless, this study provides a framework for repurposing other effective drug molecules to prevent cancer.

One-Dimensional Topological Photonic Crystal Mirror Heterostructure for Sensing.

A paradigm for high-quality factor (Q) with a substantial fulfillment for appraising sensing ability and performance has been investigated. Through constructing a 1D (one-dimensional) topological photonic crystal (PhC) mirror heterostructure, which is formed by the image view of 1D topological PhC stacking with its original one. In the 1D topological PhC-mirror heterostructure, there is an interesting mode that appeared with the symmetric, typical Lorentzian-line shape with 100% transmittance in the topological mirror edge-state mode (hybrid resonance mode) at the heterostructure interface. Physically, such a mode is a defect mode, but the defect is introduced through topological operations. The high Q-factor of 5.08 × 104 is obtained due to the strong optical localization of the defect mode at the topological edge area. Consequently, this device acts as a narrow passband filter. Moreover, due to the narrow bandpass property, it may be an advantageous reference for many applications in filtering, switching, and sensing. Thus, introducing an electro-optical (EO) polymer layer at the interface to modify the edge defect can tune the defect mode both in frequency and Q-factor for higher spatial pulse compression and higher EO sensitivity. Accordingly, the Q-factor of 105, the sensitivity of 616 nm/RIU, and the figure of merit of 49,677.42 RIU-1 are obtained. The sensing ability and performance are attributable to the strong optical localization in the interface region and enhanced light-matter interaction. We predict that the 1D topological PhC mirror heterostructure will be an outstanding point in the field of optical sensing, filters, and optical switching in different fields.

Elongated-Hexagonal Photonic Crystal for Buffering, Sensing, and Modulation.

A paradigm for high buffering performance with an essential fulfillment for sensing and modulation was set forth. Through substituting the fundamental two rows of air holes in an elongated hexagonal photonic crystal (E-PhC) by one row of the triangular gaps, the EPCW is molded to form an irregular waveguide. By properly adjusting the triangle dimension solitary, we fulfilled the lowest favorable value of the physical-size of each stored bit by about µ5.5510 µm. Besides, the EPCW is highly sensitive to refractive index (RI) perturbation attributed to the medium through infiltrating the triangular gaps inside the EPCW by microfluid with high RI sensitivity of about 379.87 nm/RIU. Furthermore, dynamic modulation can be achieved by applying external voltage and high electro-optical (EO) sensitivity is obtained of about 748.407 nm/RIU. The higher sensitivity is attributable to strong optical confinement in the waveguide region and enhanced light-matter interaction in the region of the microfluid triangular gaps inside the EPCW and conventional gaps (air holes). The EPCW structure enhances the interaction between the light and the sensing medium.

High Figure of Merit Optical Buffering in Coupled-Slot Slab Photonic Crystal Waveguide with Ionic Liquid.

Slow light with adequate low group velocity and wide bandwidth with a flat band of the zero-dispersion area were investigated. High buffering capabilities were obtained in a silicon-polymer coupled-slot slab photonic crystal waveguide (SP-CS-SPCW) with infiltrating slots by ionic liquid. A figure of merit (FoM) around 0.663 with the lowest physical bit length Lbit of 4.6748 µm for each stored bit in the optical communication waveband was gained by appropriately modifying the square air slot length. Posteriorly, by filling the slots with ionic liquid, the Lbit was enhanced to be 4.2817 µm with the highest FoM of 0.72402 in wider transmission bandwidth and ultra-high bit rate in terabit range, which may become useful for the future 6G mobile communication network. Ionic liquids have had a noticeable effect in altering the optical properties of photonic crystals. A polymer was used for the future incorporation of an electro-optic effect in buffers to realize the dynamic controlling of optical properties. Ionic liquids enhanced the transmission rate through optical materials. Additionally, the delay time in the ns-range was achieved, providing longer delay and ultra-low group velocity, which is important for light-matter interaction in light amplifiers and nonlinear devices.

High-speed amplitude modulator with a high modulation index based on a plasmonic resonant tunable metasurface.

High-speed optical amplitude modulation is important for optical communication systems and sensors. Moreover, nano-optical modulators are important for developing optical-communication-aided high-speed parallel-operation processors and micro-biomedical sensors for inside-blood-capillary examinations or microsurgery operations. In this paper, we have designed a plasmonic resonant tunable metasurface with barium titanate (BTO) as a nanoscale optical modulator with a high modulation index and high speed. The BTO operated well in the VIS and near-IR ranges, enabling tunable optical devices with zero dispersion and high speed. The results obtained by rigorous finite-element method simulations have shown that the hypothesized device has good potential for fast modulation in related applications, e.g., modulators in nano-optical systems, nano-optical switches and nanosensors.

Single step synthesis of highly conductive room-temperature stable cation-substituted mayenite electride target and thin film.

Novel approaches to synthesize efficient inorganic electride [Ca24Al28O64]4+(e-)4 (thereafter, C12A7:e-) at ambient pressure under nitrogen atmosphere, are actively sought out to reduce the cost of massive formation of nanosized powder as well as compact large size target production. It led to a new era in low cost industrial applications of this abundant material as Transparent Conducting Oxides (TCOs) and as a catalyst. Therefore, the present study about C12A7:e- electride is directed towards challenges of cation doping in C12A7:e- to enhance the conductivity and form target to deposit thin film. Our investigation for cation doping on structural and electrical properties of Sn- and Si-doped C12A7:e- (Si-C12A7:e, and Sn-C12A7:e-) reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite shows the maximum achieved conductivities of 5.79 S·cm-1 and 1.75 S·cm-1 respectively. On the other hand when both samples melted, then rGO free Sn-C12A7:e- and Si-C12A7:e- were obtained, with conductivities ~280 S.cm-1 and 300 S·cm-1, respectively. Iodometry based measured electron concentration of rGO free Sn-C12A7:e- and Si-C12A7:e-, 3 inch electride targets were ~2.22 × 1021 cm-3, with relative 97 ± 0.5% density, and ~2.23 × 1021 cm-3 with relative 99 ± 0.5% density, respectively. Theoretical conductivity was already reported excluding any associated experimental support. Hence the above results manifested feasibility of this sol-gel method for different elements doping to further boost up the electrical properties.

Facile synthesis of a cationic-doped [Ca24Al28O64]4+(4e-) composite via a rapid citrate sol-gel method.

One of the greatest challenges in the enhancement of the electrical properties of conductive mayenite [Ca24Al28O64]4+(4e-) (hereinafter C12A7:e-) is the design of a more suitable/simple synthesis strategy that can be employed to obtain the required properties such as excellent stable electrical conductivity, a high electron concentration, outstanding mobility, and an exceptionally large surface area. Therefore, to synthesize C12A7:e- in the metallic state, we proposed a facile, direct synthesis strategy based on an optimized sol-gel combustion method under a nitrogen gas environment using the low-cost precursors Ca(NO3)2·4H2O and Al(NO3)3·9H2O. Using this developed strategy, we successfully synthesized moderately conductive nanoscale C12A7:e- powder, but with unexpected carbon components (reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and/or graphene oxide (GO)). The synthesized C12A7:e- composite at room temperature has an electrical conductivity of about 21 S cm-1, a high electron concentration of approximately 1.5 × 1021 cm-3, and a maximum specific surface area of 265 m2 g-1. Probably, the synthesized rGO was coated on nanocage C12A7:e- particles. In general, the C12A7:e- electride is sensitive to the environment (especially to oxygen and moisture) and protected by an rGO coating on C12A7:e- particles, which also enhances the mobility and keeps the conductivity of C12A7:e- electride stable over a long period. Doped mayenite electride exhibits a conductivity that is strongly dependent on the substitution level. The conductivity of gallium-doped mayenite electride increases with the doping level and has a maximum value of 270 S cm-1, which for the first time has been reported for the stable C12A7:e- electride. In the case of Si-substituted calcium aluminate, the conductivity has a maximum value of 222 S cm-1 at room temperature.

Facile metal-free reduction-based synthesis of pristine and cation-doped conductive mayenite.

In the present study we synthesized conductive nanoscale [Ca24Al28O64]4+(4e-) (hereafter denoted as C12A7:e-) material, and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was produced, which was unexpected; graphene oxide was removed after melting the sample. The conductivity of C12A7:e- composites synthesized at 1550 °C was 1.25 S cm-1, and the electron concentration was 5.5 × 1019 cm-3. The estimated BET specific surface area of the highly conductive sample was 20 m2 g-1. Pristine C12A7:e- electride was obtained by melting the composite powder, but the nano size of C12A7:e- particles could not be preserved; the value of conductivity was ∼28 S cm-1, electron concentration was ∼1.9 × 1021 cm-3, and mass density was 93%. For C12A7-x V x :e-, where x = 0.25 to 1, the conductivity improved to a maximum value of 40 S cm-1, and the electron density improved to ∼2.2 × 1021 cm-3; this enhancement in conductivity was also proposed by a theoretical study but lacked any associated experimental support.