Single-pulse lithography of amorphous photonic architectures inside all-inorganic dielectric crystals

Zhuo Wang; Rongze Ma; Han Lin; Pengfei Zhang; Yu Lu; Feng Chen; Baohua Jia; Bo Zhang; Jianrong Qiu

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02253-1

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Single-pulse lithography of amorphous photonic architectures inside all-inorganic dielectric crystals

Original Articles

- Single-pulse lithography of amorphous photonic architectures inside all-inorganic dielectric crystals
- Single-pulse lithography of amorphous photonic architectures inside all-inorganic dielectric crystals
- Light: Science & Applications 2026年15卷第6期页码：1985-1995
- Affiliations：
  
  1.State Key Laboratory of Extreme Photonics and Instrumentation, College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
  2.Centre for Atomaterials and Nanomanufacturing, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne 3000 VIC, Australia
  3.State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing System Engineering and Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Photonics Technology for Information, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
- Author bio：
  
  Bo Zhang (zhangbobo@zju.edu.cn)
  Jianrong Qiu (qjr@zju.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02253-1
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2025-08-20，
  
  修回：2026-02-09，
  
  录用：2026-02-23，
  
  网络首发：2026-03-18，
  
  纸质出版：2026-06-30
- Accepted：
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Zhuo Wang, Rongze Ma, Han Lin, 等. Single-pulse lithography of amorphous photonic architectures inside all-inorganic dielectric crystals[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2026,15(6):1985-1995.

Wang, Z. et al. Single-pulse lithography of amorphous photonic architectures inside all-inorganic dielectric crystals. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1985-1995 (2026).
Zhuo Wang, Rongze Ma, Han Lin, 等. Single-pulse lithography of amorphous photonic architectures inside all-inorganic dielectric crystals[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2026,15(6):1985-1995. DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02253-1.

Wang, Z. et al. Single-pulse lithography of amorphous photonic architectures inside all-inorganic dielectric crystals. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1985-1995 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02253-1.

摘要

Abstract

High-efficiency light modulation within transparent substrates is critically important for advancing in-chip integrated optical technologies. However

current micro/nanophotonic platforms primarily rely on 2D surface configurations

rendering them inadequate for 3D optical design in dielectric environments. Here

we introduce a precise phase-transition technique that enables the direct lithography of highly regular amorphous units in multiple transparent dielectric crystals (lithium niobates

quartz

yttrium vanadate

etc.). This unit can be rapidly written with a single ultrafast laser pulse

exhibiting a high-purity amorphization phase transition interior structure and a regular sheet-like anisotropic spatial morphology (aspect ratio reaching 190:1). We reveal that this amorphization stems from ultrafast laser-driven anisotropic thermal deposition

achieved through the synergy of the light-induced high-density free electrons and thermal effects. Such embedded units achieve more than an order of magnitude improvement in the efficiency of nonlinear beam shaping (~3% second harmonic and ~0.1% third harmonic) and offer multiple degrees of freedom for device design. This study establishes a versatile platform for on-demand production of all-dielectric micro/nanophotonic architectures in the free space of transparent dielectrics

unlocking new avenues for 3D integrated photonics.

关键词

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references

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