We investigate the single-photon blockade (1PB) in the quasichiral regime of atom–photon interaction, where the effective coupling between the cavity and the atom is bidirectional but asymmetrical, achieved by coupling to a dissipative environment. A synthetic magnetic current ϕ is induced in the closed-loop coupling, which breaks down the reciprocity of atom–photon interaction, and can be utilized to create asymmetrical or even unidirectional effective coupling between two selected quantum states. As an example, we couple the single-atom cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) system to a strongly dissipative plasmonic cavity. We find that in the quasichiral regime, the unconventional photon blockade (UPB) and the conventional photon blockade (CPB) realize simultaneously in the condition of maximum chirality (ϕ = π/2 and 3π/2). As a result, 1PB in the quasichiral regime can combine the advantages of both UPB and CPB, demonstrating the perfect single-photon purity, higher efficiency, non-oscillating time dynamics as well as lower requirement of mode coupling to achieve UPB. Our work paves the way for 1PB towards practical applications and reveals the intriguing quantum-optics phenomena in the quasichiral light–matter interaction.

Amorphous alloys have emerged as important materials for precision machinery, energy conversion, information processing, and aerospace components. This is due to their unique structure and excellent properties, including superior strength, high elasticity, and excellent corrosion resistance, which have attracted the attention of many researchers. However, the size of the amorphous alloy components remains limited, which affects industrial applications. Significant developments in connection with this technology are urgently needed. Laser welding represents an efficient welding method that uses a laser beam with high energy-density for heating. Laser welding has gradually become a research hotspot as a joining method for amorphous alloys due to its fast heating and cooling rates. In this compact review, the current status of research into amorphous-alloy laser welding technology is discussed, the influence of technological parameters and other welding conditions on welding quality is analyzed, and an outlook on future research and development is provided. This paper can serve as a useful reference for both fundamental research and engineering applications in this field.

Quantitative phase microscopy (QPM) is indispensable in biomedical research due to its advantages in unlabeled transparent sample thickness quantification and obtaining refractive index information. Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) is among the most promising QPM methods, incorporating multi-angle illumination and iterative phase recovery for high-resolution quantitative phase imaging (QPI) of large cell populations over a wide field of-view (FOV) in a single pass. However, FPM is limited by data redundancy and sequential acquisition strategies, resulting in low imaging efficiency, which in turn limits its real-time application in in vitro label-free imaging. Here, we report a fast QPM based on Fourier ptychography (FQP-FPM), which uses an optimized annular downsampling and parallel acquisition strategy to minimize the amount of data required in the front end and reduce the iteration time of the back-end algorithm (3.3% and 4.4% of conventional FPM, respectively). Theoretical and data redundancy analyses show that FQP-FPM can realize high-throughput quantitative phase reconstruction at thrice the resolution of the coherent diffraction limit by acquiring only ten raw images, providing a precondition for in vitro label-free real-time imaging. The FQP-FPM application was validated for various in vitro label-free live-cell imaging. Cell morphology and subcellular phenomena in different periods were observed with a synthetic aperture of 0.75 NA at a 10× FOV, demonstrating its advantages and application potential for fast high-throughput QPI.

SignificanceFourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) enables quantitative phase imaging with a large field-of-view and high resolution by acquiring a series of low-resolution intensity images corresponding to different spatial frequencies stitched together in the Fourier domain. However, the presence of various aberrations in an imaging system can significantly degrade the quality of reconstruction results. The imaging performance and efficiency of the existing embedded optical pupil function recovery (EPRY-FPM) aberration correction algorithm are low due to the optimization strategy.AimAn aberration correction method (AA-P algorithm) based on an improved phase recovery strategy is proposed to improve the reconstruction image quality.ApproachThis algorithm uses adaptive modulation factors, which are added while updating iterations to optimize the spectral function and optical pupil function updates of the samples, respectively. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified through simulations and experiments using an open-source biological sample dataset.ResultsExperimental results show that the proposed AA-P algorithm in an optical system with hybrid aberrations, recovered complex amplitude images with clearer contours and higher phase contrast. The image reconstruction quality was improved by 82.6% when compared with the EPRY-FPM algorithm.ConclusionsThe proposed AA-P algorithm can reconstruct better results with faster convergence, and the recovered optical pupil function can better characterize the aberration of the imaging system. Thus, our method is expected to reduce the strict requirements of wavefront aberration for the current FPM.

In the Taiji Program, the space gravitational wave (GW) telescope is an important component of the space laser interferometer, which is used to receive and transmit laser signals, and has strict requirements in terms of light intensity signals and tilt-to-length (TTL) noise. Therefore, the telescope has a particular design; it should have a large aperture to meet the demand for light intensity signals, and the TTL coupling noise should be suppressed in the design process. Based on the primary aberration theory, the solution of the four-mirror off-axis initial structure is described. According to the interference model of flat-topped and Gaussian beams, the coupling coefficient of wavefront error and TTL noise at the exit pupil of the telescope are analytically calculated using the average phase signal. The optimization method and design flow are established, considering the special requirements of the space GW telescope. The results indicate that the diameter of the telescope entrance pupil is 400 mm, and the system magnification is 80 × . The root mean square (RMS) value of wavefront errors is better than 0.00504 λ (λ = 1064 nm) within ±8 μrad of the scientific field of view, and the coupling coefficient is not more than 1.7 pm / μrad within ±600 μrad of jitter angle. The tolerance analysis of the design results shows that the RMS value and coupling coefficient meet the requirements of space GW detection. Therefore, the proposed design is a good candidate for the Taiji Program.