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Semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) can function as efficient gain materials with chemical versatility because of their surface ligands. Because the properties of NCs in solution are sensitive to ligand–environment interactions, local chemical changes can result in changes in the optical response. However, amplification of the optical response is technically challenging because of colloidal instability at NC concentrations needed for sufficient gain to overcome losses. This paper demonstrates liquid lasing from plasmonic lattice cavities integrated with ligand-engineered CdZnS/ZnS NCs dispersed in toluene and water. By taking advantage of calcium ion-induced aggregation of NCs in aqueous solutions, we show how lasing threshold can be used as a transduction signal for ion detection. Our work highlights how NC solutions and plasmonic lattices with open cavity architectures can serve as a biosensing platform for lab-on-chip devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, thin films of ruthenium-doped and cerium-doped yttrium iron garnet were deposited on silicon using solgel chemistry. Doped YIG could be produced in phase pure form up to a precursor stoichiometry of Y3Ru0.1Fe4.9O12 and Ce0.7Y2.3Fe5O12. Both dopants significantly increase the coercivity and anisotropy field of the materials either due to domain wall pinning or increased spin–orbit coupling from the dopant. To delineate these two effects, the dynamic magnetic properties were studied using strip line ferromagnetic resonance (FMR). The FMR linewidth was separated into intrinsic loss and inhomogeneous line broadening. Inhomogeneous line broadening was found to dominate the magnetic losses in all the films likely due to magnon scattering off grain boundaries, but the Gilbert damping remained fairly low. By comparing the two dopants, it was found that Gilbert damping increased more in Ce:YIG films than in Ru:YIG films. This finding was corroborated by changes in the anisotropy field of the films, indicating a larger contribution from spin–orbit coupling from cerium than from ruthenium. Surprisingly, while magnetic loss globally increased with higher substitution, adding a small amount of dopant actually reduced the inhomogeneous line broadening in both sets of films. This was corroborated by crystallite size. The damping in Ru:YIG also decreased with a small amount of the dopant, which has been predicted by Kittel for doped garnets. Thus, it follows that there is an ideal doping regime where solgel YIG can be doped at low levels without increasing magnetic loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we simulate and analyze the mechanical response of a class of multiferroic materials consisting of a templated porous nanostructure made out of cobalt ferrite (CFO) partially filled by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with a ferroelectric phase of lead zirconate titanate (PZT). The strain in the device is measured when an electric field is applied for varying ALD thicknesses, displaying a non-monotonic dependence with a maximum strain achieved for a coating thickness of 3 nm. To understand this behavior, we apply finite element modeling to the smallest repeatable unit of the nanoporous template and simulate the mechanical response as a function of PZT coating thickness. We find that this non-monotonic response is caused by the interplay between two driving forces opposing one another. First, increased porosity works toward increasing the strain due to a reduced system stiffness. Second, decreased porosity involves a larger mass fraction of PZT, which drives the electro-mechanical response of the structure, thus leading to a larger strain. The balance between these two driving forces is controlled by the shear coupling at the CFO/PZT interface and the effective PZT cross section along the direction of the applied electric field. Our numerical results show that considering a nonlinear piezoelectric response for PZT leads to an improved agreement with the experimental data, consistent with ex situ poling of the nanostructure prior to magnetic measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript examines the mechanism of strain-coupling in a multiferroic composite of mesoporous cobalt ferrite (CFO), conformally filled with lead zirconate titanate (PZT). We find that when the composites are electrically poled, remanent strain from the piezoelectric PZT layer can be transferred to the magnetostrictive CFO layer. X-ray diffraction shows that this strain transfer is greatest in the most porous samples, in agreement with magnetometry measurements, which show the greatest change in sample saturation magnetization in the most porous samples. Strain analysis shows that porosity both accommodates greater lattice strain and mitigates the effects of substrate clamping in thin film strain-coupled composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spirolactam rhodamines are fluorescent photoswitches that are useful for single molecule localization microscopy, volumetric 3D digital light photoactivatable dye displays, and other applications. Measurement of the photophysical properties, particularly photoswitching kinetics and quantum yields, is challenging and a comprehensive understanding of how molecular structure affects these parameters remains incomplete. In this study, we have synthesized a series of N‐aryl spirolactam rhodamine photoswitches with fluorescent emissions at 585 nm and 518 nm. Extinction coefficients and fluorescence quantum yields of the fluorescent form of the photoswitch have been measured using excess trifluoroacetic acid to drive the equilibrium to the open form. A method to determine photoswitching kinetics and quantum yields was developed by monitoring the kinetics to reach equilibrium between the on‐state and off‐state and fitting this data to a rate equation for a reaction in equilibrium. Trends based on the electronic and steric properties of the aryl substituents were evaluated. Using this information, a proof‐of‐principle demonstration of 3D voxel formation was accomplished using a green (518 nm) emitting photoswitch, setting the foundation for a multi‐colour volumetric 3D display. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cover Picture: Tuning the Photophysical Properties of Spirolactam Rhodamine Photoswitches (Isr. J. Chem. 3-4/2021) Keywords: Photoswitches; spirolactam rhodamines; 3D displays; photophysical properties; kinetics EN Photoswitches spirolactam rhodamines 3D displays photophysical properties kinetics 156 156 1 04/26/21 20210301 NES 210301 The cover art shows a fluorescent image of Peruna Mustang, the mascot of Southern Methodist University, demonstrating precise photoactivation of a spirolactam-derived photoswitch. Photoswitches, spirolactam rhodamines, 3D displays, photophysical properties, kinetics. [Extracted from the article]