Plasmon-Assisted Self-Encrypted All-Optical Memory

All-optical responsive nanomaterials, which can rapidly switch between two stable states, have been regarded as the next-generation memories due to their potential to realize binary information storage and implement on-chip, integrated photonic neuromorphic systems. Rare earth oxides are preeminent candidates owing to their extraordinary luminescent stability and narrow optical transitions. However, due to the lack of simple and effective optical switches, it is difficult to realize all-optical data storage, encoding, and retrieval by pure rare earth-doped luminescent nanoparticles. Here, a rapid and high-contrast of 10⁴ luminescent switching of Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺ nanoparticle between the enhancement and quenching states is achieved by employing the strong light confinement and ultrafast thermal response of localized surface plasmon resonance. A self-encrypted all-optical memory is presented with optical information writing, encryption, reading, and re-writing, and a high-sensitivity synaptic response of emitters to frequency and light intensity flux, which can be harnessed to encrypt information flows and promote convenient and high-security information encryption. Such a convenient and secure plasmonic thermally assisted self-encrypting luminescent switch paves the way for constructing high-performance stimuli-responsive rare earth oxide crystals on demand and expanding their applications in various data encryption, anti-counterfeiting, and rewritable colouration devices.     

Skin-like Omnidirectional Stretchable Platform with Negative Poisson's Ratio for Wearable Strain–Pressure Simultaneous Sensor

Conventional elastomeric polymers used as substrates for wearable platforms have large positive Poisson's ratios (≈0.5) that cause a deformation mismatch with human skin that is multidirectionally elongated under bending of joints. This causes practical problems in elastomer-based wearable devices, such as delamination and detachment, leading to poorly reliable functionality. To overcome this issue, auxetic-structured mechanical reinforcement with glass fibers is applied to the elastomeric film, resulting in a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR), which is a skin-like stretchable substrate (SLSS). Several parameters for determining the materials and geometrical dimensions of the auxetic-structured reinforcing fillers are considered to maximize the NPR. Based on numerical simulation and digital image correlation analysis, the deformation tendencies and strain distribution of the SLSS are investigated and compared with those of the pristine elastomeric substrate. Owing to the strain-localization characteristics, an independent strain-pressure sensing system is fabricated using SLSS with a Ag-based elastomeric ink and a carbon nanotube-based force-sensitive resistor. Finally, it is demonstrated that the SLSS-based sensor platform can be applied as a wearable device to monitor the physical burden on the wrist in real time.     

Polyether-b-Amide Based Solid Electrolytes with Well-Adhered Interface and Fast Kinetics for Ultralow Temperature Solid-State Lithium Metal Batteries

Solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) are highly desirable for energy storage because of the urgent need for higher energy density and safer batteries. However, it remains a critical challenge for stable cycling of SSLMBs at low temperature. Here, a highly viscoelastic polyether-b-amide (PEO-b-PA) based composite solid-state electrolyte is proposed through a one-pot melt processing without solvent to address this key process. By adjusting the molar ratio of PEO-b-PA to lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide (ethylene oxide:Li = 6:1) and adding 20 wt.% succinonitrile, fast Li⁺ transport channel is conducted within the homogeneous polymer electrolyte, which enables its application at ultra-low temperature (−20 to 25 °C). The composite solid-state electrolyte utilizes dynamic hydrogen-bonding domains and ion-conducting domains to achieve a low interfacial charge transfer resistance (<600 Ω) at −20 °C and high ionic conductivity (25 °C, 3.7 × 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹). As a result, the LiFePO₄|Li battery based on composite electrolyte exhibits outstanding electrochemical performance with 81.5% capacity retention after 1200 cycles at −20 °C and high discharge specific capacities of 141.1 mAh g⁻¹ with high loading (16.1 mg cm⁻²) at 25 °C. Moreover, the solid-state SNCM811|Li cell achieves excellent safety performance under nail penetration test, showing great promise for practical application.     

Inorganic Filler Enhanced Formation of Stable Inorganic-Rich Solid Electrolyte Interphase for High Performance Lithium Metal Batteries

Lithium metal (LM) is a promising anode material for next generation lithium ion based electrochemical energy storage devices. Critical issues of unstable solid electrolyte interphases (SEIs) and dendrite growth however still impede its practical applications. Herein, a composite gel polymer electrolyte (GPE), formed through in situ polymerization of pentaerythritol tetraacrylate with fumed silica fillers, is developed to achieve high performance lithium metal batteries (LMBs). As evidenced theoretically and experimentally, the presence of SiO₂ not only accelerates Li⁺ transport but also regulates Li⁺ solvation sheath structures, thus facilitating fast kinetics and formation of stable LiF-rich interphase and achieving uniform Li depositions to suppress Li dendrite growth. The composite GPE-based Li||Cu half-cells and Li||Li symmetrical cells display high Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 90.3% after 450 cycles and maintain stability over 960 h at 3 mA cm⁻² and 3 mAh cm⁻², respectively. In addition, Li||LiFePO₄ full-cells with a LM anode of limited Li supply of 4 mAh cm⁻² achieve capacity retention of 68.5% after 700 cycles at 0.5 C (1 C = 170 mA g⁻¹). Especially, when further applied in anode-free LMBs, the carbon cloth||LiFePO₄ full-cell exhibits excellent cycling stability with an average CE of 99.94% and capacity retention of 90.3% at the 160th cycle at 0.5 C.     

In Situ Artificial Hybrid SEI Layer Enabled High-Performance Prelithiated SiOx Anode for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Considered the promising anode material for next-generation high-energy lithium-ion batteries, SiO_x has been slow to commercialize due to its low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) and unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer, which leads to reduced full-cell energy density, short cycling lives, and poor rate performance. Herein, a novel strategy is proposed to in situ construct an artificial hybrid SEI layer consisting of LiF and Li₃Sb on a prelithiated SiO_x anode via spontaneous chemical reaction with SbF₃. In addition to the increasing ICE (94.5%), the preformed artificial SEI layer with long-term cycle stability and enhanced Li⁺ transport capability enables a remarkable improvement in capacity retention and rate capability for modified SiO_x. Furthermore, the full cell using Li(Ni_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1)O₂ and a pre-treated anode exhibits high ICE (86.0%) and capacity retention (86.6%) after 100 cycles at 0.5 C. This study provides a fresh insight into how to obtain stable interface on a prelithiated SiO_x anode for high energy and long lifespan lithium-ion batteries.     

Macro-Sized All-Graphene 3D Structures via Layer-by-Layer Covalent Growth for Micro-to-Macro Inheritable Electrical Performances

Creating 3D-engineered macroscopic architectures while inheriting the superior properties of individual building blocks remains one of the fundamental challenges in nanotechnology. Stable covalent interconnection between micro/nanoblocks is a desired but underexplored strategy to meet the challenges, rather than current dependently-used weak physical forces or organic cross-linking, which disrupts the continuity of chemical composition and electrical properties. Herein, a novel layer-by-layer covalent growth protocol is developed to construct all-graphene macrostructures (AGM) with micro-to-macro inheritable electrical properties by laser-assisted covalent linkage of polyethersulfone-derived 3D porous graphene microblocks without introducing any catalysts, templates, and additives. Creatively, along with graphene generation and inter-layer bonding, a quality optimization process is integrated into one-step laser irradiation, which is unique and efficient for synthesizing high-crystalline graphene. With the covalently nondestructive bridge and free of non-graphene foreign phase impurities, AGM shows unprecedented electrical conductivity, especially a more than 100-fold improvement in cross-layer conductivity compared with non-covalent assembly. Furthermore, the covalent growth mechanism of AGM is clarified by molecular dynamics simulations. Finally, the application efficacy of AGM with enhanced isotropic conductivity is verified by using it as a supercapacitor electrode. This methodology enables the as-obtained AGM to possess the potential for high-performance-pursuing, multi-disciplinary, or large-scale applications.     

A Dilute Fluorinated Phosphate Electrolyte Enables 4.9 V-Class Potassium Ion Full Batteries

Potassium ion batteries using graphite anode and high-voltage cathodes are considered to be optimizing candidates for large-scale energy storage. However, the lack of suitable electrolytes significantly hinders the development of high-voltage potassium ion batteries. Herein, a dilute (0.8 m ) fluorinated phosphate electrolyte is proposed, which exhibits extraordinary compatibility with both graphite anode and high-voltage cathodes. The phosphate solvent, tris(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) phosphate (TFP), has weak solvating ability, which not only allows the formation of robust anion-derived solid electrolyte interphase on graphite anode but also effectively suppresses the corrosion of Al current collector at high voltage. Meanwhile, the high oxidative stability of fluorinated TFP solvent enables stable ultrahigh-voltage (4.95 V) cycling of a potassium vanadium fluorophosphate (KVPO₄F) cathode. Using TFP-based electrolyte, the 4.9 V-class potassium ion full cell based on graphite anode and KVPO₄F cathode shows rather remarkable cycling performance with a high capacity retention of 87.2% after 200 cycles. This study provides a route to develop dilute electrolytes for high-voltage potassium ion batteries, by utilizing solvents with both weak solvating ability and high oxidative stability.     

含有受控源的线性电路的叠加原理研究

用叠加原理分析计算含有受控源的线性电路时,独立源可以单独作用,受控源是不能单独作用的。因为受控源单独作用只能求出与控制量有关的未知量,不能计算出具体值,具体值需要通过应用叠加原理才能计算出来,这是不符合叠加原理概念的。但是受控源单独作用作为一种计算方法还是可以的。     

40 Gbit/s RZ wavelength converter in a monolithically integrated chip with a tunable laser

An all-optical wavelength-switch module with 40 Gbit/s capacity is integrated monolithically in InP. The device combines an SOA-based wavelength converter and a fast-tunable 8-channel multi-frequency laser. Error-free operation is demonstrated.     

Impact of nonlinear phase noise on direct-detection DQPSK WDM systems

The performance degradation of differential quadrature phase-shift keying (DQPSK) wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) systems due to self-phase modulation (SPM)- and cross-phase modulation (XPM)-induced nonlinear phase noise is evaluated in this letter. The XPM-induced nonlinear phase noise is approximated as Gaussian distribution and summed together with the SPM-induced nonlinear phase noise. We demonstrate that 10-Gb/s systems, whose walkoff length is larger than 40-Gb/s systems', are more sensitive to XPM-induced nonlinear phase noise than 40-Gb/s systems. Furthermore, DQPSK WDM systems show lower tolerance to both SPM- and XPM-induced nonlinear phase noise than differential phase-shift keying WDM systems.