Few surfaces are flat in biology. From the spherical envelopes of viruses and vesicles to the folded membranes of living cells, curvature shapes how biological nanostructures organize, interact, and function. Proteins, lipid domains, and viral capsids assemble along curved biological surfaces into intricate architectures that govern adhesion, communication, and mechanical behavior.
Unfortunately, studying biological nanostructures on curved surfaces is not straightforward. Curvature changes distance and perspective, introducing geometric and optical distortion that complicates quantitative measurement. Precise characterization depends on correlating each nanostructure with the true topography of the surface it occupies, linking shape and spatial position at the nanoscale. This approach allows researchers to measure biological nanostructures as they exist on curved, three-dimensional surfaces rather than as flattened projections.
Organic-inorganic perovskite nanoplatelets may be compact in size, but they carry immense potential. With their thin, layered architecture and tuneable properties, these hybrid materials are well suited for a wide range of optoelectronic applications, including high-performance devices like LEDs, lasers, and photodetectors. The functionality of organic-inorganic perovskite nanoplatelets depends on how precisely they are synthesized, and even small variations in processing conditions can significantly influence their optical quality, stability, and suitability for integration into advanced devices.
The next generation of photodetectors must be able to deliver more than just intensity and spectral data. They need to be capable of detecting polarization. Adding polarization sensitivity to photodetectors requires materials and structures that can interact with light in new ways. Perovskite metasurfaces offer such a capability, combining strong light absorption with nanoscale patterning to unlock polarization-sensitive detection.
Metal halide perovskites are known for their efficient light emission, tunable optical properties, and compatibility with solution-based fabrication techniques such as spin-coating and inkjet printing. These qualities have made them suitable for developing compact microlasers with controllable emission wavelengths and high optical efficiency. However, maintaining stable laser performance under ambient conditions has remained a challenge.
A key factor behind this instability is phase inhomogeneity. When crystals form with a mixture of structural phases, the result is broadened emission and reduced optical stability. Phase-pure 2D tin halide flakes can overcome such an issue by providing uniform structures with consistent optical behavior, allowing perovskite lasers to operate more reliably under real-world conditions.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have had quite an impact on modern technology, powering everything from smartphone displays to large-scale lighting. Yet, there is one thing LEDs cannot do easily and that's produce coherent light states. LED emission is broad and uncoordinated, as the light waves are not aligned in phase, so they spread in many directions and cannot form a sharp, focused beam. Lasers, in contrast, emit narrow and coherent beams but require a process called population inversion, which is energy demanding and harder to integrate into compact devices.
Researchers are turning to optically pumped perovskite LEDS as a promising way to produce coherent light without population inversion. Their operation depends on optically pumped polaritons, hybrid particles formed when light and matter strongly couple inside a microcavity. Optically pumped polaritons enable perovskite LEDs to combine the efficiency of traditional LEDs with the coherence of lasers, an effect that researchers examine using microspectrophotometry.
- Exploring room temperature polaritons in 2d perovskite systems
- Controlling perovskite emissions with optical quasi-bound-states-in-the-continuum
- How does UV-Vis-NIR microspectroscopy distinguish microfibers in forensic analysis?
- Engineering chirally selective luminescence with twisted metasurfaces and achiral emitters
