Mid-infrared photonics enables a large number of applications in chemical sensing, medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and optical communications, but widespread adoption of this technology is hindered by the lack of compact, CMOS-compatible photodetectors capable of room-temperature operation. This work presents an Al-Si-Al planar heterostructure acting as a plasmonic photodetector that leverages an electrostatically tunable Schottky barrier to detect sub-bandgap mid-infrared photons (5-7 μm) in silicon with a responsivity ∼0.9 mA/W, <0.4 mA/cm2 dark current density, and a broad and uniform spectral response that does not require cooling. Fast internal dynamics with time constants of 3.7 ps and 1.4 ns are observed at 1560 nm, suggesting the potential for high-speed operation. Our monolithic and crystalline Al-Si heterostructure features abrupt interfaces obtained without epitaxy, ensuring CMOS compatibility and scalability. We demonstrate the potential of this device for mid-infrared sensing by detecting and spectrally characterizing water molecule absorption lines. By leveraging plasmonically generated hot-carriers combined with the inherent scalability of silicon-based technology, our work opens new pathways for cost-effective and high-speed infrared photodetectors suitable for next-generation integrated photonic systems.

Water is omnipresent in nanoscale systems, yet its collective dynamics and impact on emerging electronics remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate the role of water molecule dynamics in the ferroelectric response of graphene nanoribbon devices. Our findings demonstrate that the collective dynamics of water molecules stabilize the ferroelectric effect. We find that a minimum bi-layer thickness is required for the temperature stability of the ferroelectric effect. In contrast, mono-layer ribbons show a 70% shrinkage of the hysteresis window between 120 and 400 K. Using a combination of electrical transport measurements and molecular dynamics simulations, we conclude that water molecules bridging between graphene nanoribbon layers stabilize the formation of water clusters via intermolecular Coulomb interactions, driving a robust ferroelectric behavior and remnant polarization observed at the device level. This work lays the foundations for exploiting water dynamics in next-generation ferroelectric heterostructures, with direct implications for neuromorphic computing and memory devices.

Mycoviruses have been found in various fungal species across different taxonomic groups, while no viruses have been reported yet in the fungus Exserohilum rostratum. In this study, a novel orfanplasmovirus, namely Exserohilum rostratum orfanplasmovirus 1 (ErOrfV1), was identified in the Exserohilum rostratum strain JZ1 from maize leaf. The complete genome of ErOrfV1 consists of two positive single-stranded RNA segments, encoding an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and a hypothetical protein with unknown function, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that ErOrfV1 clusters with other orfanplasmoviruses, forming a distinct phyletic clade. A new family, Orfanplasmoviridae, is proposed to encompass this newly discovered ErOrfV1 and its associated orfanplasmoviruses. ErOrfV1 exhibits effective vertical transmission through conidia, as evidenced by its 100% presence in over 200 single conidium isolates. Moreover, it can be horizontally transmitted to Exserohilum turcicum. Additionally, the infection of ErOrfV1 is cryptic in E. turcicum because there were no significant differences in mycelial growth rate and colony morphology between ErOrfV1-infected and ErOrfV1-free strains. This study represents the inaugural report of a mycovirus in E. rostratum, as well as the first documentation of the biological and transmission characteristics of orfanplasmovirus. These discoveries significantly contribute to our understanding of orfanplasmovirus.

The generation of hot carriers by Landau damping or chemical interface damping of plasmons is of particular interest to the fundamental aspects of extreme light-matter interactions. Hot charge carriers can be transferred to an attached acceptor for photochemical or photovoltaic energy conversion. However, these lose their excess energy and relax to thermal equilibrium within picoseconds and it is difficult to extract useful work thereof with thermodynamic efficiencies that are of interest for practical devices. Without a detailed understanding of the underlying plasmon decay processes and transfer mechanisms, proper material matching and design considerations for novel plasmonic devices are extremely challenging. Here, a multifunctional AlSiAl heterostructure device with tunable Schottky barriers is presented to control plasmon-induced hot carrier injection at an abrupt metal-semiconductor interface. Light absorption, surface plasmon generation, and separation of hot carriers arising from the non-radiative decay of surface plasmons are realized in a monolithic Schottky barrier field effect transistor. Aside from barrier modulation, a virtual p-n junction can be emulated in the semiconductor channel with the distinct merit that carrier concentration and polarity are tunable by electrostatic gating. The investigations are carried out with a view to possible use for CMOS-compatible plasmonic photovoltaics, with versatile implementations for autonomous nanosystems.

The interaction mechanisms of water with nanoscale geometries remain poorly understood. This study focuses on behaviour of water clusters under varying external electric fields with a particular focus on molecular ferroelectric devices. We employ a two-fold approach, combining experiments with large-scale molecular dynamics simulations on graphene nanoribbon field effect transistors. We show that bilayer graphene nanoribbons provide stable anchoring of water clusters on the oxygenated edges, resulting in a ferroelectric effect. A molecular dynamics model is then used to investigate water cluster behaviour under varying external electric fields. Finally, we show that these nanoribbons exhibit significant and persistent remanent fields that can be employed in ferroelectric heterostructures and neuromorphic circuits.

Abstract With the emerging transition from programmed to learning computing, traditional electronic ICs are unlikely to be able to match the massive perceptual data that will need to be processed in real-time. Neuromorphic engineering may surmount the von Neumann bottleneck by creating high-performance hardware for distributed and parallel processing with low power consumption. Nowadays, most of high-efficiency neuromorphic hardware is based on artificial synapsis and neuronal devices, utilizingelectrical or optical platforms and thus correspondingly limited in terms of bandwidth or footprint, respectively. In this work, we introduce a plasmon-stimulated synaptic transistor concept that may combine the high bandwidth of a photonic network with the compactness of electronic circuits. The actual synaptic characteristic, including excitatory postsynaptic current and paired-pulse facilitation, is achieved utilizing charge trapping effects to control the conductivity of a monolithic Al-Ge-Al Schottky barrier field-effect transistor. The population of traps is thereby controlled by hot electrons arising from the non-radiative decay of deliberately applied surface plasmon polariton spikes. The temporal dynamics of the trapping process and thus the plasticity of the synaptic transistor can be set by the geometry and operation mode of the synaptic transistor as well as the intensity and duration of the plasmon spikes.

To establish high-bandwidth chip-to-chip interconnects in optoelectronic integrated circuits, requires high-performance photon emitters and signal receiving components. Regarding the photodetector, fast device concepts like Schottky junction devices, large carrier mobility materials and shrinking the channel length will enable higher operation speed. However, integrating photodetectors in highly scaled ICs technologies is challenging due to the efficiency-speed trade-off. Here, we report a scalable and CMOS-compatible approach for an ultra-scaled germanium (Ge) based photodetector with tunable polarity. The photodetector is composed of a Ge Schottky barrier field effect transistor with monolithic aluminum (Al) source/drain contacts, offering plasmon assisted and polarization-resolved photodetection. The ultra-scaled Ge photodetector with a channel length of only 200 nm shows high responsivity of about R = 424 A W−1 and a maximum polarization sensitivity ratio of TM/TE = 11.

Low-dimensional Ge is perceived as a promising building block for emerging optoelectronic devices. Here, we present a wafer-scale platform technology enabling monolithic Al-Ge-Al nanostructures fabricated by a thermally induced Al-Ge exchange reaction. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the purity and crystallinity of the formed Al segments with an abrupt interface to the remaining Ge segment. In good agreement with the theoretical value of bulk Al-Ge Schottky junctions, a barrier height of 200 ± 20 meV was determined. Photoluminescence and μ-Raman measurements proved the optical quality of the Ge channel embedded in the monolithic Al-Ge-Al heterostructure. Together with the wafer-scale accessibility, the proposed fabrication scheme may give rise to the development of key components of a broad spectrum of emerging Ge-based devices requiring monolithic metal-semiconductor-metal heterostructures with high-quality interfaces.

With the rapid development of portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and large-scale grid energy storage devices, there is a need to enhance the specific energy density and specific power density of related electrochemical devices to meet the fast-growing requirements of energy storage. Battery-supercapacitor hybrid devices (BSHDs), combining the high-energy-density feature of batteries and the high-power-density properties of supercapacitors, have attracted mass attention in terms of energy storage. However, the electrochemical performances of cathode materials for BSHDs are severely limited by poor electrical conductivity and ion transport kinetics. As the rich redox reactions induced by transition metal compounds are able to offer high specific capacity, they are an ideal choice of cathode materials. Therefore, this paper reviews the currently advanced progress of transition metal compound-based cathodes with high-rate performance in BSHDs. We discuss some efficient strategies of enhancing the rate performance of transition metal compounds, including developing intrinsic electrode materials with high conductivity and fast ion transport; modifying materials, such as inserting defects and doping; building composite structures and 3D nano-array structures; interfacial engineering and catalytic effects. Finally, some suggestions are proposed for the potential development of cathodes for BSHDs, which may provide a reference for significant progress in the future.

High-performance, self-powered, broadband MAPbI3 perovskite microcrystal photodetector.

In recent years, with the rapid development of flexible electronic devices, flexible energy storage devices have attracted more and more attention. In numerous energy storage devices, battery-supercapacitor hybrid (BSH) devices have been widely studied due to their high power density and energy density. Apart from high electrochemical performance for battery-supercapacitor hybrid devices, mechanical flexibility of which is getting more and more attention nowadays. In this work, we designed and fabricated a novel cathode based on nickelplated cotton cloth (NPCC), which is coated with Ni-Co selenide nanowires for flexible energy storage devices. This Ni4.5Co4.5-selenide nanowires/NPCC cathode shows ultrahigh specific capacity of 1333.0 C g(-1) and excellent charge-discharge stability. After 10,000 cycles, the specific capacitance increases to 120% steadily. Moreover, a flexible high-performance BSH device was designed based on the Ni4.5Co4.5-selenide nanowires/ NPCC cathode, a silk fabric separator and Fe3C/carbon fiber anode. This BSH device shows a large energy density of 47.4 Wh kg(-1) at the power density of 1.5 kW kg(-1). Besides, it has excellent cycling stability and retains 80.0% of capacitance after 4,000 cycles. This work demonstrates a facile and effective method of fabricating the wearable and high-performance BSH devices.

Cesium lead bromide (CsPbBr3) perovskite photodetectors (PDs) are attractive for applications in visible light communication (VLC) due to ultra-high detectivity and fast response speed. However, the fabrication of high-quality CsPbBr3 polycrystalline films using solution-based process is very challenging. Due to the low solubility of CsBr in precursor solutions, solution-processed CsPbBr3 films are typically discontinuous and porous, hindering the performance of resulting PDs. Herein, a facile and modified sequential spin-coating method is introduced to prepare high-crystallinity, pinhole-free CsPb2Br5-CsPbBr3 perovskite films with an average grain size of approximate to 1 mu m. The hole-transport-layer-free (HTL-free) PDs based on the CsPb2Br5-CsPbBr3 perovskite films show high performance parameters, including the responsivity of 0.11 A W-1, the detectivity of 1.4 x 10(12) Jones, a linear dynamic range of 128.6, and an on/off ratio of 1.5 x 10(6). The PDs outperform other HTL-free perovskite PDs and are comparable to the p-i-n perovskite PDs reported in the literature. In addition, the high-performance CsPb2Br5-CsPbBr3 PDs are applied in VLC by using the PD as a self-powered signal receiver of voice commands in a simulated room. This work uniquely combines the features of high-performance self-powered perovskite PDs with VLC techniques, paving the path to wide applications of all-inorganic perovskite PDs.

In recent years, organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite photodetectors (PDs) have been regarded as promising nextgeneration PDs. However, the commercialization of the perovskite PDs still faces significant challenges, one of which is the poor stability. Herein, we demonstrate MgO/ZnO microsphere (MS) bilayer structure for improving the device stability with high detectivity. In this MgO/ZnO MS bilayer, ZnO MS array scaffold can facilitate the penetration of perovskite into nano-arrays and benefits the light harvest efficiency due to the special microsphere array structure, which behaves a big gap between aligned nanostructures. MgO passivates the interface between ZnO and perovskite, enhancing the device stability and promoting the carrier transport. Finally, our PDs with the bilayer structure exhibit high performance with the on/off ratio of up to more than 7.0 x 10(4), the linear dynamic range of 87.7 dB, and the detectivity of 1.5 x 10(12) Jones, all of which are better than those of the device without MgO. More importantly, the device with the bilayer structure shows better stability compared with the device without MgO. Under illumination with the optical power of 314 mW/cm(2), the photocurrent of the device with MgO shows almost no attenuation after continuous illumination for 30 min. In addition, after storing in air for 15 days, the performance of the device with MgO exhibits slight attenuation and the on/off ratio is still as high as 2.3 x 10(4), indicating that the device has good storage stability.

Compared with a single nanowire (NW) or NW array, the simpler preparation process of an NW network (NWN) enables it to be fabricated in large-scale, flexible, and wearable applications of photodetectors (PDs). However, the NWN behaves many microinterfaces (MIs) between NWs, seriously limiting the device performance and stability. Here, we demonstrate a welding strategy for an MAPbI3 NWN, which enhances the crystallinity of the NWN and enhances the radial transmission of photogenerated carriers, leading to a better device performance with ultrahigh stability. Our NWN PDs fabricated by using the welding strategy showed ultrahigh performance with an on/off ratio and detectivity of 2.8 × 104 and 4.16 × 1012 Jones, respectively, which are the best performance for reported metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) perovskite NWN PDs and are comparable to those of single-NW or NW array PDs. More importantly, our unpackaged NWN PDs show ultrahigh storage stability in air with a humidity of 55-65%, and the flexible NWN PDs can enable 250 bending cycles at different bending radii and 1000 bending cycles at fixed bending radii with no performance degradation being observed. These results indicate our welding strategy is very powerful for improving the performance of the NW device with applications in the wearable field.

Perovskite photodetectors (PDs) with tunable detection wavelength have attracted extensive attention due to the potential application in the field of imaging, machine vision, and artificial intelligence. Most of the perovskite PDs focus on I- or Br-based materials due to their easy preparation techniques. However, their main photodetection capacity is situated in the visible region because of their narrower bandgap. Cl-based wide bandgap perovskites, such as CsPbCl3 , are scarcely reported because of the bad film quality of the spin-coated Cl-based perovskite, due to the poor solubility of the precursor. Therefore, ultraviolet detection using high-quality full inorganic perovskite films, especially with high thermal stability of materials and devices, is still a big challenge. In this work, high-quality single crystal CsPbCl3 microplatelets (MPs) synthesized by a simple space-confined growth method at low temperature for near-ultraviolet (NUV) PDs are reported. The single CsPbCl3 MP PDs demonstrate a decent response to NUV light with a high on/off ratio of 5.6 × 103 and a responsivity of 0.45 A W-1 at 5 V. In addition, the dark current is as low as pA level, leading to detectivity up to 1011 Jones. Moreover, PDs possess good stability and repeatability.

The use of aligned one-dimensional nanostructures as scaffolds in organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite photo detectors (PDs) has attracted significant attention due to their large surface area-to-volume ratio and efficient electron transport capability in the radial direction. Here, we report CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI(3)) perovskite photo detectors (PDs) with Ga-doped ZnO nanorods (GZO NRs), prepared by the water bath method, as a scaffold structure electron transport layer (ETL). Our MoO3 hole transport layer (HTL) based perovskite PDs using GZO NRs as a scaffold showed a larger light/dark current (I-ph/I-dark) ratio, higher responsivity and detectivity than those of the undoped ZnO NRs/MAPbI(3) devices at zero bias. These enhancements are attributed to the incorporation of Ga atoms into the ZnO NRs, which reduce the density defect states of ZnO NRs and improves the performance of MAPbI(3) perovskite PDs. In addition, by taking advantage of the GZO NRs scaffold structure, a HTL-free perovskite PD was prepared by using graphite electrodes. The graphite-connected device shows self powered PD performances with an I-ph/I-dark ratio of similar to 2.5 x 10(3), responsivity of above 0.3 A/W and detectivity of 1.3 x 10(12) Jones, all of which are comparable with those of MoO3 HTL based perovskite PDs.

A photodetector based on (110)-orientation-preferred CsPbBr3 nanonet films with ordered nanostructures displayed high device performance.

Lead halide perovskites are attractive materials for applications in broadband or narrowband photodetectors (PDs) due to their direct and tunable band gaps covering a wide range of the visible spectrum. However, the practical applications of perovskite-based PDs are still hindered by the material instability and relatively poor performance. In this paper, we report MA0.7FA0.3PbBr3 PDs with double coating using poly(methyl methacrylate) and ZnO microparticles, which protects perovskite and enhances light scattering, respectively. With the double coating, the PDs show much improved performances with the responsivity and detectivity reaching 0.51 A W−1 and 4.0 × 1012 Jones, respectively. Furthermore, the PDs show on/off ratio and linear dynamic range up to 105 and 100 dB, respectively. Our approach suggests a new route to fabricate efficient and stable perovskite-based PDs.