Fast-response and high-sensitivity deep-ultraviolet (DUV) photodetectors with detection wavelength shorter than 320 nm are in high demand due to their potential applications in diverse fields. However, the fabrication processes of DUV detectors based on traditional semiconductor thin films are complicated and costly. Here we report a high-performance DUV photodetector based on graphene quantum dots (GQDs) fabricated via a facile solution process. The devices are capable of detecting DUV light with wavelength as short as 254 nm. With the aid of an asymmetric electrode structure, the device performance could be significantly improved. An on/off ratio of ∼6000 under 254 nm illumination at a relatively weak light intensity of 42 μW cm(-2) is achieved. The devices also exhibit excellent stability and reproducibility with a fast response speed. Given the solution-processing capability of the devices and extraordinary properties of GQDs, the use of GQDs will open up unique opportunities for future high-performance, low-cost DUV photodetectors.

We examine the effects of disorder on propagation loss as a function of group velocity for W1 photonic crystal (PhC) waveguides. Disorder is deliberately and controllably introduced into the photonic crystal by pseudo-randomly displacing the holes of the photonic lattice. This allows us to clearly distinguish two types of loss. Away from the band-edge and for moderately slow light (group velocity c/20-c/30) loss scales sub-linearly with group velocity, whereas near the band-edge, reflection loss increases dramatically due to the random and local shift of the band-edge. The optical analysis also shows that the random fabrication errors of our structures, made on a standard e-beam lithography system, are below 1 nm root mean square.

We show numerically that both coherent perfect absorption and transparency can be realized in a monolayer graphene. The graphene film, doped and patterned with a periodical array of holes, can support plasmonic resonances in the Mid-infrared range. Under the illumination of two counter-propagating coherent optical beams, resonant optical absorption may be tuned continuously from 99.93% to less than 0.01% by controlling their relative phase which gives a modulation contrast of 40 dB (about 30 dB for transmission). The phenomenon provides a versatile platform for manipulating the interaction between light and graphene and may serve applications in optical modulators, transducers, sensors and coherent detectors.

Figure 3 . Transmittance spectra of a single-layer quarterwave AR coating and an experimental and modeled double-wavelength AR coating.

Plasmonics can be used to improve absorption in optoelectronic devices and has been intensively studied for solar cells and photodetectors. Graphene has recently emerged as a powerful plasmonic material. It shows significantly less loss compared to traditional plasmonic materials such as gold and silver and its plasmons can be tuned by changing the Fermi energy with chemical or electrical doping. Here we propose the use of graphene plasmonics for light trapping in optoelectronic devices and show that the excitation of localized plasmons in doped, nanostructured graphene can enhance optical absorption in its surrounding medium including both bulky and two-dimensional materials by tens of times, which may lead to a new generation of photodetectors with high efficiency and tunable spectral selectivity in the mid-infrared and THz ranges.

Perovskite film generally has rough surface morphology due to the voids between the grain domains. Smoothed interface contact between the perovskite layer and the top electrode is critical for planar perovskite solar cells. We reported high efficiency bromine-iodine based perovskite solar cells with a flattening cathode interface by incorporating a solution-processed bathocuproine (sBCP) interfacial layer at the cathode side. Compared with vacuum evaporated bathocuproine (eBCP), sBCP demonstrated an excellent surface modification effect at the cathode side with very smaller charge transfer resistance. Accordingly, a high fill factor exceeding 85% and a power conversion efficiency exceeding 13% in CH3NH3PbI3-xBrx based perovskite solar cells were achieved. The largely improved fill factor was attributed to the smooth film morphology and full surface coverage of perovskite films modified by the solution-processed BCP layer.

Chiroptical effects, characterized by different optical responses for left-(LCP) and right-handed circularly polarized light (RCP), are powerful and valuable tools in optics with wide applications in polarization resolved imaging and sensing. Previously observed strong chiroptical effects are limited to metamaterials with complex three-dimensional chiral structures at the sub-wavelength scale. Although asymmetrical transmission of LCP and RCP have been investigated in planar chiral metasurfaces, the observed weak chiroptical effects result from anisotropic Ohmic dissipation of the metal constituents. Here, we demonstrate by theory and proof-of-concept experiments that large difference in transmittances of LCP and RCP can be attained in a singlelayer planar chiral metamaterial with a sub-wavelength thickness. Without violating the reciprocity and mirror symmetry, the strong chiroptical effect, independent of dielectric loss, arise from a novel mechanism of multimode interference. The described effect may lead to new gateway towards chiral manipulations of light and chiral optical devices.

Strong subwavelength field enhancement has often been assumed to be unique to plasmonic nanostructures. Here we propose a type of all-dielectric metamaterials based on split bar resonators. The nano gap at the centre of the resonant elements results in large local field enhancement and light localization in the surrounding medium, which can be employed for strong light-matter interactions. In a Fano-resonant dielectric metamaterial comprising pairs of asymmetric split silicon bars, the enhancement of electric field amplitude in the gap exceeds 120 while the averaged electromagnetic energy density is enhanced by more than 7000 times. An optical refractive index sensor with a potential sensitivity of 525 nm/RIU is designed based on the proposed metamaterials. The proposed concept can be applied to other types of dielectric nanostructures and may stimulate further research of dielectric metamaterials for applications ranging from nonlinear optics and sensing to the realization of new types of active lasing devices.