Two-dimensional (2D) layered hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskite semiconductors form natural “multiple quantum wells” that have strong spin-orbit coupling due to the heavy elements in their building blocks. This may lead to “Rashba splitting” close to the extrema in the electron bands. We have used a plethora of ultrafast transient, nonlinear optical spectroscopies and theoretical calculations to study the primary (excitons) and long-lived (free carriers) photoexcitations in thin films of 2D perovskite, namely, (C₆H₅C₂H₄NH₃)₂PbI₄. The density functional theory calculation shows the occurrence of Rashba splitting in the plane perpendicular to the 2D barrier. From the electroabsorption spectrum and photoinduced absorption spectra from excitons and free carriers, we obtain a giant Rashba splitting in this compound, with energy splitting of (40 ± 5) meV and Rashba parameter of (1.6 ± 0.1) eV·Å, which are among the highest Rashba splitting size parameters reported so far. This finding shows that 2D hybrid perovskites have great promise for potential applications in spintronics.

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is the optical analogy of an electronic loop in which photons are signal carriers with high transport speed and parallel processing capability. Besides the most frequently demonstrated silicon-based circuits, PICs require a variety of materials for light generation, processing, modulation, and detection. With their diversity and flexibility, organic molecular materials provide an alternative platform for photonics; however, the versatile fabrication of organic integrated circuits with the desired photonic performance remains a big challenge. The rapid development of flexible electronics has shown that a solution printing technique has considerable potential for the large-scale fabrication and integration of microsized/nanosized devices. We propose the idea of soft photonics and demonstrate the function-directed fabrication of high-quality organic photonic devices and circuits. We prepared size-tunable and reproducible polymer microring resonators on a wafer-scale transparent and flexible chip using a solution printing technique. The printed optical resonator showed a quality (Q) factor higher than 4 × 10⁵, which is comparable to that of silicon-based resonators. The high material compatibility of this printed photonic chip enabled us to realize low-threshold microlasers by doping organic functional molecules into a typical photonic device. On an identical chip, this construction strategy allowed us to design a complex assembly of one-dimensional waveguide and resonator components for light signal filtering and optical storage toward the large-scale on-chip integration of microscopic photonic units. Thus, we have developed a scheme for soft photonic integration that may motivate further studies on organic photonic materials and devices.

Optical waveguides synthesized at the micro/nanoscale have drawn great interest for their potential applications in high speed miniaturized photonic integrations. In this Perspective article, we mainly focus on the related works on active optical waveguides based on functional small organic molecules in micro/nano regime. We begin with a general overview of recent progress in sub-wavelength optical waveguides, including the development of waveguide materials of inorganic semiconductors, polymers, and small organic molecules. Then brief highlights are put on the recently reported organic optical waveguides with various unique optical properties induced by the ordered molecular aggregations in the micro/nano-sized solid-state structures, such as polarized emission, lasing, aggregation-induced enhanced emission, etc. This article concludes with a summary and our personal view about the direction of future development in organic opto-functional waveguides as photonic devices.