The ultimate resolution of plasmonic lithography using a ridge aperture is evaluated using a theoretical model by Jae W. Hahn and co-workers on page OP337. A circular contact probe with high positioning accuracy is fabricated to record high density line array patterns with a half pitch up to 22 nm. The model fits well with the experimental results for pattern depth and predicts the resolution of plasmonic lithography to be less than 10 nm.

Inside Front Cover: Advanced Optical Materials

The exciting area of invisibility cloaking is reviewed by Andrea Alù and co-workers on page OP281. Various solutions for invisibility cloaking using metamaterials, metasurfaces, graphene and plasmonic materials in different spectral ranges are discussed. Particular focus is placed on scattering-cancellation approaches, highlighting material challenges, venues and opportunities for plasmonicand mantle-cloaking techniques, in various frequency windows, and for several devices and applications.

Back Cover: Advanced Optical Materials

By using carbon nanotubes as the smallest possible scattering element, light can be diffracted in a highly controlled manner to produce a 2D image, as reported by Haider Butt and co-workers on page OP331. An array of carbon nanotubes is elegantly patterned to produce a high resolution hologram. In response to incident light on the hologram, a high contrast and wide field of view “CAMBRIDGE” image is produced.

Various solutions for invisibility cloaking using metamaterials, metasurfaces, graphene and plasmonic materials in different spectral ranges are reviewed. The primary focus of this Review is on scattering-cancellation approaches, highlighting material challenges, venues and opportunities for plasmonic- and mantle-cloaking techniques, in various frequency windows, and for several devices and applications.

Hyperspectral goniometry reveals anisotropic scattering which dominates the visual appearance of self-assembled polymer opals. The technique allows reconstruction of the reciprocal-space of nanostructures, and indicates that chain defects formed during shear-ordering are responsible for the anisotropy in these samples. Enhanced scattering with improving order is shown to arise from increased effective refractive index contrast, while broadband background scatter is suppressed by absorptive dopants.

Exploring the maximum spatial resolution achievable in far-field optical imaging, we show that applying solid immersion lenses (SIL) in stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy addresses single spins with a resolution down to 2.4 ± 0.3 nm and with a localization precision of 0.09 nm.

Plasmonic antennas are key elements to control the luminescence of quantum emitters. However, the antenna’s influence is often hidden by quenching losses. Here, the luminescence of a quantum dot coupled to a gold dimer antenna is investigated. Detailed analysis of the multiply excited states quantifies the antenna’s influence on the excitation intensity and the luminescence quantum yield separately.

A novel-shaped plasmonic chiral nanomaterial exhibiting circular dichroism in the near-infrared spectral range is presented. Applying on-edge lithography, a large area with these nanostructures is efficiently covered. This fabrication method offers tunability of the operation bandwidth by tailoring the chiral shape.

A series of anionic polymethine dyes with different aromatic counterions are prepared to improve their compatibility as guests in an amorphous polycarbonate host. When they are used as the cladding material for silicon hybrid slot waveguides, four-wave mixing wavelength conversion and two-photon absorption-based optical-power modulation are observed. Such guest-host materials may be attractive candidates for all-optical signal-processing applications.

Carbon nanotubes are used as the smallest possible scattering element for diffracting light in a highly controlled manner to produce a 2D image. An array of carbon nanotubes is elegantly patterned to produce a high resolution hologram. In response to incident light on the hologram, a high contrast and wide field of view CAMBRIDGE image is produced.

The ultimate resolution of plasmonic lithography using a ridge aperture is evaluated with a theoretical model. A circular contact probe with high positioning accuracy is fabricated to record high-density line array patterns with a half pitch of up to 22 nm. The model fits well with the pattern depth experimental results and predicts a resolution for plasmonic lithography to less than 10 nm.

An unprecedented optical performance is reported for a novel photoresponsive supramolecular liquid-crystalline complex, self-assembled through halogen bonding between a non-mesogenic stilbazole derivative, acting as a bond acceptor, and a non-mesogenic bond donor containing an azo-group. Efficient photoalignment and an exceptional surface-relief-grating formation are combined in this low-molecular-weight supramolecular assembly, thanks to the high directionality of the halogen bond.