Light is widely used in life science in both controlling and observing biological processes, yet a long-standing challenge of using light inside the tissue lies in the limited penetration depth of visible light. In the past decade, many in vivo light delivery methods using photonics and materials science tools have been developed, with recent demonstrations of non-invasive, deep-tissue light sources based on systemically delivered luminescent nanomaterials. In this perspective, we provide an overview for the principles of intravital nanoscopic light sources and discuss their advantages over existing methods for in vivo light delivery. We then highlight their recent applications in optogenetics neuromodulation and fluorescent imaging in live animals. We also present an outlook section about the feasibility of combining these non-invasive light sources with other modalities to expand the utilities of light in biology.

In this work, we propose a highly sensitive temperature sensor based on photonic spin Hall effect (PSHE). We find that, by involving the liquid crystal (LC) material, the spin spatial and angular shifts in PSHE are very sensitive to the tiny perturbation of temperature when the incident angle of light beam is near the Brewster and critical angles. Importantly, the phase transition from liquid crystal state to liquid state across the clearing point (CP) will lead to the transition of strong spin-orbit interaction to the weak one. During this process, we reveal that the sensitivity of our designed temperature sensor can reach a giant value with 8.27 cm/K which is one order of magnitude improvement compared with the previous Goos-Hänchen effect-based temperature sensor. This work provides an effective method for precisely determining the position of CP and actively manipulating the spin-orbit interaction.

The concentration induced permittivity change involves a dispersion which occurs at the resonant frequency, and is often not predictable by simulation using the traditional Cole-Cole model. To overcome this problem, a new Lorentz's model is proposed as a substitute for the Cole-Cole model. Under this new model, the glucose concentration is expected to be measured at the contact interface in the form of a resonant frequency shift. With the help of the model, a contact-based meander-line antenna sensor (CMS) is realized with a high ``sensitivity of 1.3158 dB/(mmol/L) in terms of d |S<sub>11</sub>|/dC, or of 17~18 MHz/(mmol/L) in terms of'' dω/dC. The model has been experimentally validated with in-vitro measurements and for proof-of-concept with in-vivo clinical investigations in the microwave frequency. Consistent with the predictions of model, a linear ``correlation is observed not only between the resonant frequency shift and the glucose concentration, but also between the S-parameters magnitude and glucose'' concentration.

In recent years, topological states in photonic artificial structures have attracted great attention due to their robustness against certain disorders and perturbations. To readily understand the underlying principles, topological edge modes in one-dimensional (1D) system have been widely investigated, which bring aboutthe discovery of novel optical phenomena and devices. In this article, we review our recent advances in topological edge modes. We introduce the connection between topological orders and effective electromagnetic parameters of photonic artificial structures in band gaps, discuss experimental demonstration of robust topological modes and their potential applications in wireless power transfer, sensing and field of optics, and give a brief introduction of future opportunities in 1D topological photonics.

Microwave staring correlated imaging (MSCI) is a super-resolution imaging technique based on temporal-spatial stochastic radiation fields (TSSRFs), which requires an accurate calculation of the electromagnetic field at the imaging plane. However, systematic errors always exist in practice, such as the time synchronization and frequency synchronization errors of radar systems, which make it difficult to calculate the required TSSRFs accurately, and this deteriorates the imaging results. Meanwhile, some imaging algorithms have problems such as high computational complexity. In this paper, an intelligent MSCI method based on the deep neural network (DNN) is proposed, which can accomplish imaging directly from the echoes, avoiding the computation of TSSRFs. A multi-level residual convolutional neural network (MRCNN) is developed for the DNN, and simulations and experiments are carried out to obtain the dataset for training and testing the MRCNN. Compared with the conventional MSCI methods, the imaging results verify the effectiveness of intelligent MSCI in terms of imaging quality and computational efficiency.

As one of the most important technologies for the next generation very-large scale integrated circuit fabrication, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography has attracted more and more attention in recent years. However, in EUV lithography, the optical distortion of the printed image on wafer always has negative impacts on the imaging performance. Thus, to enhance the imaging performance of EUV system, especially for small critical dimensions, in this work, a novel optical proximity correction (OPC) system based on the deep learning technique is proposed. It includes a forward module and an inverse module, where the forward module is employed to fast and accurately map the mask to the corresponding near field of the plane above the stack to help the construction of training dataset for the inverse module operation, and the inverse module is employed to fast and accurately map the target printed image to the corrected mask. Numerical examples demonstrate that compared with traditional full-wave simulation, the forward module can greatly improve the computational efficiency including the required running time and memory. Meanwhile, different from time consuming iterative OPC methods, the corrected mask can be immediately obtained as the target printed image is input using the trained inverse module.

We extended the previous 2D method of BBGF-MST (Broadband Green's function-Multiple Scattering Theory) approach to 3D problems in periodic structures. Band Structures and Band Field Solutions are calculated. A feature of BBGF is that the lattice Green's functions are broadband so that the coefficients of the spherical wave expansions are calculated rapidly for many frequencies. These are then used for speedy calculations of the matrix elements of the KKR (Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker) eigenvalue equation. Using BBGF-MST, a low order matrix eigenvalue equation for the bands is derived. For the first two bands, the dimension of the KKR matrix equation is only 4 by 4. With the use of BBGF, the CPU requirement for the BBGF-MST technique is 0.27 secondson a standard laptop for solving the KKR eigenvalue equation. Numerical results of the band diagrams are illustrated. Higher order spherical waves are next used to calculate the normalized band field solutions for the entire cell.

Optical analog computing has recently sparked growing interest due to the appealing characteristics of low energy consumption, parallel processing, and ultrafast speed, spawning it complementary to conventional electronic computing. As the basic computing unit, optical logic operation plays a pivotal role for integrated photonics. However, the reported optical logic operations are volumetric and single-functional, which considerably hinders the practical cascadability and complex computing requirement. Here, we propose an on-chip combinational optical logic circuit using inverse design. By precisely engineering the scattering matrix of each small-footprint logic gate, all basic optical logic gates (OR, XOR, NOT, AND, XNOR, NAND, and NOR) are realized. On this foundation, we explore the assembly of these basic logic gates for general-purpose combinational logic circuits, including optical half-adder and code converter. Our work provides a path for the development of integrated, miniaturized, and cascadable photonic processor for future optical computing technologies.

Antennas are essential devices to build everything connected in the era of information. However, the quality of communications would be degraded with the presence of raindrops on the antenna surface. Additional antiwater radomes may generate radiation loss and dispersive impedance mismatch over a broad frequency range, which is not acceptable for next-generation communication systems integrating multiple bands. Here, we report the first experimental demonstration of self-hydrophobic antennas that cover the bands of 1.7 GHz, 3.5 GHz, and 8.5 GHz through a laser-direct-writing treatment. Experimental results show that the return loss, radiation pattern, and efficiency of self-superhydrophobic antennas can be maintained in the mimicked rainy weather. Furthermore, writing hydrophobic nanostructures on both dielectrics and metals is compatible with commercial printed circuitry techniques widely used in industries. Our technique will augment the laser fabrication technology for specialized electromagnetic devices and serve as a powerful and generalized solution for all-weather wireless communication systems.

To shield undesirable microwave radiation to protect electronic systems and human health, microwave perfect absorbers have attracted increasing interests in recent years. However, the opaque or semitransparent nature of most implemented microwave absorbers limit their applications in optics. Here, we demonstrate a high-performance microwave absorber based on an impedance-assisted Fabry-Pérot resonant cavity with an ITO-dielectric-ITO structure without complex nanofabrication. The device features near-unity absorption (99.5% at 14.4 GHz with a 4.5 GHz effective bandwidth), excellent electromagnetic interference shielding performance (24 dB) in the Ku-band, and high optical transparency (89.0% from 400 nm to 800 nm). The peak absorption frequency of the device can be tuned by changing the thickness of glass slab and sheet resistance of ITO films. Our work provides a low-cost and feasible solution for highperformance optically transparent microwave shielding and stealth, paving the way towards applications in areas of microwave and optics.