Doubly resonant photonic crystal cavity using merged bound states in the continuum

In this work, a doubly resonant photonic crystal (PhC) cavity using the merged bound states in the continuum (BICs) is proposed to obtain a higher second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency. Firstly by scanning geometry parameters the accidental BICs and a band-edge mode outside the light cone can be obtained. Then as the lattice constant or the thickness of the slab is adjusted the accidental BICs will merge. A supercell with large and small holes is constructed and the band-edge mode outside the light cone can be mode-matched with the merged BICs mode. Finally the heterostructure PhC cavity is designed. The merged BICs show a high quality factor for the photonic crystal with finite size. Consequently, the SHG efficiency of the lattice constant near merged BICs of ~6000% W-1 is higher than the one of the isolated BIC

Bis(benzimidazol-1-yl)methane dihydrate

The bis­(benzimidazol-1-yl)methane mol­ecule of the title compound, C15H12N4·2H2O, displays a trans conformation with a twofold axis running through the methylene C atom. Two adjacent water mol­ecules are bonded to this mol­ecule through O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, forming a trimer. Adjacent trimers are connected together via C—H⋯O inter­actions, forming a chain running along the b-axis direction. Two such chains are joined together via π–π inter­actions [centroid–centroid distance = 3.556 (2) Å], forming double chains, which are connected via the water mol­ecules through C—H⋯O associations, forming a sheet structure. The sheets are stacked on top of each other along the a-axis direction and connected through O—H⋯O and C—H⋯O inter­actions, forming a three-dimensional ABAB layer network structure

Quasi-phase-matching with Spontaneous Domain Inversion in an Integrated Lithium Niobate Micro-racetrack Resonator

Quasi-phase-matching (QPM) technology is the most popular and significant method to achieve efficient nonlinear frequency conversion. The realization of periodically poling to achieve QPM in photonic integrated circuits (PICs) is a challenging issue for the requirement of CMOS compatible and large-scale fabrication. Here we realize a spontaneous periodical domain inversion without poling but by dispersion engineering and designing the orientation of the crystal due to the circular propagation of light waves in an integrated lithium niobate micro-racetrack resonator (MRR). The QPM second harmonic generation (SHG) with a normalized conversion efficiency of 2.25$\%$/W (169th-order QPM) has been achieved in the high-quality factor resonator of $\sim 10^{8}$ with the straight waveguide (TE$_{00}$ mode) of ultra-low propagation loss of 0.0022dB/cm. The efficiency can be further enhanced by using a first-order QPM, and the bandwidth can be made broader by employing a shorter interaction length for photonics and quantum optics. The configurable spontaneous quasi-phase-matching lithium niobate MRR on X-cut thin-film lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) provides a significant on-chip integrated platform for other optical parametric processes

Tungsten Nanoparticles Accelerate Polysulfides Conversion: A Viable Route toward Stable Room-Temperature Sodium–Sulfur Batteries

Room-temperature sodium–sulfur (RT Na–S) batteries are arousing great interest in recent years. Their practical applications, however, are hindered by several intrinsic problems, such as the sluggish kinetic, shuttle effect, and the incomplete conversion of sodium polysulfides (NaPSs). Here a sulfur host material that is based on tungsten nanoparticles embedded in nitrogen-doped graphene is reported. The incorporation of tungsten nanoparticles significantly accelerates the polysulfides conversion (especially the reduction of Na2S4 to Na2S, which contributes to 75% of the full capacity) and completely suppresses the shuttle effect, en route to a fully reversible reaction of NaPSs. With a host weight ratio of only 9.1% (about 3–6 times lower than that in recent reports), the cathode shows unprecedented electrochemical performances even at high sulfur mass loadings. The experimental findings, which are corroborated by the first-principles calculations, highlight the so far unexplored role of tungsten nanoparticles in sulfur hosts, thus pointing to a viable route toward stable Na–S batteries at room temperatures