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The lossy nature of plasmonic wave due to absorption is shown to become an advantage for scaling-up a large area surface nanotexturing of transparent dielectrics and semiconductors by a self-organized sub-wavelength energy deposition leading to an ablation pattern—ripples—using this plasmonic nano-printing. Irreversible nanoscale modifications are delivered by surface plasmon polariton (SPP) using: (i) fast scan and (ii) cylindrical focusing of femtosecond laser pulses for a high patterning throughput. The mechanism of ripple formation on ZnS dielectric is experimentally proven to occur via surface wave at the substrate–plasma interface. The line focusing increase the ordering quality of ripples and facilitates fabrication over wafer-sized areas within a practical time span. Nanoprinting using SPP is expected to open new applications in photo-catalysis, tribology, and solar light harvesting via localized energy deposition rather scattering used in photonic and sensing applications based on re-scattering of SPP modes into far-field modes.

Muscles and joints make highly coordinated motion, which can be partly mimicked to drive robots or facilitate activities. However, most cases primarily employ actuators enabling simple deformations. Therefore, a mature artificial motor system requires many actuators assembled with jointed structures to accomplish complex motions, posing limitations and challenges to the fabrication, integration, and applicability of the system. Here, a holistic artificial muscle with integrated light‐addressable nodes, using one‐step laser printing from a bilayer structure of poly(methyl methacrylate) and graphene oxide compounded with gold nanorods (AuNRs), is reported. Utilizing the synergistic effect of the AuNRs with high plasmonic property and wavelength‐selectivity as well as graphene with good flexibility and thermal conductivity, the artificial muscle can implement full‐function motility without further integration, which is reconfigurable through wavelength‐sensitive light activation. A biomimetic robot and artificial hand are demonstrated, showcasing functionalized control, which is desirable for various applications, from soft robotics to human assists.

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This work developed a method of femtosecond laser (fs-laser) parallel processing assisted by wet etching to fabricate 3D micro-optical components. A 2D fs-laser spot array with designed spatial distribution was generated by a spatial light modulator. A single-pulse exposure of the entire array was used for parallel processing. By subsequent wet etching, a close-packed hexagonal arrangement, 3D concave microlens array on a curved surface with a radius of approximately 120 μm was fabricated, each unit lens of which has designable spatial distribution. Characterization of imaging was carried out by a microscope and showed a unique imaging property in multi-planes. This method provides a parallel and efficient technique to fabricate 3D micro-optical devices for applications in optofluidics, optical communication, and integrated optics.

The Control Orchestration Protocol (COP) abstracts a common set of control plane functions used by an various SDN controllers, allowing the interworking of heterogeneous control plane paradigms (i.e., OpenFlow, GMPLS/PCE). COP has been defined using YANG model language and can be transported using RESTconf, which is being incorporated by industry. COP has been defined in the scope of STRAUSS due to the need for an overarching control plane protocol for network orchestration. In this paper, several research projects describe how the COP could fit in their architecture and propose a use case for COP usage. The proposed COP use cases cover the following research projects: STRAUSS, IDEALIST, DISCUS, COMBO, INSPACE.

We report a systematical study on the liquid assisted femtosecond laser machining of quartz plate in water and under different etching solutions. The ablation features in liquid showed a better structuring quality and improved resolution with 1/3~1/2 smaller features as compared with those made in air. It has been demonstrated that laser induced periodic structures are present to a lesser extent when laser processed in water solutions. The redistribution of oxygen revealed a strong surface modification, which is related to the etching selectivity of laser irradiated regions. Laser ablation in KOH and HF solution showed very different morphology, which relates to the evolution of laser induced plasma on the formation of micro/nano-features in liquid. This work extends laser precision fabrication of hard materials. The mechanism of strong absorption in the regions with permittivity (epsilon) near zero is discussed.

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