Related papers: Collective behavior in the kinetics and equilibriu…

Metastable phases present a promising route to expand the functionality of complex materials. Of particular interest are light-induced metastable phases that are inaccessible under equilibrium conditions, as they often host new, emergent…

We investigate the collective dynamics of nonlinearly interacting modes in multimode photonic settings with long-range couplings. To this end, we have established a connection with the theory of spin networks. The emerging "photonic spins"…

Photonic molecules - particular systems composed of coupled optical resonators - emulate the behavior of complex physical systems exhibiting discrete energy levels. In this work, we present a novel photonic molecule composed of two strongly…

Living organisms are molecular systems with self-sustained dynamics via energy conversion through molecular cooperation, resulting in highly complex macroscopic behaviors. Construction of such autonomous macroscopic dynamics at a molecular…

Collective actuation in active solids - the spontaneous coherent excitation of a few vibrational modes - emerges from a feedback between structural deformations and the orientation of active forces. It is an excellent candidate as a basic…

Understanding the momentum of light when propagating through optical media is not only fundamental for studies as varied as classical electrodynamics and polaritonics in condensed matter physics, but also for important applications such as…

An ensemble of identical, intrinsically non-interacting molecules exposed to quantum light is discussed. Their interaction with the quantum light induces interactions between the molecules. The resulting hybrid light-matter states exhibit…

Intermolecular interactions are pivotal for aggregation, solvation, and crystallization. We demonstrate that the collective strong coupling of several molecules to a single optical mode results in notable changes in the molecular…

Despite the common expectation that conjugated organic molecules on metals tend to adsorb in a flat-lying wetting layer, several recent studies have found strong indications for coverage-dependent transitions to upright-standing phases,…

Topological photonics seeks to control the behaviour of the light through the design of protected topological modes in photonic structures. While this approach originated from studying the behaviour of electrons in solid-state materials, it…

Although coherent light is usually required for the self-organization of regular spatial patterns from optical beams, we show that peculiar light matter interaction can break this evidence. In the traditional method to record laser-induced…

Natural materials typically interact weakly with the magnetic component of light which greatly limits their applications. This has led to the development of artificial metamaterials and metasurfaces. However, natural atoms, where only…

Nucleation and growth (N&G) - the emergence of a new phase within an initially homogeneous one - is one of the most important physical phenomena by which gas-liquid, liquid-liquid and solid-liquid phase separation takes place. Accordingly,…

Optical polarizers are essential components for the selection and manipulation of light polarization states in optical systems. Over the past decade, the rapid advancement of photonic technologies and devices has led to the development of a…

Photothermal reactions, involving both photochemical and thermal reaction-steps, are the most abundant sequences in photochemistry. The derivation of their rate-laws is standardized, but the integration of these rate-laws has not yet been…

Nucleation of a solid in solid is initiated by the appearance of distinct dynamical heterogeneities, consisting of `active' particles whose trajectories show an abrupt transition from ballistic to diffusive, coincident with the…

We provide an introduction to complex photonic media, that is, composite materials with spatial inhomogeneities that are distributed over length scales comparable to or smaller than the wavelength of light. This blossoming field is firmly…

The design of photo-active collagen systems is presented as a basis for establishing biomimetic materials with varied network architecture and programmable macroscopic properties. Following in-house isolation of type I collagen, reaction…

We show that the mechanical effect of light on the orientational ordering of the crystalline axis of a mesophase can be used to control the dynamics of the optical response of liquid crystal infiltrated photonic structures. The…

Photonic integrated circuits with second-order ($\chi^{(2)}$) nonlinearities are rapidly scaling to remarkably low powers. At this time, state-of-the-art devices achieve saturated nonlinear interactions with thousands of photons when driven…