A stibarsen [derived from Latin stibium (antimony) and arsenic] or allemontite, is a natural form of arsenic antimonide (SbAs) with the same layered structure as arsenic and antimony. Thus, exploring the two-dimensional SbAs nanosheets is of great importance to gain insights into the properties of group V-V compounds at the atomic scale. Here, we propose a class of two-dimensional V-V honeycomb binary compounds, SbAs monolayers, which can be tuned from semiconductor to topological insulator. By ab initio density functional theory, both α-SbAs and γ-SbAs display a significant direct band gap, while others are indirect semiconductors. Interestingly, in an atomically thin β-SbAs polymorph, spin-orbital coupling is significant, which reduces its band gap by 200 meV. Especially under biaxial tensile strain, the gap of β-SbAs can be closed and reopened with concomitant change of band shapes, which is reminiscent of band inversion known in many topological insulators. In addition, we find that the Z2 topological invariant is 1 for β-SbAs under the tensile strain of 12%, and the nontrivial topological feature of β-SbAs is also confirmed by the gapless edge states which cross linearly at the Γ point. These ultrathin group-V-V semiconductors with outstanding properties are highly favorable for applications in alternative optoelectronic and quantum spin Hall devices.

Halide perovskite materials have attracted intense research interest due to the striking performance in photoharvesting photovoltaics as well as photoemitting applications. Very recently, the emerging CsPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) perovskite nanocrystals have been demonstrated to be efficient emitters with photoluminescence quantum yield as high as ∼90%, room temperature single photon sources, and favorable lasing materials. Herein, the nonlinear optical properties, in particular, the multiphoton absorption and resultant photoluminescence of the CsPbBr3 nanocrystals, were investigated. Notably, a large two-photon absorption cross-section of up to ∼1.2 × 105 GM is determined for 9 nm sized CsPbBr3 nanocrystals. Moreover, low-threshold frequency-upconverted stimulated emission by two-photon absorption was observed from the thin film of close-packed CsPbBr3 nanocrystals. The stimulated emission is found to be photostable and wavelength-tunable. We further realize the three-photon pumped stimulated emission in green spectra range from colloidal nanocrystals for the first time. Our results reveal the strong nonlinear absorption in the emerging CsPbX3 perovskite nanocrystals and suggest these nanocrystals as attractive multiphoton pumped optical gain media, which would offer new opportunities in nonlinear photonics and revive the nonlinear optical devices.

Black phosphorene (BP), a newly discovered elemental two-dimensional material, is attractive for optoelectronic and photonic applications because of its unique in-plane anisotropy, thickness-dependent direct bandgap and high carrier mobility. Since its discovery, black phosphorene has become an appealing candidate well-suited for polarization-resolved near- and mid-infrared optoelectronics due to its relative narrow bandgap and asymmetric structure. Here, we employ benzyl viologen (BV) as an effective electron dopant to part of the area of a (p-type) few-layer BP flake and achieve an ambient stable, in-plane P–N junction. Chemical doping with BV molecules modulates the electron density and allows acquiring a large built-in potential in this in-plane BP P–N junction, which is crucial for achieving high responsivity photodetectors and high quantum efficiency solar cells. As a demonstrative example, by illuminating it with a near-infrared laser at 1.47 µm, we observe a high responsivity up to ~180 mA/W with a rise time of 15 ms, and an external quantum efficiency of 0.75%. Our strategy for creating environmentally stable BP P–N junction paves the way to implementing high performance BP phototransistors and solar cells, which is also applicable to other 2D materials.

Sn4+–O2−• centers are intentionally created in SnO2 nanoflowers by a thermodynamically instable synthetic process. The resulting SnO2 nanoflower‐based sensor is confirmed to be the most sensitive ppb‐level chemiresistor NO2 sensor to date. The Sn4+–O2−• centers with strong gas‐adsorbing and high eletron‐donating capability towards NO2 molecules decisively determine the sensor sensitivity.

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) has many applications which require meeting specific wavelength windows. The most prominent examples are photothermal therapy in biology, matched to the biological window (650–1350 nm), and communication relying on photodetection in optoelectronics, matched to the communication window (1260–1675 nm). However, for the classic noble metals (Au, Ag), tuning LSPRs from visible region to these two windows is still a demanding task due to their intrinsic limitations on charge density and dielectric function. Here, the discovery of near‐infrared biological and communication window‐matched plasmonic properties of semimetal TiS2 nanosheets (NSs) is reported for the first time. Developed synthesis procedures allow fine‐tuning width and thickness of single‐crystal TiS2 NSs. During characterization a new and intensive absorption peak in the 1000–1400 nm range is observed from both TiS2 NS colloid solutions and films. This peak is attributed to LSPR due to its dependence on particle shape and on the refractive index of solvents. The superiority of such LSPRs is demonstrated in both, biological and optical applications: excitation at 808 and 980 nm generates a ≈50 °C photothermal temperature rise, while excitation at 1310 nm results in two‐times enhanced photocurrents of PbS photodetectors compared to untreated devices.