High-order exciton complexes induced by an interlayer carrier transfer in 2D van der Waals heterostructures.

High-order correlated excitonic states, such as biexciton, charged biexciton, and polaron, hold a promising platform in contemporary quantum and nonlinear optics due to their large Bohr radii and thus strong nonlinear interactions. The recently found 2D TMDs further give such excitonic states additional valley properties, with bound state of excitons in opposite valleys in momentum spaces. Despite great efforts that have been made on emission properties of excitonic states, their absorption features, especially the ultrafast absorption dynamics, are rarely reported. Here, we reported the enhanced optical absorption of the high-order charged-excitonic states in monolayer WS2, including singlet, triplet, and semidark trions (3-particle state), and charged biexcitons (5-particle state), by utilizing the interlayer charge transfer-induced photo-doping effect in the graphene-WS2 heterostructure. Depending on recombination rates of doping electrons, absorption intensities of charged complexes exhibit ultrafast decay dynamics, with lifetimes of several picoseconds. Due to many-body interaction, both increasing pump intensity and lattice temperature can broaden these fine excitonic absorption peaks and even reverse the shape of the transient absorption spectrum.

Theoretical and experimental investigations of dispersion-managed, polarization-maintaining 1-GHz mode-locked fiber lasers.

High-repetition-rate (up to GHz) femtosecond mode-locked lasers have attracted significant attention in many applications, such as broadband spectroscopy, high-speed optical sampling, and so on. In this paper, the characteristics of dispersion-managed, polarization-maintaining (PM) 1-GHz mode-locked fiber lasers were investigated both experimentally and numerically. Three compact and robust 1-GHz fiber lasers operating at anomalous, normal, and near-zero dispersion regimes were demonstrated, respectively. The net dispersion of the linear cavity is adjusted by changing types of PM erbium-doped fibers (EDFs) and semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) in the cavity. Moreover, the long-term stability of the three mode-locked fiber lasers is proved without external control. In order to better understand the mode-locking dynamics of lasers, a numerical model was constructed for analysis of the 1-GHz fiber laser. Pulse evolution simulations have been carried out for soliton, dissipative-soliton, and stretched-pulse mode-locking regimes under different net dispersion conditions. Experimental results are basically in agreement with the numerical simulations.

Influence of surface roughness on nanosecond laser-induced shock wave enhancement effects.

In this paper, an effective method is proposed for improving the energy of the shock waves that are generated by plasma expanding outward and colliding with another gas. Silicon targets are used as the response medium with roughness of 2.3 nm, 457.8 nm, 1.1 µm, and 37.1 µm, respectively. A 532-nm-laser with a pulse duration of 8 ns and a repetition rate of 10 Hz is used as the irradiation source. An intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) is used to photograph the morphology of the shock waves. The time-resolved emission images of silicon plasma plumes are observed between 20-200 ns. As the surface roughness of the target increases, the intensity of the shock wave gradually increases, and the energy of the shock wave reaches up to 39.45 mJ at a roughness of 37.1 µm.

Bifunctional Spatiotemporal Metasurfaces for Incident Angle-Tunable and Ultrafast Optically Switchable Electromagnetically Induced Transparency.

Advances in tunable metamaterials/metasurfaces facilitates their utilization in novel optical components, and lead to many breakthroughs in light tailoring by giving birth to diverse spatiotemporal dynamics. In the ascendant field of terahertz (THz) photonics, the ultrafast modulation is the fundamental process of technological advancements in high-speed wireless communications, sensing, and imaging. However, the current research efforts have been mainly devoted to studies of single functionality under the control of one stimulus, which has plateaued in terms of innovative new features. Here, building on the incident angle-induced C2 symmetry breaking of split ring pairs, we experimentally demonstrate extremely versatile, ultrafast THz switching behaviors at continuously alterable resonant states. The direction-controlled resonance hybridization provides another excellent degree of routing freedom, owing to its robustness, simplicity, and wide tunability. By leveraging such virtues, single LC mode and EIT-like resonance under normal and oblique incidence conditions are both effectively switched-off by means of photon injection. Considering the ultrashort lifetime of free carriers in MoSe2 crystal, the corresponding transient dynamics show an ultrafast recovery time within 700 ps. The strategy proposed here is a viable pathway for multidimensional THz wave manipulation, which gears up a crucial step for diversified functionalities in deployable metaphotonic devices.

Neuromorphology in-sensor computing architecture based on an optical Fourier transform.

We propose an object recognition architecture relying on a neural network algorithm in optical sensors. Precisely, by applying the high-speed and low-power Fourier transform operation in the optical domain, we can transfer the high-cost part of the traditional convolutional neural network algorithm to the sensor side to achieve faster computing speed. An optical neuron unit (ONU) consisting of transition metal sulfide (TMD) material is fabricated for a vivid validation of this architecture. Using the embedded gate pair structure inside our ONU, TMD materials can be electrically doped at different levels, forming an in-plane PN junction, which allows for effective manipulation of light response to imitate biological nerve synapses. The results demonstrate that our ONU could reach the ability of optic neurons, providing experimental support for future in-sensor computing architecture.

An efficient and general method for the synthesis of stable isotope deuterium labeled phthalate esters.

An efficient and general synthetic route of deuterium-labeled phthalate esters is described with high isotopic enrichment and excellent chemical purities using inexpensive and readily available o-xylene-D10 as labeled starting material. The structures and isotope-abundance were confirmed via 1 H NMR and mass spectrometry. These deuterium labeled phthalate esters can be used as analytical reference standards for the detection of plasticizer residues in soil, water, food, plastic products, etc.

Ultrafast exciton transfer in perovskite CsPbBr3 quantum dots and topological insulator Bi2Se3 film heterostructure.

Recently, topological insulator based heterostructures (HSs) have attracted tremendous research interest, due to their efficient carrier transfer features at the heterointerface induced by metallic surface states. Here, a novel HS comprising 0D perovskite CsPbBr3 quantum dots (QDs) and 2D material topological insulator Bi2Se3 film is proposed and experimentally investigated. Specifically, steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) measurements are employed, from which a significant quenching behaviour is observed in the HS, with an average quenching factor of 93.2 ± 0.8%. Additionally, time-resolved PL spectroscopy affirms that the carrier transfer efficiency can be up to 92.6 ± 0.2%. Furthermore, the dynamics of carrier transfer within the 0D-2D HS are characterized by utilizing femtosecond broadband transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy, revealing an ultrafast exciton transfer from photoexcited CsPbBr3 QDs to the Bi2Se3 film with a time-scale around 1.1 ± 0.2 ps. An alternative important finding is that the band renormalization is exhibited in CsPbBr3 QDs of the HS, with the dominant factor being the Coulomb screening effect. This work is expected to provide some fundamental understanding of the ultrafast and efficient carrier transfer mechanism underneath HSs based on topological insulators.

Photo-induced excitonic structure renormalization and broadband absorption in monolayer tungsten disulphide.

Atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have emerged as a new class of two-dimensional (2D) material for novel optoelectronic applications. In particular, 2D TMDCs are viewed as intriguing and appealing materials to construct Q-switching and mode-locked modulators, due to their broadband saturable absorption even of photon energy below their excitonic energies. However, the dynamics and mechanism of saturable absorption inside TMDCs has yet to be investigated. In this paper, the relaxation dynamics of monolayer tungsten disulphide (WS2) was investigated considering different excitonic transitions. WS2 illustrates dramatic changes in optical responses when excited by intense laser pulses, which are characterized by the broadband photo-induced nonresonance absorption and the giant excitonic bands renormalization process. The experimental results show that strong photo-induced restructuring of excitonic bands has picosecond lifetime and full recovery of optical responses takes hundreds of picosecond. Additionally, our observations reveal that heavy renormalization and overlap of excitonic bands are induced by strong many-body Coulomb interactions. Moreover, the broadband absorption feature of WS2 opens up new applications in broadband saturable absorbers and ultrafast photonic devices.

Hyperspectral imaging for the spectral measurement of far-field beam divergence angle and beam uniformity of a supercontinuum laser.

A new novel method, hyperspectral imaging (HSI), is presented in this work to measure the beam divergence angle and beam profile uniformity of supercontinuum lasers. The obtained results of divergence angles are consistent with theoretically calculated values. The uniformity of different-size projected Gaussian beams was measured through referencing the data sets provided by HSI camera under the wavelength variation. HSI, compared with traditional methods, is much faster and capable of providing critical reference to supercontinuum output parameters measurements and practical application in far-field situation.

Visualized charge transfer processes in monolayer composition-graded WS2xSe2(1-x) lateral heterojunctions via ultrafast microscopy mapping.

Two-dimensional transitional metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) based lateral heterojunctions have emerged as appealing and intriguing materials for applications in the next generation flexible nanoelectronics. The construction of depletion region near the in-plane interface brings rich opto-electrical dynamics, which is essential for future applications. Due to the synchronous requirement of spatial and time resolution, the study of lateral heterojunction dynamics remains a challenging issue. Herein, with a home-built spatiotemporal femtosecond transient absorption (TAS) spectroscopy platform, we have investigated the ultrafast photocarrier dynamics of monolayer spatial composition-graded WS2xSe2(1-x) lateral heterojunctions. At the alloy interface, the charge transfer (CT) processes have been visualized and referred to occur in 1 ps time scale. The mobility difference between electrons and holes results in the space modulation of the interface and a significant broadening of rising edge on the shell region. Moreover, carrier lifetime near the interface is extraordinarily extended by over 3 times from 153 ps to 678 ps. All these results unveil its great potential in designing future low cost logic devices and ultrafast optical applications.

Nonlinear absorption and temperature-dependent fluorescence of perovskite FAPbBr3 nanocrystal.

Recent progress in solar cell and light-emitting devices makes halide perovskite a research hot spot in optics. In this Letter, the nonlinear absorption and fluorescence properties of FAPbBr3 nanocrystal, one typical organometallic halide perovskite, have been investigated via Z-scan measurements and a density-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. The FAPbBr3 nanocrystal exhibits nonlinear absorption under the excitation of 800 nm, whose photon energy is below the bandgap of FAPbBr3. The significant absorption is experimentally confirmed to be induced by two-photon absorption (TPA), and the TPA coefficient is measured to be ∼0.0042 cm/GW. Moreover, the PL induced by TPA in FAPbBr3 nanocrystal shows different temperature-dependent behaviors in the range of 90 to 350 K. The peaks of the PL spectrum remain nearly constant at 100-160 K, with a very shallow trough at around 150 K, while a linear blue shift (0.496 meV/K) of the spectrum is observed when temperature is above 160 K. These temperature-dependent fluorescence behaviors can be ascribed to the structural phase transition at about 150 K and the contribution of thermal expansion. Moreover, the exciton binding energy around 160 meV and the optical phonon energy of 15.3 meV are also extracted from the temperature-dependent PL data.

The EF-1α promoter maintains high-level transgene expression from episomal vectors in transfected CHO-K1 cells.

In our previous study, we demonstrated that episomal vectors based on the characteristic sequence of matrix attachment regions (MARs) and containing the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter allow transgenes to be maintained episomally in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. However, the transgene expression was unstable and the number of copies was low. In this study, we focused on enhancers, various promoters and promoter variants that could improve the transgene expression stability, expression magnitude (level) and the copy number of a MAR-based episomal vector in CHO-K1 cells. In comparison with the CMV promoter, the eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1 α (EF-1α, gene symbol EEF1A1) promoter increased the transfection efficiency, the transgene expression, the proportion of expression-positive clones and the copy number of the episomal vector in long-term culture. By contrast, no significant positive effects were observed with an enhancer, CMV promoter variants or CAG promoter in the episomal vector in long-term culture. Moreover, the high-expression clones harbouring the EF-1α promoter tended to be more stable in long-term culture, even in the absence of selection pressure. According to these findings, we concluded that the EF-1α promoter is a potent regulatory sequence for episomal vectors because it maintains high transgene expression, transgene stability and copy number. These results provide valuable information on improvement of transgene stability and the copy number of episomal vectors.

Thickness-dependent carrier and phonon dynamics of topological insulator Bi2Te3 thin films.

As a new quantum state of matter, topological insulators offer a new platform for exploring new physics, giving rise to fascinating new phenomena and new devices. Lots of novel physical properties of topological insulators have been studied extensively and are attributed to the unique electron-phonon interactions at the surface. Although electron behavior in topological insulators has been studied in detail, electron-phonon interactions at the surface of topological insulators are less understood. In this work, using optical pump-optical probe technology, we performed transient absorbance measurement on Bi2Te3 thin films to study the dynamics of its hot carrier relaxation process and coherent phonon behavior. The excitation and dynamics of phonon modes are observed with a response dependent on the thickness of the samples. The thickness-dependent characteristic time, amplitude and frequency of the damped oscillating signals are acquired by fitting the signal profiles. The results clearly indicate that the electron-hole recombination process gradually become dominant with the increasing thickness which is consistent with our theoretical calculation. In addition, a frequency modulation phenomenon on the high-frequency oscillation signals induced by coherent optical phonons is observed.

Modification of degenerative photoluminescence in aged monolayer WS2 by PC61BM surface processing.

Owing to their unique physical properties, monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have been widely used in applications of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). However, monolayers of TMDCs undergo dramatic aging effects, including intense degradation in optical behavior, extensive cracking, and severe quenching of the direct gap photoluminescence (PL), seriously limiting the device performance. In this work, we show that monolayer WS2 stored for three months even in the glovebox exhibits obvious degenerative PL with changed peak position that can be attributed to the presence of a large number of trions induced by the aging effect. PC61BM surface processing was used to modify the surface of the aged monolayer WS2. As expected, higher uniformity in the PL spectrum was obtained. Besides, the PL peak wavelength was modified to be the same as that of the nonaged one and did not change even at higher excitation power. This strategy is shown to successfully suppress the formation of the trion by transferring the excess electrons from WS2 to PC61BM. The results demonstrate the feasibility of applying PC61BM surface modification to improve the performance of the LED based on monolayer WS2.

Dielectric properties of a CsPbBr3 quantum dot solution in the terahertz region.

In recent years, CsPbBr3 quantum dots (QDs) have attracted much attention due to their bright prospects in solar cell studies. Dielectric properties are important for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices. Here, the dielectric properties of a CsPbBr3 QD solution are investigated between 0.1 and 2.0 THz by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The measured frequency-dependent transmitted ratio is found to decrease from 0.96 to 0.80 in this range. By comparing different concentrations of the QD solution, the frequency-averaged absorption is linearly increased with the increase in QD concentration. After that, the frequency-dependent dielectric constant, including the complex refractive index, complex dielectric constant, and conductivity, is extracted by Fourier transform of the time-domain spectrum. An effective medium approach method is adopted to extract the complex dielectric constant of a CsPbBr3 QD inclusion, and a slight peak around 0.4 THz is found in the imaginary part of the dielectric constant. The result of Drude-Lorentz fitting shows that the phonon plays a dominant role in the dielectric properties of a CsPbBr3 QD solution. Moreover, the THz response of a CsPbBr3 QD is found to be unchanged when the test is conducted under illumination. We attribute this phenomenon to the discrete energy level of excitons in CsPbBr3 QDs due to quantum confinement, and design a comparative experiment to validate it. This study is significant for its deeper insight into the dielectric properties of CsPbBr3 QDs, and thus is helpful through its applications in optoelectronics.

Temperature-dependent excitonic photoluminescence excited by two-photon absorption in perovskite CsPbBr3 quantum dots.

Recently, lead halide perovskite quantum dots have been reported with potential for photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications due to their excellent luminescent properties. Herein excitonic photoluminescence (PL) excited by two-photon absorption in perovskite CsPbBr3 quantum dots (QDs) has been studied at a broad temperature range, from 80 to 380 K. Two-photon absorption has been investigated and the absorption coefficient is up to 0.085 cm/GW at room temperature. Moreover, the PL spectrum excited by two-photon absorption shows a linear blue-shift (0.32 meV/K) below the temperature of 220 K. However, for higher temperatures, the PL peak approaches a roughly constant value and shows temperature-independent chromaticity up to 380 K. This behavior is distinct from the general red-shift for semiconductors and can be attributed to the result of thermal expansion, electron-phonon interaction and structural phase transition around 360 K. The strong nonlinear absorption and temperature-independent chromaticity of CsPbBr3 QDs observed in temperature range from 220 to 380 K will offer new opportunities in nonlinear photonics, light-harvesting, and light-emitting devices.

Efficient synthesis of D6 -clenproperol and D6 -cimaterol using deuterium isopropylamine as labelled precursor.

This report presents an efficient synthesis of D6 -clenproperol and D6 -cimaterol with 99.5% and 99.7% isotopic abundance in acceptable yields and excellent chemical purities with deuterium isopropylamine as labelled precursor. Their structures and the isotope-abundance were confirmed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Synthesis of stable isotope labeled D9 -Mabuterol, D9 -Bambuterol, and D9 -Cimbuterol.

Three stable and simple synthetic routes of labeled D9 -Mabuterol, D9 -Bambuterol, and D9 -Cimbuterol were described with 98.5%, 99.7%, and 98.4% isotopic abundance and good purity. These structures and isotope-abundance were confirmed according to 1 H NMR and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Theoretical and Experimental: The Synthetic and Anion-Binding Properties of Tripodal Salicylaldehyde Derivatives.

A series of colorimetric anion probes 1-6 containing OH and NO2 groups were synthesized, and their recognition properties toward various anions were investigated by visual observation, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fluorescence, ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance titration spectra and theoretical investigation. Nanomaterials of three compounds 2-4 were prepared successfully. Four compounds 3-6 that contain electron-withdrawing substituents showed a high binding ability for AcO(-). The host-guest complex formed through a 1:1 binding ratio, and color changes were detectable during the recognition process. Theoretical investigation analysis revealed that an intramolecular hydrogen bond existed in the structures of compounds and the roles of molecular frontier orbitals in molecular interplay. These studies suggested that this series of compounds could be used as colorimetric probes to detect of AcO(-).

Analysis of the Interaction of Dp44mT with Human Serum Albumin and Calf Thymus DNA Using Molecular Docking and Spectroscopic Techniques.

Di-2-pyridylketone-4,4,-dimethyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (Dp44mT) exhibits significant antitumor activity. However, the mechanism of its pharmacological interaction with human serum albumin (HSA) and DNA remains poorly understood. Here, we aimed to elucidate the interactions of Dp44mT with HSA and DNA using MTT assays, spectroscopic methods, and molecular docking analysis. Our results indicated that addition of HSA at a ratio of 1:1 did not alter the cytotoxicity of Dp44mT, but did affect the cytotoxicity of the Dp44mT-Cu complex. Data from fluorescence quenching and UV-VIS absorbance measurements demonstrated that Dp44mT could bind to HSA with a moderate affinity (Ka = approximately 104 M(-1)). CD spectra revealed that Dp44mT could slightly disrupt the secondary structure of HSA. Dp44mT could also interact with Ct-DNA, but had a moderate binding constant (KEB = approximately 104 M(-1)). Docking studies indicated that the IB site of HSA, but not the IIA and IIIA sites, could be favorable for Dp44mT and that binding of Dp44mT to HSA involved hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic force, consistent with thermodynamic results from spectral investigations. Thus, the moderate binding affinity of Dp44mT with HSA and DNA partially contributed to its antitumor activity and may be preferable in drug design approaches.