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Abstract GeSn photodetectors monolithically grown on Ge virtual substrates demonstrate mid‐wave infrared (MWIR) detection at room temperature. The lattice mismatch between GeSn and Ge causes dislocations and compressive strain, creating leakage pathways and unwanted indirect band transitions. Designed thin Ge_0.91Sn_0.09triple‐step buffer layers of ≈175 nm total thickness reduce dislocations and enable full relaxation, showing 100% lattice relaxation and smooth surface roughness of 0.83 nm with shorter auto‐correlation length in surface morphology compared to single‐step buffers. Ge_1‐xSn_xphotodetectors (x= 0.09, 0.12, and 0.15) on triple‐step buffers withn‐i‐pconfigurations achieve lattice strain relaxations of 99%, 88%, and 80%, respectively. Ge_0.91Sn_0.09and Ge_0.88Sn_0.12show gradual variation in auto‐correlation amplitude, while Ge_0.85Sn_0.15shows an increase due to lattice mismatch. Shockley–Read–Hall recombination current dominates at low reverse bias due to mismatch‐induced dislocations, while band‐to‐band tunneling current dominates at higher reverse bias due to narrowing bandgap under strong electric fields. The photodetectors show extended spectral response with increasing Sn composition ofi‐GeSn active layer sandwiched by barriers. Ge_0.88Sn_0.12and Ge_0.85Sn_0.15exhibit extended wavelength cut‐offs of 3.12 and 3.27 µm at room temperature, demonstrating significant potential for silicon‐based MWIR applications. 

Abstract Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are persistent, bioaccumulative and anthropogenic pollutants that have attracted the attention of the public and private sectors because of their adverse impact on human health¹. Although various technologies have been deployed to degrade PFASs with a focus on non-polymeric functionalized compounds (perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid)^2–4, a general PFAS destruction method coupled with fluorine recovery for upcycling is highly desirable. Here we disclose a protocol that converts multiple classes of PFAS, including the fluoroplastics polytetrafluoroethylene and polyvinylidene fluoride, into high-value fluorochemicals. To achieve this, PFASs were reacted with potassium phosphate salts under solvent-free mechanochemical conditions, a mineralization process enabling fluorine recovery as KF and K₂PO₃F for fluorination chemistry. The phosphate salts can be recovered for reuse, implying no detrimental impact on the phosphorus cycle. Therefore, PFASs are not only destructible but can now contribute to a sustainable circular fluorine economy. 

Abstract In this work, TiO₂thin films deposited by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method were treated with a special N₂O plasma surface treatment and used as the gate dielectric for AlGaN/GaN metal insulator semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MISHEMTs). The N₂O plasma surface treatment effectively reduces defects in the oxide during low-temperature ALD growth. In addition, it allows oxygen atoms to diffuse into the device cap layer to increase the barrier height and thus reduce the gate leakage current. These TiO₂films exhibit a dielectric constant of 54.8 and a two-terminal current of 1.96 × 10⁻¹⁰A mm⁻¹in 2μm distance. When applied as the gate dielectric, the AlGaN/GaN MISHEMT with a 2μm-gate-length shows a high on/off ratio of 2.59 × 10⁸and a low subthreshold slope (SS) of 84 mV dec⁻¹among all GaN MISHEMTs using TiO₂as the gate dielectric. This work provides a feasible way to significantly improve the TiO₂film electrical property for gate dielectrics, and it suggests that the developed TiO₂dielectric is a promising high-κgate oxide and a potential passivation layer for GaN-based MISHEMTs, which can be further extended to other transistors. 

The quantum theory of optical coherence plays a ubiquitous role in identifying optical emitters. An unequivocal identification, however, presumes that the photon number statistics is resolved from timing uncertainties. We demonstrate from first principle that the observed nth-order temporal coherence is a n-fold convolution of the instrument responses and the expected coherence. The consequence is detrimental in which the photon number statistics is masked from the unresolved coherence signatures. The experimental investigations are thus far consistent with the theory developed. We envision the present theory will mitigate the false identification of optical emitters and enlarge the coherence deconvolution to an arbitrary order. 

Integrated third-harmonic generators enable on-chip wavelength conversion translating telecom signals to the visible spectrum. Despite the desirable functionality, the device performance is susceptible to phase distortions. Here, we present a design method of compensating the Kerr-induced distortions in third-harmonic generation. The design method yields a chirped Bragg grating theoretically improving the conversion efficiency by ∼30 dB. We envision the design method will pave the way for demonstrating efficient infrared-to-visible upconversion in silicon nitride chips. 

Abstract The leakage of quantum information out of the two computational states of a qubit into other energy states represents a major challenge for quantum error correction. During the operation of an error-corrected algorithm, leakage builds over time and spreads through multi-qubit interactions. This leads to correlated errors that degrade the exponential suppression of the logical error with scale, thus challenging the feasibility of quantum error correction as a path towards fault-tolerant quantum computation. Here, we demonstrate a distance-3 surface code and distance-21 bit-flip code on a quantum processor for which leakage is removed from all qubits in each cycle. This shortens the lifetime of leakage and curtails its ability to spread and induce correlated errors. We report a tenfold reduction in the steady-state leakage population of the data qubits encoding the logical state and an average leakage population of less than 1 × 10⁻³throughout the entire device. Our leakage removal process efficiently returns the system back to the computational basis. Adding it to a code circuit would prevent leakage from inducing correlated error across cycles. With this demonstration that leakage can be contained, we have resolved a key challenge for practical quantum error correction at scale. 

We demonstrate a high dynamic range Josephson parametric amplifier (JPA) in which the active nonlinear element is implemented using an array of rf-SQUIDs. The device is matched to the 50 Ω environment with a Klopfenstein-taper impedance transformer and achieves a bandwidth of 250–300 MHz with input saturation powers up to −95 dBm at 20 dB gain. A 54-qubit Sycamore processor was used to benchmark these devices, providing a calibration for readout power, an estimation of amplifier added noise, and a platform for comparison against standard impedance matched parametric amplifiers with a single dc-SQUID. We find that the high power rf-SQUID array design has no adverse effect on system noise, readout fidelity, or qubit dephasing, and we estimate an upper bound on amplifier added noise at 1.6 times the quantum limit. Finally, amplifiers with this design show no degradation in readout fidelity due to gain compression, which can occur in multi-tone multiplexed readout with traditional JPAs.