By the formation of ZnO and Pt nanocomposites, it is found that the bandgap emission can be greatly enhanced, while the defect emission is suppressed to the noise level. The photoluminescence intensity ratio between the bandgap and defect emission can be improved by up to 10 3 times. The underlying mechanism behind enhancement of the bandgap emission and quenching of the defect emission is a combination of the energy transfer between defects and surface plasmon resonance in Pt nanoparticles, as well as electron-hole pair generation and recombination in the ZnO nanorods. Our results will be very useful to manufacturers of highly efficient optoelectronic devices.

Defect radiation has been always considered as the most important loss for an emitter based on band gap emission. Here, we propose a novel approach which goes against this conventional wisdom. Based on the resonance effect between the surface plasmon of metal nanoparticles and defect emission, it is possible to convert the useless defect radiation to the useful excitonic emission with a giant enhancement factor. Through the transfer of the energetic electrons excited by surface plasmon from metal nanoparticles to the conduction band of the emitter, the band gap emission can be greatly enhanced, while the defect emission can be suppressed to noise level.

A versatile platform for photodynamic therapy (PDT), mesoporous silica nanoparticles functionalized with protoporphyrin IX (PpIX‐MSNs), has been developed. In vitro studies on HeLa cells show high uptake efficiency. Phototoxicity results give both irradiation time‐ and dosage‐dependent cell death events. Because of the ease of incorporating other biomedical functional groups, we believe MSNs would be an ideal platform for biomedical applications.

Metal-semiconductor core-shell nanostructures have been synthesized to explore the influence of metal nanostructures on the photoluminescence of semiconductors. Up to 40 times enhancement in the emission intensity was observed in the Au–CdS core-shell nanostructures. The mechanism where the excited electrons on Au surface by surface plasmon wave transfer to the conduction band of the CdS shell and recombine with holes in the valence band was proposed to interpret the enhancement. Our model can also be used to explain the quenched emission in FePt–CdS core-shell nanostructures and Au–CdSe nanodumbbells.

A fabrication of ZnO hierarchical mesocrystal was achieved by a biomimetic method using gelatin as structure-directing agent. It was found that the ZnO−gelatin microcrystal with well-defined hexagonal twin plate shape is built by the stacking of nanoplates. The irregularly edged nanoplates can adjust themselves to each other throughout the microcrystal, resulting in a roughly hexagonal edge. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) analysis of the ZnO−gelatin microcrystal demonstrates that all the stacked nanoplates are aligned and oriented to form a single-crystal structure with hexagonal symmetry. The hierarchical structure of ZnO was found to resemble that of naturally occurring nacre. Similar to nacreous architecture, the nanoplate of ZnO was constructed from the oriented attachment of ZnO nanoparticles. More importantly, the lattices of the stacked nanoplates are aligned through mineral bridges between neighboring plates. A mechanism scheme is proposed for the formation of the gelatin−ZnO hybrid hierarchical structure. The preserved hexagonal shape of the mesocrystal structure consequently results in a whispering gallery mode (WGM) of optical emission where light was confined in the hexagons by total internal reflection. The observation of WGM mode emission in the ZnO hexagon structure shows promises for nanoscale fabrication of optoelectronic devices.

Multistate logic is recognized as a promising approach to increase the device density of microelectronics, but current approaches are offset by limited performance and large circuit complexity. We here demonstrate a route toward increased integration density that is enabled by a mechanically tunable device concept. Bi-anti-ambipolar transistors (bi-AATs) exhibit two distinct peaks in their transconductance and can be realized by a single 2D-material heterojunction-based solid-state device. Dynamic deformation of the device reveals the co-occurrence of two conduction pathways to be the origin of this previously unobserved behavior. Initially, carrier conduction proceeds through the junction edge, but illumination and application of strain can increase the recombination rate in the junction sufficiently to support an alternative carrier conduction path through the junction area. Optical characterization reveals a tunable emission pattern and increased optoelectronic responsivity that corroborates our model. Strain control permits the optimization of the conduction efficiency through both pathways and can be employed in quaternary inverters for future multilogic applications.

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Random laser with intrinsically uncomplicated fabrication processes, high spectral radiance, angle-free emission, and conformal onto freeform surfaces is in principle ideal for a variety of applications, ranging from lighting to identification systems. In this work, a white random laser (White-RL) with high-purity and high-stability is designed, fabricated, and demonstrated via the cost-effective materials (e.g., organic laser dyes) and simple methods (e.g., all-solution process and self-assembled structures). Notably, the wavelength, linewidth, and intensity of White-RL are nearly isotropic, nevertheless hard to be achieved in any conventional laser systems. Dynamically fine-tuning colour over a broad visible range is also feasible by on-chip integration of three free-standing monochromatic laser films with selective pumping scheme and appropriate colour balance. With these schematics, White-RL shows great potential and high application values in high-brightness illumination, full-field imaging, full-colour displays, visible-colour communications, and medical biosensing.