AlGaN-based materials own direct transition energy bands and wide bandgap and thus can be used in high-efficiency ultraviolet (UV) emitters and detectors. Over the past two decades, AlGaN-based materials and devices experienced rapid development. Deep ultraviolet AlGaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with improved efficiency of 20.3% (at 275 nm) have been produced. An electron beam (EB)-pumped AlGaN-based UV light source at 238 nm, output power of 100 mW, and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 40% has also been fabricated. UV stimulated emission from AlGaN multiple-quantum-wells laser diodes (LDs) using electrical pumping at room temperature has also been achieved at a wavelength of 336 nm. Compared with GaN-based blue and green LEDs and LDs, the efficiency of AlGaN-based UV LEDs and LDs is lower. Further optimization and improvements in both structure and fabrication are required to realize high-performance devices. In AlGaN-based UV photodetectors (PDs), gain as high as ${10}^4$ orders of magnitude has been reported using the separated absorption and multiplication region avalanche photodiode structure but is still far from detecting the weak signal, and thus UV single-photon detectors with high detectivity is challenging. Recently, there has been extensive work in the nonlinear optical properties of AlGaN and AlGaN-based passive devices, such as waveguides and resonators. However, how to minimize the scattering and defect-related absorption needs to be further studied. In this review, first, approaches used to grow an AlGaN epilayer and p-type doping are introduced. Second, progress in AlGaN-based UV LEDs, EB-pumped light sources, LDs, PDs, passive devices, and the nonlinear optical properties are presented. Finally, an overview of potential future trends in AlGaN-based materials and UV devices is given.

For centuries, it had been the dream of alchemists to turn inexpensive metals into gold. Certainly, it is not enough from an alchemist’s point of view to transfer only the appearance of a metal to gold. However, the possibility of rendering a certain metal to a completely different color without coating can be very interesting in its own right. In this work, we demonstrate a femtosecond laser processing technique that allows us to create a variety of colors on a metal that ultimately leads us to control its optical properties from UV to terahertz.

In this study, we create a multifunctional metal surface by producing a hierarchical nano/microstructure with femtosecond laser pulses. The multifunctional surface exhibits combined effects of dramatically enhanced broadband absorption, superhydrophobicity, and self-cleaning. The superhydrophobic effect is demonstrated by a falling water droplet repelled away from a structured surface with 30% of the droplet kinetic energy conserved, while the self-cleaning effect is shown by each water droplet taking away a significant amount of dust particles on the altered surface. The multifunctional surface is useful for light collection and water/dust repelling.

In this paper, we performed a detailed study of the formation of femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSSs) on platinum and gold at near-damage threshold fluences. We find a unique type of LIPSS entirely covered with nanostructures. A distinctive feature of the nanostructure-covered LIPSS is that its period is appreciably less than that of the regular LIPSS. We show that the reduced period is caused by an increase of the real part of the effective refractive index of the air-metal interface when nanostructures develop and affect the propagation of surface plasmons.

The fields of photovoltaics, photodetection and light emission have seen tremendous activity in recent years with the advent of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites. Yet, there have been far fewer reports of perovskite-based field-effect transistors. The lateral and interfacial transport requirements of transistors make them particularly vulnerable to surface contamination and defects rife in polycrystalline films and bulk single crystals. Here, we demonstrate a spatially-confined inverse temperature crystallization strategy which synthesizes micrometre-thin single crystals of methylammonium lead halide perovskites MAPbX₃ (X = Cl, Br, I) with sub-nanometer surface roughness and very low surface contamination. These benefit the integration of MAPbX₃ crystals into ambipolar transistors and yield record, room-temperature field-effect mobility up to 4.7 and 1.5 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ in p and n channel devices respectively, with 10⁴ to 10⁵ on-off ratio and low turn-on voltages. This work paves the way for integrating hybrid perovskite crystals into printed, flexible and transparent electronics.