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Chang Liu, Yuzheng Wang, Yixun Fan, Liangliang Liang. Photon avalanche nanomaterials: from spark to surge[J]. PhotoniX. doi: 10.1186/s43074-025-00209-z
Citation: Chang Liu, Yuzheng Wang, Yixun Fan, Liangliang Liang. Photon avalanche nanomaterials: from spark to surge[J]. PhotoniX. doi: 10.1186/s43074-025-00209-z

Photon avalanche nanomaterials: from spark to surge

doi: 10.1186/s43074-025-00209-z
Funds:  We would like to acknowledge the kind invitation and support from the PhotoniX editorial office.
  • Received Date: 2025-09-04
  • Accepted Date: 2025-11-06
  • Rev Recd Date: 2025-10-24
  • Available Online: 2025-11-10
  • Photon avalanche (PA) upconversion, driven by a positive feedback loop that couples nonresonant ground-state absorption (GSA), resonant excited-state absorption (ESA), and highly efficient cross-relaxation (CR), gives rise to a threshold-triggered ultrahigh optical nonlinearity accompanied by uniquely prolonged rise-time dynamics. From spark to surge, this phenomenon can deliver tens to even hundreds of nonlinear orders at the nanoscale, redefining opportunities in imaging, sensing, and optical computing while opening a new paradigm for interrogating light–matter interactions.
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