We combine theory and experiment to demonstrate that a carefully designed gradient meta-surface supports high-efficiency anomalous reflections for near-infrared light following the generalized Snell's law, and the reflected wave becomes a bounded surface wave as the incident angle exceeds a critical value. Compared to previously fabricated gradient meta-surfaces in infrared regime, our samples work in a shorter wavelength regime with a broad bandwidth (750-900 nm), exhibit a much higher conversion efficiency (∼80%) to the anomalous reflection mode at normal incidence, and keep light polarization unchanged after the anomalous reflection. Finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) simulations are in excellent agreement with experiments. Our findings may lead to many interesting applications, such as antireflection coating, polarization and spectral beam splitters, high-efficiency light absorbers, and surface plasmon couplers.

Local density approximation + Hubbard U (LDA + U) band structure calculations reveal that magnetite (Fe3O4) forms an insulating charge-orbital-ordered state below the Verwey transition temperature. The calculated charge ordering is in good agreement with that inferred from recent experiments. We found an associated t(2g) orbital ordering on the octahedral Fe2+ sublattice. Such an orbital ordering results primarily from the on-site Coulomb interaction. This finding unravels such fundamental issues about the Verwey transition as the mechanism for the charge ordering and for the formation of the insulating gap, as well as the nonobedience of the Anderson's criterion for the charge ordering.

Relativistic band theoretical calculations reveal that intrinsic spin Hall conductivity in hole-doped archetypical semiconductors Ge, GaAs, and AlAs is large [approximately 100(planck/e)(Omega cm)(-1)], showing the possibility of a spin Hall effect beyond the four-band Luttinger Hamiltonian. The calculated orbital-angular-momentum (orbital) Hall conductivity is one order of magnitude smaller, indicating no cancellation between the spin and orbital Hall effects in bulk semiconductors. Furthermore, it is found that the spin Hall effect can be strongly manipulated by strains, and that the ac spin Hall conductivity is large in pure as well as doped semiconductors.

The orthophosphate host family, A(I)B(II)PO(4) (A(I) = monovalent cation, B(II) = divalent cation), has recently been made available as phosphors that combine with near-UV lighting chips for use in solid-state white light-emitting diodes (LEDs). This study elucidates the crystalline structure and lattice parameters of the products via a solid-state reaction, using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and GSAS refinement. The versatility of the phosphor host A(I)B(II)PO(4) is established by examining isovalent substitutions of four cations in the structure-Li or K for A(I), Sr or Ba for B(II)-and three doped activators, RE = Eu(2+), Tb(3+), and Sm(3+). The luminescence properties, decay time, and Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity index are determined for various concentrations of these activators and metal constituents of the host. The thermal stabilities of all of these compounds are determined for the first time from the crystal structure and the coordination environment of the rare-earth metal. The morphology, composition, and particle size were measured in detail. Finally, density functional calculations were performed using the generalized gradient approximation plus an on-site Coulombic interaction correction (GGA+U) scheme to investigate the electronic structures of the KSrPO(4) system. A concise model was proposed to explain the luminescence mechanism.