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The twisted stacking of two layered crystals has led to the emerging moiré physics as well as intriguing chiral phenomena such as chiral phonon and photon generation. In this work, we identified and theoretically formulated a non-trivial twist-enabled coupling mechanism in twisted bilayer photonic crystal (TBPC), which connects the bound state in the continuum (BIC) mode to the free space through the twist-enabled channel. Moreover, the radiation from TBPC hosts an optical vortex in the far field with both odd and even topological orders. We quantitatively analyzed the twist-enabled coupling between the BIC mode and other non-local modes in the photonic crystals, giving rise to radiation carrying orbital angular momentum. The optical vortex generation is robust against geometric disturbance, making TBPC a promising platform for well-defined vortex generation. As a result, TBPCs not only provide a new approach to manipulating the angular momentum of photons, but may also enable novel applications in integrated optical information processing and optical tweezers. Our work broadens the field of moiré photonics and paves the way toward the novel application of moiré physics.

Miniaturized spectrometers in the mid-infrared (MIR) are critical in developing next-generation portable electronics for advanced sensing and analysis. The bulky gratings or detector/filter arrays in conventional micro-spectrometers set a physical limitation to their miniaturization. In this work, we demonstrate a single-pixel MIR micro-spectrometer that reconstructs the sample transmission spectrum by a spectrally dispersed light source instead of spatially grated light beams. The spectrally tunable MIR light source is realized based on the thermal emissivity engineered via the metal-insulator phase transition of vanadium dioxide (VO₂). We validate the performance by showing that the transmission spectrum of a magnesium fluoride (MgF₂) sample can be computationally reconstructed from sensor responses at varied light source temperatures. With potentially minimum footprint due to the array-free design, our work opens the possibility where compact MIR spectrometers are integrated into portable electronic systems for versatile applications.

Naturally-occurring thermal materials usually possess specific thermal conductivity (κ), forming a digital set ofκvalues. Emerging thermal metamaterials have been deployed to realize effective thermal conductivities unattainable in natural materials. However, the effective thermal conductivities of such mixing-based thermal metamaterials are still in digital fashion, i.e., the effective conductivity remains discrete and static. Here, we report an analog thermal material whose effective conductivity can be in-situ tuned from near-zero to near-infinityκ. The proof-of-concept scheme consists of a spinning core made of uncured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and fixed bilayer rings made of silicone grease and steel. Thanks to the spinning PDMS and its induced convective effects, we can mold the heat flow robustly with continuously changing and anisotropicκ. Our work enables a single functional thermal material to meet the challenging demands of flexible thermal manipulation. It also provides platforms to investigate heat transfer in systems with moving components.

Thermal radiation from a black body increases with the fourth power of absolute temperature (T⁴), an effect known as the Stefan–Boltzmann law. Typical materials radiate heat at a portion of this limit, where the portion, called integrated emissivity (ε_int), is insensitive to temperature (|dε_int/dT| ≈ 10⁻⁴°C^–1). The resultant radiance bound by theT⁴law limits the ability to regulate radiative heat. Here, an unusual material platform is shown in which ε_intcan be engineered to decrease in an arbitrary manner near room temperature (|dε_int/dT| ≈ 8 × 10⁻³°C^–1), enabling unprecedented manipulation of infrared radiation. As an example, ε_intis programmed to vary with temperature as the inverse ofT⁴, precisely counteracting theT⁴dependence; hence, thermal radiance from the surface becomes temperature‐independent, allowing the fabrication of flexible and power‐free infrared camouflage with unique advantage in performance stability. The structure is based on thin films of tungsten‐doped vanadium dioxide where the tungsten fraction is judiciously graded across a thickness less than the skin depth of electromagnetic screening.

Micro‐electromechanical (MEM) switches, with advantages such as quasi‐zero leakage current, emerge as attractive candidates for overcoming the physical limits of complementary metal‐oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices. To practically integrate MEM switches into CMOS circuits, two major challenges must be addressed: sub 1 V operating voltage to match the voltage levels in current circuit systems and being able to deliver at least millions of operating cycles. However, existing sub 1 V mechanical switches are mostly subject to significant body bias and/or limited lifetimes, thus failing to meet both limitations simultaneously. Here 0.2 V MEM switching devices with ≳10⁶safe operating cycles in ambient air are reported, which achieve the lowest operating voltage in mechanical switches without body bias reported to date. The ultralow operating voltage is mainly enabled by the abrupt phase transition of nanolayered vanadium dioxide (VO₂) slightly above room temperature. The phase‐transition MEM switches open possibilities for sub 1 V hybrid integrated devices/circuits/systems, as well as ultralow power consumption sensors for Internet of Things applications.