Oxygen-ion implantation allows the direct fabrication of photonic memristors in thin-film lithium niobate. The resulting devices combine 3-bit non-volatile optical memory, submicrosecond responses and femtojoule-level switching energies.

Quantum dots with compositionally graded shells enhance quantum-dot LED performance, achieving pure-blue emission with a peak external quantum efficiency of 23.8%, 95% of which is retained at a luminance of 50,000 cd m⁻².

Researchers demonstrate infrared-to-visible upconversion using an InGaAs/InP avalanche heterojunction phototransistor. Intrinsic positive feedback provides the photocurrent for amber LED operation, producing visible emission 17,000 times brighter than incident infrared light with a breakdown voltage as low as 1.4 V.

Partial coherence often limits imaging and optical information processing. Researchers demonstrate a photonic chip that separates partially coherent light into its coherence modes, enabling scalable coherence analysis with resources that scale linearly with mode rank.

Ligand-engineered CsEuI₃ nanocrystals enable efficient single-component white electroluminescence with a peak external quantum efficiency of 8.3% and integration into active-matrix full-colour displays.

Dual-amide additives regulate the crystallization of thermally evaporated perovskites, enabling near-infrared perovkite LEDs with a peak external quantum efficiency of 25.0%, highlighting their potential for scalable pixelated optoelectronics.

Miniature versions of famous bulk solid-state sources, notably titanium–sapphire and Nd:YAG lasers, have now become a reality. This advance has been made possible through collaborative efforts from material science, heterogeneous integration and fabrication technologies.

The Shanghai High Repetition Rate XFEL and Extreme Light Facility is approaching its first lasing. Nature Photonics spoke with Zhentang Zhao, director of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility and the SHINE project, about the facility’s capabilities and future plans.

At the centre of Europe’s rich photonics ecosystem, the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) connects stakeholders and promotes collective actions and advocacy. Nature Photonics spoke to its Director General Carlos Lee about recent trends, strengths and challenges facing Europe.

Nature Photonics spoke with Yongsheng Chen from Nankai University, who was recently elected an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, about milestones in organic photovoltaic research, key outstanding challenges and the breakthroughs needed to further develop the technology.

Optical neural networks promise unmatched efficiency, bandwidth, and latency — critical benefits as demand for neural network hardware surges. However, their practical value for general-purpose acceleration or specialized applications must be proven under application-realistic conditions. We discuss recent insights and outline key research priorities.

About two decades ago, proof-of-principle demonstrations used light to enable heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR). Now, with over a million HAMR drives in the market, Nature Photonics spoke to Seagate VP of Research Ed Gage about what is arguably one of the greatest commercial success stories in plasmonics.