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Lead halide materials have the properties needed to reach the highest photovoltaic efficiencies [Also see Report by Pazos-Outón et al. ] In any solar cell that begins to approach the theoretical limits of performance, an intense internal luminescence photon gas must be present (see the figure) ( 1 ). On page 1430 of this is sue, Pazos-Outón et al. ( 2 ) provide evidence for such an internal photon gas in lead halide photovoltaic cells. These materials thus have properties similar to those of GaAs and have the potential to be among the top-performing solar cell materials. This is scientifically remarkable, because these compounds are the first high-quality halide semiconductors. The materials show promise for photovoltaics, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), laser refrigeration, thermophotonics, and a host of other major optoelectronic applications.

Defects in conventional semiconductors substantially lower the photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY), a key metric of optoelectronic performance that directly dictates the maximum device efficiency. Two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), such as monolayer MoS₂, often exhibit low PL QY for as-processed samples, which has typically been attributed to a large native defect density. We show that the PL QY of as-processed MoS₂ and WS₂ monolayers reaches near-unity when they are made intrinsic through electrostatic doping, without any chemical passivation. Surprisingly, neutral exciton recombination is entirely radiative even in the presence of a high native defect density. This finding enables TMDC monolayers for optoelectronic device applications as the stringent requirement of low defect density is eased.

Optimization is a major part of human effort. While being mathematical, optimization is also built into physics. For example, physics has the Principle of Least Action; the Principle of Minimum Power Dissipation, also called Minimum Entropy Generation; and the Variational Principle. Physics also has Physical Annealing, which, of course, preceded computational Simulated Annealing. Physics has the Adiabatic Principle, which, in its quantum form, is called Quantum Annealing. Thus, physical machines can solve the mathematical problem of optimization, including constraints. Binary constraints can be built into the physical optimization. In that case, the machines are digital in the same sense that a flip–flop is digital. A wide variety of machines have had recent success at optimizing the Ising magnetic energy. We demonstrate in this paper that almost all those machines perform optimization according to the Principle of Minimum Power Dissipation as put forth by Onsager. Further, we show that this optimization is in fact equivalent to Lagrange multiplier optimization for constrained problems. We find that the physical gain coefficients that drive those systems actually play the role of the corresponding Lagrange multipliers.

The confined layers of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) exhibit photoluminescence that is attractive for optolectronic applications. In practice, efficiencies are low, presumably because defects trap excitons before they can recombine and radiate light. Amani et al. show that treatment of monolayer MoS2 with a nonoxidizing organic superacid, bis(trifluoromethane) sulfonimide, increased luminescence efficiency in excess of 95%. The enhancement mechanism may be related to the shielding of defects, such as sulfur vacancies. Science, this issue p. 1065 Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides have emerged as a promising material system for optoelectronic applications, but their primary figure of merit, the room-temperature photoluminescence quantum yield (QY), is extremely low. The prototypical 2D material molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is reported to have a maximum QY of 0.6%, which indicates a considerable defect density. Here we report on an air-stable, solution-based chemical treatment by an organic superacid, which uniformly enhances the photoluminescence and minority carrier lifetime of MoS2 monolayers by more than two orders of magnitude. The treatment eliminates defect-mediated nonradiative recombination, thus resulting in a final QY of more than 95%, with a longest-observed lifetime of 10.8 ± 0.6 nanoseconds. Our ability to obtain optoelectronic monolayers with near-perfect properties opens the door for the development of highly efficient light-emitting diodes, lasers, and solar cells based on 2D materials.

Thermophotovoltaic power conversion utilizes thermal radiation from a local heat source to generate electricity in a photovoltaic cell. It was shown in recent years that the addition of a highly reflective rear mirror to a solar cell maximizes the extraction of luminescence. This, in turn, boosts the voltage, enabling the creation of record-breaking solar efficiency. Now we report that the rear mirror can be used to create thermophotovoltaic systems with unprecedented high thermophotovoltaic efficiency. This mirror reflects low-energy infrared photons back into the heat source, recovering their energy. Therefore, the rear mirror serves a dual function; boosting the voltage and reusing infrared thermal photons. This allows the possibility of a practical >50% efficient thermophotovoltaic system. Based on this reflective rear mirror concept, we report a thermophotovoltaic efficiency of 29.1 ± 0.4% at an emitter temperature of 1,207 °C.

Bottom-up synthesized graphene nanoribbons and graphene nanoribbon heterostructures have promising electronic properties for high-performance field-effect transistors and ultra-low power devices such as tunneling field-effect transistors. However, the short length and wide band gap of these graphene nanoribbons have prevented the fabrication of devices with the desired performance and switching behavior. Here, by fabricating short channel ( L ch  ~ 20 nm) devices with a thin, high- κ gate dielectric and a 9-atom wide (0.95 nm) armchair graphene nanoribbon as the channel material, we demonstrate field-effect transistors with high on-current ( I on  > 1 μA at V d  = −1 V) and high I on /I off  ~ 10 5 at room temperature. We find that the performance of these devices is limited by tunneling through the Schottky barrier at the contacts and we observe an increase in the transparency of the barrier by increasing the gate field near the contacts. Our results thus demonstrate successful fabrication of high-performance short-channel field-effect transistors with bottom-up synthesized armchair graphene nanoribbons. Graphene nanoribbons show promise for high-performance field-effect transistors, however they often suffer from short lengths and wide band gaps. Here, the authors use a bottom-up synthesis approach to fabricate 9- and 13-atom wide ribbons, enabling short-channel transistors with 10 5 on-off current ratio.

Significance Since the invention of the laser over 50 y ago, stimulated emission has been stronger and far more important than spontaneous emission, the ordinary light we are accustomed to. Indeed spontaneous emission has been looked down upon as a weak effect. Now a new science of enhanced spontaneous emission is emerging that makes spontaneous emission faster than stimulated emission. This new science depends upon the use of optical antennas to increase the spontaneous emission rate. Antennas emerged at the dawn of radio for concentrating electromagnetic energy to a small volume. Despite the importance of radio antennas, 100 y went by before optical antennas began to be used to help extract optical frequency radiation from very small sources such as dye molecules and quantum dots. Atoms and molecules are too small to act as efficient antennas for their own emission wavelengths. By providing an external optical antenna, the balance can be shifted; spontaneous emission could become faster than stimulated emission, which is handicapped by practically achievable pump intensities. In our experiments, InGaAsP nanorods emitting at ∼200 THz optical frequency show a spontaneous emission intensity enhancement of 35× corresponding to a spontaneous emission rate speedup ∼115×, for antenna gap spacing, d = 40 nm. Classical antenna theory predicts ∼2,500× spontaneous emission speedup at d ∼ 10 nm, proportional to 1/ d ². Unfortunately, at d < 10 nm, antenna efficiency drops below 50%, owing to optical spreading resistance, exacerbated by the anomalous skin effect (electron surface collisions). Quantum dipole oscillations in the emitter excited state produce an optical ac equivalent circuit current, I ₒ = qω | x ₒ|/ d , feeding the antenna-enhanced spontaneous emission, where q | x ₒ| is the dipole matrix element. Despite the quantum-mechanical origin of the drive current, antenna theory makes no reference to the Purcell effect nor to local density of states models. Moreover, plasmonic effects are minor at 200 THz, producing only a small shift of antenna resonance frequency.

Semiconductor heterostructures are the fundamental platform for many important device applications such as lasers, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, and high-electron-mobility transistors. Analogous to traditional heterostructures, layered transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures can be designed and built by assembling individual single layers into functional multilayer structures, but in principle with atomically sharp interfaces, no interdiffusion of atoms, digitally controlled layered components, and no lattice parameter constraints. Nonetheless, the optoelectronic behavior of this new type of van der Waals (vdW) semiconductor heterostructure is unknown at the single-layer limit. Specifically, it is experimentally unknown whether the optical transitions will be spatially direct or indirect in such hetero-bilayers. Here, we investigate artificial semiconductor heterostructures built from single-layer WSe ₂ and MoS ₂. We observe a large Stokes-like shift of ∼100 meV between the photoluminescence peak and the lowest absorption peak that is consistent with a type II band alignment having spatially direct absorption but spatially indirect emission. Notably, the photoluminescence intensity of this spatially indirect transition is strong, suggesting strong interlayer coupling of charge carriers. This coupling at the hetero-interface can be readily tuned by inserting dielectric layers into the vdW gap, consisting of hexagonal BN. Consequently, the generic nature of this interlayer coupling provides a new degree of freedom in band engineering and is expected to yield a new family of semiconductor heterostructures having tunable optoelectronic properties with customized composite layers.

Noniridescent coloration by the spongy keratin in parrot feather barbs has fascinated scientists. Nonetheless, its ultimate origin remains as yet unanswered, and a quantitative structural and optical description is still lacking. Here we report on structural and optical characterizations and numerical simulations of the blue feather barbs of the scarlet macaw. We found that the sponge in the feather barbs is an amorphous diamond-structured photonic crystal with only short-range order. It possesses an isotropic photonic pseudogap that is ultimately responsible for the brilliant noniridescent coloration. We further unravel an ingenious structural optimization for attaining maximum coloration apparently resulting from natural evolution. Upon increasing the material refractive index above the level provided by nature, there is an interesting transition from a photonic pseudogap to a complete bandgap.