A research team led by Prof. SUN Jian from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has proposed a hydroxyl-induced cobalt oxide catalytic strategy that enables the efficient conversion of syngas to light olefins through Fischer–Tropsch synthesis.

Focusing on the engineering challenge of achieving stable, high-strength welding between rough metals surfaces and transparent materials, this work provides an in-depth elucidation of the femtosecond laser welding mechanism for dissimilar materials under non-optical-contact conditions. Through high-speed in situ imaging techniques, it reveals the dynamic coupling between linear absorption in the metal and nonlinear absorption in sapphire during ultrafast laser irradiation. The study further identifies an active interfacial gap filling effect of molten metal, which proactively regulates the free space region at the interface. It clarifies that the welding strength is primarily limited by cracks induced by thermal stress in sapphire, and demonstrates welding performance exceeding 10 MPa between rough Invar alloy and sapphire. These findings offer theoretical guidance and technical support for high-strength, highly stable welding of dissimilar materials.

Scientists in China have developed a neural illumination framework that advances photorealistic illumination handling for light field displays. By using only one single view, the method estimates environmental lighting and supports relighting under varying illumination conditions. This breakthrough addresses a well-recognized challenge of static, "baked-in" lighting in virtual content, enabling generated assets to achieve photometric coherence with the real world. The technique provides a practical pathway toward immersive interaction and photorealistic holographic displays.

A group lead by Prof. Martin Baumgarten, Prof. Paul Blom, and Dr. Yungui Li from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research has developed a novel organic emitter featuring simultaneous prompt fluorescence (PF, ns), thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF, μs), and room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP, ms) by verifying the key role of the second triplet state (T₂). This work develops an organic emitter with high RTP quantum yield of 33.6%, published in Light: Science & Applications.

Understanding the hidden interfacial coupling in two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as multilayer graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), is vital for future quantum electronics. To reveal these elusive interactions, scientists in China demonstrated a universal plasmonic nanocavity strategy that acts as a nano-amplifier for light-matter interaction. This technique allows one to clearly detect the faint layer-breathing vibrations of atomic layers and decode their stacking dynamics, which is previously invisible to standard spectroscopy. This breakthrough opens new avenues for probing "silent" phonons, providing a quantitative framework to characterize complex layered quantum materials.