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Abstract Human tactile perception involves the activation of mechanoreceptors located within the skin in response to external stimuli, along with the organization and processing within the brain. However, human sensations may be subject to the issues related to some physiological factors (such as skin injury or neurasthenia), resulting in inability to quantify tactile information. To address this challenge, a novel bio‐inspired artificial tactile (BAT) sensing system enabled by the integration of optical microfiber (OM) with full‐connected neural network (FCNN) in this paper is demonstrated, inspired by human physiological characteristics and tactile mechanisms. In this system, the BAT sensor mimics human skin, where the OM serves as the mechanoreceptor for sensing tactile stimuli, while the FCNN functions as a simulated human brain to train and extract the signal characteristics for intelligent object recognition. The experimental results indicate that the proposed BAT sensor can sensitively respond to both the contact force (static tactile stimuli), as well as the vibrotactile events (dynamic tactile stimuli) for the recognition of regular textures. Furthermore, by integrating the trained FCNN, the BAT sensing system accurately identifies various intricate surface textures with an exceptional accuracy of 95.7%, highlighting its potential in next‐generation human‐machine interaction and advanced robotics.

Abstract Background The era of high throughput sequencing offers new paths to identifying species boundaries that are complementary to traditional morphology-based delimitations. De novo species delimitation using traditional or DNA super-barcodes serve as efficient approaches to recognizing putative species (molecular operational taxonomic units, MOTUs). Tea plants (Camellia sect. Thea) form a group of morphologically similar species with significant economic value, providing the raw material for tea, which is the most popular nonalcoholic caffeine-containing beverage in the world. Taxonomic challenges have arisen from vague species boundaries in this group. Results Based on the most comprehensive sampling of C. sect. Thea by far (165 individuals of 39 morphospecies), we applied three de novo species delimitation methods (ASAP, PTP, and mPTP) using plastome data to provide an independent evaluation of morphology-based species boundaries in tea plants. Comparing MOTU partitions with morphospecies, we particularly tested the congruence of MOTUs resulting from different methods. We recognized 28 consensus MOTUs within C. sect. Thea, while tentatively suggesting that 11 morphospecies be discarded. Ten of the 28 consensus MOTUs were uncovered as morphospecies complexes in need of further study integrating other evidence. Our results also showed a strong imbalance among the analyzed MOTUs in terms of the number of molecular diagnostic characters. Conclusion This study serves as a solid step forward for recognizing the underlying species boundaries of tea plants, providing a needed evidence-based framework for the utilization and conservation of this economically important plant group.

Abstract RNA modification C 2-methyladenosine (m2A) exists in both rRNA and tRNA of Escherichia coli (E. coli), installed by the methyltransferase RlmN using a radical-S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) mechanism. However, the precise function of m2A in tRNA and its ubiquity in plants have remained unclear. Here we discover the presence of m2A in chloroplast rRNA and tRNA, as well as cytosolic tRNA, in multiple plant species. We identify six m2A-modified chloroplast tRNAs and two m2A-modified cytosolic tRNAs across different plants. Furthermore, we characterize three Arabidopsis m2A methyltransferases—RLMNL1, RLMNL2, and RLMNL3—which methylate chloroplast rRNA, chloroplast tRNA, and cytosolic tRNA, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that m2A37 promotes a relaxed conformation of tRNA, enhancing translation efficiency in chloroplast and cytosol by facilitating decoding of tandem m2A-tRNA-dependent codons. This study provides insights into the molecular function and biological significance of m2A, uncovering a layer of translation regulation in plants.

AbstractSarcophaga (Liosarcophaga) angarosinica (Rohdendorf, 1937) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) is a species of both medical and ecological significance. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of S. angarosinica was sequenced and characterized. The mitogenome has a total length of 15,215 bp, including 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs, and an adenine and thymine-rich region. This mitogenome comprises 39.5% adenine, 9.4% guanine, 14.4% cytosine, and 36.8% thymine. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that S. angarosinica is closely related to Sarcophaga similis. This study enriches the genetic data on S. angarosinica and will contribute to establishing the phylogenetic relationships among flesh flies.

Abstract Multiferroic materials offer a promising avenue for manipulating digital information by leveraging the cross-coupling between ferroelectric and ferromagnetic orders. Despite the ferroelectricity has been uncovered by ion displacement or interlayer-sliding, one-unit-cell of multiferroic materials design and wafer-scale synthesis have yet to be realized. Here we develope an interface modulated strategy to grow 1-inch one-unit-cell of non-layered chromium sulfide with unidirectional orientation on industry-compatible c-plane sapphire. The interfacial interaction between chromium sulfide and substrate induces the intralayer-sliding of self-intercalated chromium atoms and breaks the space reversal symmetry. As a result, robust room-temperature ferroelectricity (retaining more than one month) emerges in one-unit-cell of chromium sulfide with ultrahigh remanent polarization. Besides, long-range ferromagnetic order is discovered with the Curie temperature approaching 200 K, almost two times higher than that of bulk counterpart. In parallel, the magnetoelectric coupling is certified and which makes 1-inch one-unit-cell of chromium sulfide the largest and thinnest multiferroics.

Abstract Plant movements for survival are nontrivial. Antheridia in the moss Physcomitrium patens (P. patens) use motion to eject sperm in the presence of water. However, the biological and mechanical mechanisms that actuate the process are unknown. Here, the burst of the antheridium of P. patens, triggered by water, results from elastic instability and is determined by an asymmetric change in cell geometry. The tension generated in jacket cell walls of antheridium arises from turgor pressure, and is further promoted when the inner walls of apex burst in hydration, causing water and cellular contents of apex quickly influx into sperm chamber. The outer walls of the jacket cells are strengthened by NAC transcription factor VNS4 and serve as key morphomechanical innovations to store hydrostatic energy in a confined space in P. patens. However, the antheridium in liverwort Marchantia polymorpha (M. polymorpha) adopts a different strategy for sperm release; like jacket cell outer walls of P. patens, the cells surrounding the antheridium of M. polymorpha appear to play a similar role in the storage of energy. Collectively, the work shows that plants have evolved different ingenious devices for sperm discharge and that morphological innovations can differ.

The logic gate components based on electromagnetic waves are crucial for building a digital computing platform with batch computing and low-cost energy consumption requirements. However, most of the reported logic gates have only one computational channel and have a single function. In order to improve the channel capacity and versatility of logic gates, we design a simple and compact graphene metasurface for dual channel parallel computing, with each channel's function being switchable across all types of logic functions. In the design, we combine the advantages of reconfigurable metasurfaces and polarization sensitive metasurfaces. Based on the polarization sensitive characteristics, we integrate two polarization logic gates into a single device. These two polarization logic gates can work simultaneously, and the crosstalk between them is 0. Based on the reconfigurable feature, the functions of both logic gates can be freely selected from NOT, AND, NAND, OR, NOR, XOR and XNOR. So, this component can achieve simultaneous operation of any two logical functions, and there are 49 combinations available. Our design philosophy provides inspiration for achieving ultra fast and high-density integrated signal processing.

Abstract Ultrafast physical random bit (PRB) generators and integrated schemes have proven to be valuable in a broad range of scientific and technological applications. In this study, we experimentally demonstrated a PRB scheme with a chaotic microcomb using a chip-scale integrated resonator. A microcomb contained hundreds of chaotic channels, and each comb tooth functioned as an entropy source for the PRB. First, a 12 Gbits/s PRB signal was obtained for each tooth channel with proper post-processing and passed the NIST Special Publication 800-22 statistical tests. The chaotic microcomb covered a wavelength range from 1430 to 1675 nm with a free spectral range (FSR) of 100 GHz. Consequently, the combined random bit sequence could achieve an ultra-high rate of about 4 Tbits/s (12 Gbits/s × 294 = 3.528 Tbits/s), with 294 teeth in the experimental microcomb. Additionally, denser microcombs were experimentally realized using an integrated resonator with 33.6 GHz FSR. A total of 805 chaotic comb teeth were observed and covered the wavelength range from 1430 to 1670 nm. In each tooth channel, 12 Gbits/s random sequences was generated, which passed the NIST test. Consequently, the total rate of the PRB was approximately 10 Tbits/s (12 Gbits/s × 805 = 9.66 Tbits/s). These results could offer potential chip solutions of Pbits/s PRB with the features of low cost and a high degree of parallelism. Graphical Abstract

The use of optical trapping has become increasingly prevalent in scientific domains such as biology and physics. However, the realization of various trapping effects often requires the switching of equipment components. To address this challenge, we propose a novel approach that combines the dynamic and geometric phases with polarization multiplexing to create a monolayer multifunctional metasurface optical tweezer based on polarization modulation. Our method utilizes different circular polarizations of light to produce a both focused Gaussian field and a focused optical vortex (OV) field. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the focused Gaussian fields can effectively trap high refractive index (RI) particles, while the focused OV fields can be used as an optically controlled spanner to rotate and manipulate particles or trap low RI particles. Additionally, we present an array of polarization modulation metasurface tweezers that have the potential to trap and manipulate particles of varying radii and diverse motion behaviors. Overall, our work highlights the efficacy of polarization-modulation multifunctional metasurface tweezers in combining several trapping tasks into one device. These tweezers have promising potential for integration into future lab-on-chip technologies.

Photonic convolution processing units are the core components of photonic neural networks (PNNs). Traditionally, for an N × N photonic convolution processing unit, it typically requires O(N2) or O(Nlog2N) cascaded photonic devices, which leads to larger sizes and lower density. Therefore, nanophotonic neural networks (N-PNN) with high density are highly attractive. In this work, we propose an ultra-high density and nonvolatile N-PNN scheme, requiring only a compact photonic device to represent all weight values in the N × N convolution kernel, which results in a computational density of more than 5 petaflop operations per second per square millimeter (POPS/mm2) under ideal conditions. The footprints of the proposed 2 × 2 and 3 × 3 nanophotonic convolution processing units are only 4 × 4 μm2 and 6 × 6 μm2, respectively. Moreover, based on these two types of units, the N-PNN achieves image classification and recognition capabilities comparable to traditional computers. In addition, Owing to its lower insertion loss, our approach holds great significance for the scalability and on-chip integration of large-scale N-PNNs. This facilitated the integration of N-PNNs with existing electronic systems.

Abstract We present multiPrime, a novel tool that automatically designs minimal primer sets for targeted next‐generation sequencing, tailored to specific microbiomes or genes. MultiPrime enhances primer coverage by designing primers with mismatch tolerance and ensures both high compatibility and specificity. We evaluated the performance of multiPrime using a data set of 43,016 sequences from eight viruses. Our results demonstrated that multiPrime outperformed conventional tools, and the primer set designed by multiPrime successfully amplified the target amplicons. Furthermore, we expanded the application of multiPrime to 30 types of viruses and validated the work efficacy of multiPrime‐designed primers in 80 clinical specimens. The subsequent sequencing outcomes from these primers indicated a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 89%.

Human activities are increasing the input of atmospheric particulate pollutants to forests. The components of particulate pollutants include inorganic anions, base cations and hydrocarbons. Continuous input of particulate pollutants may affect soil functioning in forests, but their effects may be modified by soil fauna. However, studies investigating how soil fauna affects the effects of particulate pollutants on soil functioning are lacking. Here, we investigated how earthworms and the particulate components interact in affecting soil enzymatic functions in a deciduous (Quercus variabilis) and a coniferous (Pinus massoniana) forest in southeast China. We manipulated the addition of nitrogen (N, ammonium nitrate), sodium (Na, sodium chloride) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, five mixed PAHs) in field mesocosms with and without Eisenia fetida, an earthworm species colonizing forests in eastern China. After one year, N and Na addition increased, whereas PAHs decreased soil enzymatic functions, based on average Z scores of extracellular enzyme activities. Earthworms generally stabilized soil enzymatic functions via neutralizing the effects of N, Na and PAHs addition in the deciduous but not in the coniferous forest. Specifically, earthworms neutralized the effects of N and Na addition on soil pH and the effects of the addition of PAHs on soil microbial biomass. Further, both particulate components and earthworms changed the correlations among soil enzymatic and other ecosystem functions in the deciduous forest, but the effects depended on the type of particulate components. Generally, the effects of particulate components and earthworms on soil enzymatic functions were weaker in the coniferous than the deciduous forest. Overall, the results indicate that earthworms stabilize soil enzymatic functions in the deciduous but not the coniferous forest irrespective of the type of particulate components. This suggests that earthworms may neutralize the influence of atmospheric particulate pollutants on ecosystem functions, but the neutralization may be restricted to deciduous forests.

Abstract Background As a valuable medicinal plant, Rhodiola has a very long history of folk medicine used as an important adaptogen, tonic, and hemostatic. However, our knowledge of the chloroplast genome level of Rhodiola is limited. This drawback has limited studies on the identification, evolution, genetic diversity and other relevant studies on Rhodiola. Results Six Rhodiola complete chloroplast genomes were determined and compared to another Rhodiola cp genome at the genome scale. The results revealed a cp genome with a typical quadripartite and circular structure that ranged in size from 150,771 to 151,891 base pairs. High similarity of genome organization, gene number, gene order, and GC content were found among the chloroplast genomes of Rhodiola. 186 (R. wallichiana) to 200 (R. gelida) SSRs and 144 pairs of repeats were detected in the 6 Rhodiola cp genomes. Thirteen mutational hotspots for genome divergence were determined and could be used as candidate markers for phylogenetic analyses and Rhodiola species identification. The phylogenetic relationships inferred by members of Rhodiola cluster into two clades: dioecious and hermaphrodite. Our findings are helpful for understanding Rhodiola's taxonomic, phylogenetic, and evolutionary relationships. Conclusions Comparative analysis of chloroplast genomes of Rhodiola facilitates medicinal resource conservation, phylogenetic reconstruction and biogeographical research of Rhodiola.

Abstract Earthworms modulate carbon and nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, but their effect may be compromised by the deposition of pollutants from industrial emissions. However, studies investigating how deposited compounds affect the role of earthworms in carbon cycling such as litter decomposition are lacking, although the interactions of earthworms and deposited compounds are important for understanding the impact of pollutants on ecosystems and the potential of earthworms in bioremediation. We performed a 365‐day in situ litterbag decomposition experiment in a deciduous (Quercus variabilis) and coniferous (Pinus massoniana) forest in southeast China. We manipulated nitrogen (N), sodium (Na), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as model compounds during litter decomposition with and without earthworms (Eisenia fetida). After one year, N, Na, and PAH all slowed down litter mass loss, with the effects of Na being the strongest. By contrast, E. fetida generally increased litter mass loss, and the positive effects were uniformly maintained irrespective of the type of compounds added. However, the pathways to how earthworms increased litter mass loss varied among the compounds added and the two forests studied. As indicated by structural equation modeling, earthworms mitigated the negative effects of deposited compounds by directly increasing litter mass loss and indirectly increasing soil pH and microbial biomass. Overall, the results indicate that the acceleration of litter mass loss by earthworms is little affected by deposited compounds, and that earthworms have the potential to mitigate negative impacts of pollutants on litter decomposition and ecosystem processes.

Under non-ideal grid operating conditions such as unbalanced grid voltage and harmonic grid that are commonly found in microgrid conditions, the negative sequence components of the microgrid voltage interfere with the active and reactive current controls in the power conversion system, leading to an increase in the harmonic content of the grid-side current and affecting the power quality of the microgrid system. To solve these problems, firstly, the mathematical model of the LCL-type power conversion system is analyzed, and a linear active disturbance rejection control based on model compensation is designed. Secondly, the influence of non-ideal power grid conditions on the control of the LCL-type power conversion system is analyzed, and the active disturbance rejection control strategy of the LCL-type power conversion system based on frequency-locked loops with harmonic cancellation modules (HCM-FLL) is proposed, which speeds up the system, improves the system’s robustness, and reduces the harmonic content of the network measurement current under the condition of power grid voltage unbalance and harmonic power grid. Finally, by using the verification of MATLAB/Simulink simulation, the current power quality obviously under the condition of voltage unbalance and harmonic power grid is evidently improved by the proposed control strategy. When compared to the traditional control methods, the control strategy proposed in this study features a simple control structure, making it easy to implement in engineering without requiring high controller performance or additional circuits. This reduces design costs and provides a wide range of controller parameters, ensuring strong anti-interference performance without the need for frequent controller parameter adjustments.

To reduce the electricity grid’s valley—peak difference, thereby resulting in a smoother electricity load, this study employs a compressed CO2 energy storage system to facilitate load shifting. Load shifting by the CCES system not only enhances the energy flexibility of the electricity load but also creates energy arbitrage from variations in the electricity prices. An optimization model is developed to optimize the operation of the CCES system to minimize the standard deviation of the electricity load. Thereby, load shifting by the CCES system can be achieved. Based on the real electricity loads and prices, results indicate that, with an energy storage capacity of 267 MWh, the CCES system can provide 3845 MWh, 4052 MWh, and 3816 MWh of upward flexible energy and 3846 MWh, 3180 MWh, and 3735 MWh of downward flexible energy during a week in summer, winter, and the transition season, respectively. With a lifespan of 35 years, the CCES system can attain a net present value (NPV) of MUSD 239.9 and a payback time of 2 years. The sensitivity analysis shows that increasing the energy storage capacity of the CCES system augments both the upward and downward flexible energy of the electricity load but reduces the NPV of the CCES system.

Recent sequencing efforts have broadly uncovered the evolutionary trajectory of plastid genomes (plastomes) of flowering plants in diverse habitats, yet our knowledge of the evolution of plastid posttranscriptional modifications is limited. In this study, we generated 11 complete plastomes and performed ultra-deep transcriptome sequencing to investigate the co-evolution of plastid RNA editing and genetic variation in Cymbidium, a genus with diverse trophic lifestyles. Genome size and gene content is reduced in terrestrial and green mycoheterotrophic orchids relative to their epiphytic relatives. This could be partly due to extensive losses and pseudogenization of ndh genes for the plastid NADH dehydrogenase-like complex, but independent pseudogenization of ndh genes has also occurred in the epiphyte C. mannii, which was reported to use strong crassulacean acid metabolism photosynthesis. RNA editing sites are abundant but variable in number among Cymbidium plastomes. The nearly twofold variation in editing abundance is mainly due to extensive reduction of ancestral editing sites in ndh transcripts of terrestrial, mycoheterotrophic, and C. mannii plastomes. The co-occurrence of editing reduction and pseudogenization in ndh genes suggests functional constraints on editing machinery may be relaxed, leading to nonrandom loss of ancestral edited sites via reduced editing efficiency. This study represents the first systematic examination of RNA editing evolution linked to plastid genome variation in a single genus. We also propose an explanation for how genomic and posttranscriptional variations might be affected by lifestyle-associated ecological adaptation strategies in Cymbidium.

Abstract Background N 6-methyladenosine (m6A) mRNA modification is essential for mammalian and plant viability. The U6 m6A methyltransferases in other species regulate S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) homeostasis through installing m6A in pre-mRNAs of SAM synthetases. However, U6 m6A methyltransferase has not been characterized in Arabidopsis and little is known about its role in regulating photomorphogenesis and flowering. Results Here we characterize that FIONA1 is an Arabidopsis U6 m6A methyltransferase that installs m6A in U6 snRNA and a small subset of poly(A)+ RNA. Disruption of FIONA1 leads to phytochrome signaling-dependent hypocotyl elongation and photoperiod-independent early flowering. Distinct from mammalian METTL16 and worm METT-10, FIONA1 neither installs m6A in the mRNAs of Arabidopsis SAM synthetases nor affects their transcript expression levels under normal or high SAM conditions. We confirm that FIONA1 can methylate plant mRNA m6A motifs in vitro and in vivo. We further show that FIONA1 installs m6A in several phenotypic related transcripts, thereby affecting downstream mRNA stability and regulating phytochrome signaling and floral transition. Conclusion FIONA1 is functional as a U6 m6A methyltransferase in Arabidopsis, distinct from mammalian METTL16 and worm METT-10. Our results demonstrate that FIONA1-mediated m6A post-transcriptional regulation is an autonomous regulator for flowering and phytochrome signaling-dependent photomorphogenesis.

Deep neural networks have been successfully applied to forward predicting optical response and inverse designing topological structure of nanophotonic devices. However, the existing deep learning based methods need sufficient simulated data to train the model effectively. For those devices with complex structures that containing many design variables, obtaining enough training data through numerical simulations will become extremely time-consuming. In order to reduce the requirement of large amounts of training data, we present a new deep learning approach based on the Capsule Network in this paper. By employing the proposed model, we have designed and verified a series of silicon-based wavelength demultiplexer with more than one thousand design variables. The numerical simulations validate that the trained model can both effectively predict the optical response with a fixed topological structure, and inverse design the approximate topological structure for a needed given optical response. Comparison with the classical convolutional neural networks show that our model can obtain nearly the same performance when using only 60% of the training data.

The on-chip nano-integration of large-scale optical phased arrays (OPAs) is a development trend. However, the current scale of integrated OPAs is not large because of the limitations imposed by the lateral dimensions of beam-splitting structures. Here, we propose an ultra-compact and broadband OPA beam-splitting scheme with a nano-inverse design. We employed a staged design to obtain a T-branch with a wavelength bandwidth of 500 nm (1300–1800 nm) and an insertion loss of −0.2 dB. Owing to the high scalability and width-preserving characteristics, the cascaded T-branch configuration can significantly reduce the lateral dimensions of an OPA, offering a potential solution for the on-chip integration of a large-scale OPA. Based on three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (3D FDTD) simulations, we demonstrated a 1 × 16 OPA beam-splitter structure composed entirely of inverse-designed elements with a lateral dimension of only 27.3 μm. Additionally, based on the constructed grating couplers, we simulated the range of the diffraction angle θ for the OPA, which varied by 0.6°–41.6° within the wavelength range of 1370–1600 nm.

Fiber-optic magnetic field sensors have garnered considerable attention in the field of marine monitoring due to their compact size, robust anti-electromagnetic interference capabilities, corrosion resistance, high sensitivity, ease of multiplexing and integration, and potential for large-scale sensing networks. To enable the detection of marine magnetic field vector information, we propose an optical fiber vector magnetic field sensor that integrates three single-axis sensors in an orthogonal configuration. Theoretical analysis and experimental verification are conducted to investigate its magnetic field and temperature sensing characteristics, and a sensitivity matrix is established to address the cross-sensitivity between the magnetic field and temperature; experimental tests were conducted to assess the vector response of the three-dimensional (3D) vector sensor across the three orthogonal axes; the obtained experimental results illustrate the commendable magnetic field vector response exhibited by the sensor in the orthogonal axes, enabling precise demodulation of vector magnetic field information. This sensor presents several advantages, including cost-effectiveness, easy integration, and reliability vectorially. Consequently, it holds immense potential for critical applications in marine magnetic field network detection.

The high repetition rate, widely tunable, picosecond mid-infrared laser plays an important role in various fields. In this paper, the single-pass optical parametric generator (OPG) pumped by Yb-fiber laser based on MgO: PPLN is proposed. The Yb-fiber laser is mode locked by a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror (NALM) with an all-polarization-maintaining (PM) structure. A maximum power of 6.2 W was obtained with a repetition rate of 15.8 MHz and pulse duration of 18 ps after amplification by cascaded fiber. Based on the principle of nonlinear frequency down-conversion, the tunable mid-infrared output wavelength of 2.76–3.98 μm was realized by varying the crystal grating periods and temperature. The maximum power was 500 mW at 3.22 μm, corresponding to a quantum conversion efficiency of 25%, and the relative power fluctuation was measured as 0.37% over 30 min.

Cymbidium tortisepalum is a primary orchid species in Yunnan Province, China, and has an extremely high ornamental and economic value. To reveal the levels and distribution of genetic variation and structure of wild C. tortisepalum resources, sequence variations of six chloroplast DNA intergenic spacers (psbM-trnD, trnV-trnA, accD-psal, rrn23, trnk-rps16, and ycf1) were analyzed in 404 wild individuals from 28 populations in the three river area in Yunnan Province, China. The results showed that the six chloroplast DNA sequences were aligned with 61 polymorphic sites, including 50 indels and 11 haplotypes in 404 individuals, which revealed a low level of genetic diversity (total genetic diversity = 0.240, and the average value of nucleotide diversity = 0.00024). In addition, a fairly low genetic differentiation [coefficients for genetic differentiation among populations (GST) = 0.099, number of substitution (NST) = 0.081] was found among the studied populations, and NST value was less than GST, which indicated that no significant phylogeographic structure existed in those populations. Furthermore, analysis of molecular variance revealed that great genetic variance (91%) came from individuals within the populations, which indicated that there was no clear genetic differentiation among populations. On the basis of these findings, a conservation plan was proposed to sample or preserve fewer populations but with more individuals from each population.

Adenosine bases of RNA can be transiently modified by the deposition of a methyl-group to form N6-methyladenosine (m6A). This adenosine-methylation is an ancient process and the enzymes involved are evolutionary highly conserved. A genetic screen designed to identify suppressors of late flowering transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing the miP1a microProtein yielded a new allele of the FIONA1 (FIO1) m6A-methyltransferase. To characterize the early flowering phenotype of fio1 mutant plants we employed an integrative approach of mRNA-seq, Nanopore direct RNA-sequencing and meRIP-seq to identify differentially expressed transcripts as well as differentially methylated RNAs. We provide evidence that FIO1 is the elusive methyltransferase responsible for the 3'-end methylation of the FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) transcript. Furthermore, our genetic and biochemical data suggest that 3'-methylation stabilizes FLC mRNAs and non-methylated FLC is a target for rapid degradation.

In recent years, dynamically tunable structural color has attracted great interest. Here, we introduce the guided-mode resonance (GMR) filter and the phase-change material Sb2S3 to design a reflective optical metasurface to produce tunable structural color, in which the combination of the GMR filter, with narrow resonant wavelength, and the Sb2S3, with a much larger bandgap and higher refractive index, helps to produce high-quality tunable structural color. The simulation results indicate that through the phase transition between the amorphous and crystalline states of Sb2S3, the proposed metasurface can generate tunable structural color that can be perceived by the naked eye. Furthermore, the metasurface can sensitively sense environmental changes through changes in structural color. This work provides a new method for realizing dynamically tunable structural color, and paves the way for the application of controllable structural color in dynamic displays, optical stealth, colorimetric sensing, and other fields.

In solar applications, the solar absorber is paramount to converting solar radiation to heat energy. We systematically examined the relationship between the efficiency of the solar absorber and operating temperature and other factors. By combining inverse designs with surface plasmonic and Fabry-Perot cavity solar absorption theories, we have developed several solar absorber devices with excellent performance at different temperatures. One of these devices displays a solar spectral absorption of 95.6%, an ultra-low emission rate of 5.7%, and optical-to-thermal conversion efficiency exceeding 90%, all within an ultra-thin depth of 0.45 μm under working temperatures of 600 K. The device has the potential to surpass the Shockley-Queisser limit (S-Q limit) in solar power generation systems. Our method is adaptable, enabling the design of optimal-performance devices to the greatest extent possible. The design was optimized using modern optimization algorithms to meet complex conditions and offers new insights for further study of the conversion from solar to thermal energy and the advancement of solar energy applications.

In the process of ocean exploration, highly accurate and sensitive measurements of seawater temperature and pressure significantly impact the study of seawater’s physical, chemical, and biological processes. In this paper, three different package structures, V-shape, square-shape, and semicircle-shape, are designed and fabricated, and an optical microfiber coupler combined Sagnac loop (OMCSL) is encapsulated in these structures with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Then, the temperature and pressure response characteristics of the OMCSL, under different package structures, are analyzed by simulation and experiment. The experimental results show that structural change hardly affects temperature sensitivity, and square-shape has the highest pressure sensitivity. In addition, with an input error of 1% F.S., temperature and pressure errors were calculated, which shows that a semicircle-shape structure can increase the angle between lines in the sensitivity matrix method (SMM), and reduce the effect of the input error, thus optimizing the ill-conditioned matrix. Finally, this paper shows that using the machine learning method (MLM) effectively improves demodulation accuracy. In conclusion, this paper proposes to optimize the ill-conditioned matrix problem in SMM demodulation by improving sensitivity with structural optimization, which essentially explains the cause of the large errors for multiparameter cross-sensitivity. In addition, this paper proposes to use the MLM to solve the problem of large errors in the SMM, which provides a new method to solve the problem of the ill-conditioned matrix in SMM demodulation. These have practical implications for engineering an all-optical sensor that can be used for detection in the ocean environment.

Color displays have become increasingly attractive, with dielectric optical nanoantennas demonstrating especially promising applications due to the high refractive index of the material, enabling devices to support geometry-dependent Mie resonance in the visible band. Although many structural color designs based on dielectric nanoantennas employ the method of artificial positive adjustment, the design cycle is too lengthy and the approach is non-intelligent. The commonly used phase change material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) is characterized by high absorption and a small contrast to the real part of the refractive index in the visible light band, thereby restricting its application in this range. The Sb2S3 phase change material is endowed with a wide band gap of 1.7 to 2 eV, demonstrating two orders of magnitude lower propagation loss compared to GST, when integrated onto a silicon waveguide, and exhibiting a maximum refractive index contrast close to 1 at 614 nm. Thus, Sb2S3 is a more suitable phase change material than GST for tuning visible light. In this paper, genetic algorithms and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) solutions are combined and introduced as Sb2S3 phase change material to design nanoantennas. Structural color is generated in the reflection mode through the Mie resonance inside the structure, and the properties of Sb2S3 in different phase states are utilized to achieve tunability. Compared to traditional methods, genetic algorithms are superior-optimization algorithms that require low computational effort and a high population performance. Furthermore, Sb2S3 material can be laser-induced to switch the transitions of the crystallized and amorphous states, achieving reversible color. The large chromatic aberration ∆E modulation of 64.8, 28.1, and 44.1 was, respectively, achieved by the Sb2S3 phase transition in this paper. Moreover, based on the sensitivity of the structure to the incident angle, it can also be used in fields such as angle-sensitive detectors.

Plant mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) exhibit fluid genome architectures, which could lead to the rapid erosion of genome synteny over a short evolutionary time scale. Among the species-rich orchid family, the leafy Cymbidium lancifolium and leafless Cymbidium macrorhizon are sister species with remarkable differences in morphology and nutritional physiology. Although our understanding of the evolution of mitochondria is incomplete, these sister taxa are ideal for examining this subject. In this study, the complete mitogenomes of C. lancifolium and C. macrorhizon, totaling 704,244 bp and 650,751 bp, respectively, were assembled. In the 2 mitogenomes, 38 protein-coding genes, 18 cis- and 6 trans-spliced introns, and approximately 611 Kb of homologous sequences are identical; overall, they have 99.4% genome-wide similarity. Slight variations in the mitogenomes of C. lancifolium and C. macrorhizon in repeat content (21.0 Kb and 21.6 Kb, respectively) and mitochondrial DNA of plastid origin (MIPT; 38.2 Kb and 37.5 Kb, respectively) were observed. The mitogenome architectures of C. lancifolium and C. macrorhizon are complex and comprise 23 and 22 mini-circular chromosomes, respectively. Pairwise comparisons indicate that the two mitogenomes are largely syntenic, and the disparity in chromosome numbers is likely due to repeat-mediated rearrangements among different chromosomes. Notably, approximately 93.2 Kb C. lancifolium mitochondrial sequences lack any homology in the C. macrorhizon mitogenome, indicating frequent DNA gains and losses, which accounts mainly for the size variation. Our findings provide unique insights into mitogenome evolution in leafy and leafless plants of sister species and shed light on mitogenome dynamics during the transition from mixotrophy to mycoheterotrophy.

Photonic logic gates have important applications in fast data processing and optical communication. This study aims to design a series of ultra-compact non-volatile and reprogrammable photonic logic gates based on the Sb2Se3 phase-change material. A direct binary search algorithm was adopted for the design, and four types of photonic logic gates (OR, NOT, AND, and XOR) are created using silicon-on-insulator technology. The proposed structures had very small sizes of 2.4 μm × 2.4 μm. Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulation results show that, in the C-band near 1550 nm, the OR, NOT, AND, and XOR gates exhibit good logical contrast of 7.64, 6.1, 3.3, and 18.92 dB, respectively. This series of photonic logic gates can be applied in optoelectronic fusion chip solutions and 6G communication systems.

The development of integrated optical technology and the continuous emergence of various low-loss optical waveguide materials have promoted the development of low-cost, size, weight, and power optical gyroscopes. However, the losses in conventional optical waveguide materials are much greater than those in optical fibers, and different waveguide materials often require completely different etching processes, resulting in severely limited gyroscope performance, which is not conducive to the monolithic integration of gyroscope systems. In this paper, an ultra-low-loss Archimedean spiral waveguide structure is designed for an on-chip integrated optical gyroscope by using the high Q value and low-loss optical characteristics of the bound state in the continuum (BIC). The structure does not require the etching of high-refractive-index optical functional materials, avoiding the etching problem that has been difficult to solve for a long time. In addition, the optical properties of the BIC straight and the BIC bent waveguide are simulated using the finite element method (FEM) to find the waveguide structural parameters corresponding to the BIC mode, which is used to design the integrated sensing coil and analyze the gyroscope performance. The simulation results show that the gyroscope’s sensitivity can reach 0.6699°/s. This research is the first time a BIC optical waveguide has been used for an integrated optical gyroscope, providing a novel idea for the monolithic integration of optical gyroscopes.

We have conducted a study on a very-low-frequency acoustic-velocity sensor which is based on a cantilever of distributed-feedback (DFB) fiber laser immersed in castor oil. A mathematical model of the frequency dependent response of the proposed sensor to the acoustic pressure signal influenced by the fluid viscosity is established. We have fabricated the proposed sensor and conducted experimental measurements in the standing wave tube. The results show that the sensor has an average phase sensitivity of −179.5 dB (0 dB = 1 rad/μPa) with ±1.45 dB fluctuation over the frequency range of 20–38 Hz. It has good cosine directivity with a directivity index of 32.5 dB and axial maximum asymmetry of 0.4 dB. The sensor presents promising applications for detecting very-low-frequency underwater acoustic signals.

Abstract In this paper, we use the inverse design method to design an optical interconnection system composed of wavelength demultiplexer and the same direction waveguide crossing on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. A 2.4 μm × 3.6 μm wavelength demultiplexer with an input wavelength of 1.3–1.6 μm is designed. When the target wavelength of the device is 1.4 μm, the insertion loss of the output port is − 0.93 dB, and there is − 18.4 dB crosstalk, in TE0 mode. The insertion loss of the target wavelength of 1.6 μm in TE0 mode is − 0.88 dB, and the crosstalk is − 19.1 dB. Then, we designed a same direction waveguide crossing, the footprint is only 2.4 μm × 3.6 μm, the insertion loss of the wavelength 1.4 μm and 1.6 μm in TE0 mode is − 0.99 dB and − 1 dB, and the crosstalk is − 12.14 dB and − 14.34 dB, respectively. Finally, an optical interconnect structure composed of two devices is used, which can become the most basic component of the optical interconnect network. In TE0 mode, the insertion loss of the output wavelength of 1.4 μm at the output port is − 1.3 dB, and the crosstalk is − 29.36 dB. The insertion loss of the output wavelength of 1.6 μm is − 1.39 dB, and the crosstalk is − 38.99 dB.

Compared with traditional dyes, structural color has been studied widely due to several outstanding advantages. When choosing structural color materials, both metal and dielectric materials have great potential, however compared with metal, dielectric material have the characteristics of low cost and low loss, so been studied widely. At present, the design of metasurface structural color based on dielectric materials is mostly carried out by manually adjusting parameters. Although good results can achieved by this method, but the design cycle is too long and the method is not smart enough, which is not conducive to industrial design. In this article, we proposed a combination of intelligent algorithms and finite domain time domain solution, and designed matesurface structural color successfully that can reflect high-quality colors. The reflection peak value of the RGB colors reached 90%, 82.2%, 45.8% respectively, also accompany with narrow FWHM, the designed structural color has strong robustness and method reusability, meanwhile, our work provides a novel way for the design of reflective structural color.

The magnetic field is a vital physical quantity in nature that is closely related to human production life. Magnetic field sensors (namely magnetometers) have significant application value in scientific research, engineering applications, industrial productions, and so forth. Accompanied by the continuous development of magnetic materials and fiber-sensing technology, fiber sensors based on the Magneto-Refractive Effect (MRE) not only take advantage in compact structure, superior performance, and strong environmental adaptability but also further meet the requirement of the quasi-distributed/distributed magnetic field sensing; they manifest potential and great application value in space detection, marine environmental monitoring, etc. Consequently, the present and prevalent Magneto-Refractive Magnetic Field Fiber Sensors (MR-MFSs) are briefly summarized by this paper, proceeding from the perspective of physicochemical properties; design methods, basic performance and properties are introduced systematically as well. Furthermore, this paper also summarizes key fabrication techniques and future development trends of MR-MFSs, expecting to provide ideas and technical references for staff engaging in relevant research.

A mid-infrared (mid-IR) dual-band filter with ultra-high resolving power is designed and numerically investigated. It is composed of an Al2O3 layer between a gold grating and a CaF2 substrate. Each unit cell of the grating consists of two gold strips with different heights. The filter provides two high-extinction ultra-narrow stop bands. One is at a wavelength of ~3.8392 μm with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of ~0.8 nm, and the other is at a wavelength of ~3.8435 μm with a FWHM of ~1.8 nm. The resolving power of the filter is >2100. The two stop bands result from the (+1) and (-1) waveguide modes, respectively. An interaction between the two resonance modes exists and affects the stop bands. We can control the interaction by adjusting the grating parameters, thus designing the FWHMs and lineshapes of the two stop bands flexibly.

Switching color dynamically becomes urgent in the field of display, numerous researches have been carried out to actualize controllable structural colors. However, shape freedom has rarely been explored in existing studies. Here we explore the relationship between grating shape and reflection spectrum by search algorithm, and designed structures can reflect colors dynamically by using Ge2Sb2Te5(GST) as phase-change materials(PCMs) layer. Numerical results establish that 36.4% sRGB color space can be obtained when GST in the crystalline state, after the state is switched to amorphous, reflection colors changed evidently, it is demonstrated that the chromatic aberration(ΔE) of fundamental colors can reached 23.39, 13.77 and 35.42, respectively.

An ultra-compact multimode wavelength demultiplexer (MWD) with a footprint of 3.6 × 2.4 μm2 was designed. Its size is approximately two orders of magnitude smaller than the size of the traditional waveguide-based device. Moreover, the designed demultiplexer is multifunctional, and can realize wavelength demultiplexing and mode conversion at the same time. This MWD splits light at the wavelengths of 1450 nm and 1550 nm and simultaneously converts the input light from the fundamental transverse electric (TE0) mode to the first-order transverse electric (TE1) mode. The direct binary search (DBS) algorithm was employed to simulate the design. The results show that the insertion loss of the demultiplexer is −1.26 dB and −0.82 dB for the upper channel (wavelength 1450 nm) and lower channel (wavelength 1550 nm), while the crosstalk values are maintained as low as −18.10 dB and −23.35 dB, respectively. Additionally, a similar structure can be expanded to several modes. Based on these advantages, this multifunctional photonics device is expected to be used extensively in advanced photonic integration circuits.

In this paper, we numerically theorize a series of single-mode, dual-mode and three-mode nanophotonic waveguide switches by first combining inverse design algorithm with hybrid silicon-Ge2Sb2Te5 platform. More importantly, these devices realize switching functionality directly in waveguides without additional design areas. Since the waveguide acts as a bridge during nanophotonic devices, the waveguide switches can be used conveniently and widely in future nanophotonic network for optical communication and information processing. In addition, the tolerances to fabrication errors are also investigated.

As the most abundant and reversible chemical modification in eukaryotic mRNA, the epitranscriptomic mark N6-methyladenine (m6A) regulates plant development and stress response. We have previously characterized that ALKBH10B is an Arabidopsis mRNA m6A demethylase and regulates floral transition. However, it is unclear whether ALKBH10B plays a role in abiotic stress response. Here, we found that the expression of ALKBH10B is increased in response to abscisic acid (ABA), osmotic, and salt stress. The alkbh10b mutants showed hypersensitive to ABA, osmotic, and salt stress during seed germination. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the expression of several ABA response genes is upregulated in alkbh10b-1 than that of wild type, indicating ALKBH10B negatively affects the ABA signaling. Furthermore, m6A sequencing showed that ABA signaling genes, including PYR1, PYL7, PYL9, ABI1, and SnRK2.2 are m6A hypermethylated in alkbh10b-1 after ABA treatment. Taken together, our work demonstrated that ALKBH10B negatively modulates ABA response during seed germination in Arabidopsis.

Metasurface absorbers are already used in many laser applications. To achieve laser stealth, a dual-band guided-laser absorber is presented in this paper. The absorber is composed of periodic silicon squares on a silicon film and a nickel layer. Under normal incidence, the absorber has two absorption peaks at wavelengths of 1.55 μm and 1.064 μm, with absorption rates higher than 94.4%. For wavelength-tunable 1.55 μm lasers with a large wavelength tuning range of ±50 nm, the absorption rate is still as high as 90%. Plasmonic resonance theory, as well as FDTD simulations, are used to design and study the absorber. It is found that the absorber is independent of the incident polarization and tolerant to the incident angle. The design method is flexible, and the absorber is easy to manufacture.

In this paper, we design a multifunctional micro-nano device with a hybrid metamaterial-waveguide system, which leads to a triple plasmon-induced transparency (PIT). The formation mechanisms of the three transparent peaks have their own unique characteristics. First, PIT-I can be switched into the BIC (Friedrich–Wintge bound state in continuum), and the quality factors (Q-factors) of the transparency window of PIT-I are increased during the process. Second, PIT-II comes from near-field coupling between two bright modes. Third, PIT-III is generated by the near-field coupling between a low-Q broadband bright mode and a high-Q narrowband guide mode, which also has a high-Q transparent window due to the guide mode. The triple-PIT described above can be dynamically tuned by the gate voltage of the graphene, particularly for the dynamic tuning of the Q values of PIT-I and PIT-III. Based on the high Q value of the transparent window, our proposed structure can be used for highly sensitive refractive index sensors or devices with prominent slow light effects.

Analog optical computing (AOC) has attracted great attention over the past few years, because of its ultra-high speed (potential for real-time processing), ultra-low power consumption, and parallel processing capabilities. In this article, we design an adder and an ordinary differential equation solver (ODE) on chip by Fourier optics and metasurface techniques. The device uses the 4f system consisting of two metalenses on both sides and one middle metasurface (MMS) as the basic structure. The MMS that performs the computing is the core of the device and can be designed for different applications, i.e., the adder and ODE solver in this article. For the adder, through the comparison of the two input and output signals, the effect of the addition can be clearly displayed. For the ODE solver, as a proof-of-concept demonstration, a representative optical signal is well integrated into the desired output distribution. The simulation result fits well with the theoretical expectation, and the similarity coefficient is 98.28%. This solution has the potential to realize more complex and high-speed artificial intelligence computing. Meanwhile, based on the direct-binary-search (DBS) algorithm, we design a signal generator that can achieve power splitting with the phase difference of π between the two output waveguides. The signal generator with the insertion loss of −1.43 dB has an ultra-compact footprint of 3.6 μm× 3.6 μm. It can generate a kind of input signal for experimental verification to replace the hundreds of micrometers of signal generator composed of a multi-mode interference (MMI) combination used in the verification of this type of device in the past.

We numerically investigated a dual-band metamaterial absorber based on the combination of plasmonic resonance and Fabry–Pérot (FP) resonance, which can achieve near-unity absorption for guided lasers. The absorber is constructed by a three-layer metal-insulator-metal (MIM) periodic configuration. In each unit cell, there is a gold-silicon cross on a thin silicon layer and a bottom nickel film. Numerical results show that, at normal incidence, the structure strongly absorbs light at wavelengths of 1.064 μm and 10.6 μm, with absorption rates higher than 94%. It is revealed that the two absorption peaks result from FP resonance in the thin silicon layer and plasmonic resonance in the cross, respectively. In addition, the absorber is polarization insensitive and is tolerant to the incident angle. The proposed combination of different resonances has the advantage of easily producing double absorption peaks with very large wavelength differences, and provides a new approach to the design of metamaterial absorbers.

In recent years, metasurfaces have demonstrated a tremendous development potential and applicability in various fields as they have overcome the problems associated with traditional optical devices, including bulkiness and difficulties related to integration. The vortex beam can carry an unlimited amount of orbital angular momentum which can greatly increase the capacity of the communication system and thus attain a tremendous applicability potential in communication and information transmission. In this study, a vortex-focused beam metalens array is designed based on computer-generated holography technology for use in the visible light range. The antenna’s unit structure is arranged according to the phase distribution designed using computer-generated holography technology. The metalens array can convert circularly polarized light into a vortex beam and can focus the vortex beam. At the wavelengths of 420 nm, 550 nm, and 660 nm, the average conversion efficiency exceeds 80%, and the phase distribution is in the range of 0–2π. The metalens array can simultaneously generate and focus the vortex beams. We also studied the focusing effect of different vortex beams, and we analyzed and compared the focal length and full width at half maximum of metalens at different wavelengths and different topological charges. In addition, the focusing of the primary color light by the 3 × 3 metalens array is simulated. The design presented in this study is envisaged to be applied extensively in the fields of optical photography and optical communication systems.

In order to greatly promote impressive applications in terahertz (THz) photonics, research on active optoelectronic THz devices with high performance such as modulators is still a vital work. Electrically controlled THz modulators with a large modulation depth and wide modulation bandwidth are urgently needed for THz technology. Herein, a bismuth (Bi) nanofilm is rationally designed as an electrically controlled THz modulator combining the advantages of high electron mobility and near zero bandgap. The Bi nanofilm devices are produced by the magnetron sputtering deposition method, and the maximum modulation depth reaches 70% in the transmission spectrum. We have demonstrated an electrically tunable Bi nanofilm of modulating THz waves dynamically. Moreover, the Bi nanofilm modulator exhibits broadband modulation performance within a wide frequency range from 0.1 to 1.1 THz. Taking advantage of the excellent modulation property and simple approach to design, semimetal based devices are promising components for the development of high performance THz applications.

Abstract Background Robust phylogenies for species with giant genomes and closely related taxa can build evolutionary frameworks for investigating the origin and evolution of these genomic gigantisms. Paris japonica (Melanthiaceae) has the largest genome that has been confirmed in eukaryotes to date; however, its phylogenetic position remains unresolved. As a result, the evolutionary history of the genomic gigantisms in P. japonica remains poorly understood. Results We used next-generation sequencing to generate complete plastomes of P. japonica, P. verticillata, Trillium govanianum, Ypsilandra thibetica and Y. yunnanensis. Together with published plastomes, the infra-familial relationships in Melanthiaceae and infra-generic phylogeny in Paris were investigated, and their divergence times were calculated. The results indicated that the expansion of the ancestral genome of extant Paris and Trillium occurred approximately from 59.16 Mya to 38.21 Mya. The sister relationship between P. japonica and the section Euthyra was recovered, and they diverged around the transition of the Oligocene/Miocene (20 Mya), when the Japan Islands were separated from the continent of Asia. Conclusions The genome size expansion in the most recent common ancestor for Paris and Trillium was most possibly a gradual process that lasted for approximately 20 million years. The divergence of P. japonica (section Kinugasa) and other taxa with thick rhizome may have been triggered by the isolation of the Japan Islands from the continent of Asia. This long-term separation, since the Oligocene/Miocene boundary, would have played an important role in the formation and evolution of the genomic gigantism in P. japonica. Moreover, our results support the taxonomic treatment of Paris as a genus rather than dividing it into three genera, but do not support the recognition of T. govanianum as the separate genus Trillidium.

In this paper, we theoretically and experimentally investigate the all-optical modulation characteristics of a microfiber coupler combined Sagnac loop (MCSL). We inject pump lights with different intensities into the MCSL and utilize the thermo-optical effect from the microfiber coupler to control the phase relationship between the counter-propagating beams inside the Sagnac loop. The spectral characteristics from the Sagnac loop can be controlled accordingly, and the rate of the frequency comb (interference characteristic wavelength) shift can be 1 pm/mW. In addition, at a specific wavelength (e.g., 1550 nm), the MCSL can be used as an intensity modulator as well as a reflectivity-tunable Sagnac reflector. The reflectivity variation of the Sagnac reflector can reach about 10% when the pump light is at milliwatt level. The intensity modulation depth can be 9.3% at 100 Hz when the intensity-modulated 980 nm pump light imposed on the MCSL is 5.5 mW. Based on the thermo-optical effect, the MCSL can achieve the all-optical intensity modulation and all optically tunable filtering functions. The device is expected to play an important role in the development of tunable, multi-wavelength, and compact fiber lasers.

In this paper, a dynamic color-variable solar absorber is designed based on the phase change material Sb2Se3. High absorption is maintained under both amorphous Sb2Se3 (aSb2Se3) and crystalline Sb2Se3 (cSb2Se3). Before and after the phase transition leading to the peak change, the structure shows a clear color contrast. Due to peak displacement, the color change is also evident for different crystalline fractions during the phase transition. Different incident angles irradiate the structure, which can also cause the structure to show rich color variations. The structure is insensitive to the polarization angle because of the high symmetry. At the same time, different geometric parameters enable different color displays, so the structure can have good application prospects.

The nanostructure composed of nanomaterials and subwavelength units offers flexible design freedom and outstanding advantages over conventional devices. In this paper, a multifunctional nanostructure with phase-change material (PCM) is proposed to achieve tunable infrared detection, radiation cooling and infrared (IR)-laser compatible camouflage. The structure is very simple and is modified from the classic metal–dielectric–metal (MIM) multilayer film structure. We innovatively composed the top layer of metals with slits, and introduced a non-volatile PCM Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) for selective absorption/radiation regulation. According to the simulation results, wide-angle and polarization-insensitive dual-band infrared detection is realized in the four-layer structure. The transformation from infrared detection to infrared stealth is realized in the five-layer structure, and laser stealth is realized in the atmospheric window by electromagnetic absorption. Moreover, better radiation cooling is realized in the non-atmospheric window. The proposed device can achieve more than a 50% laser absorption rate at 10.6 μm while ensuring an average infrared emissivity below 20%. Compared with previous works, our proposed multifunctional nanostructures can realize multiple applications with a compact structure only by changing the temperature. Such ultra-thin, integratable and multifunctional nanostructures have great application prospects extending to various fields such as electromagnetic shielding, optical communication and sensing.