A hydrogen bond (H-bond) is one of the most fundamental and important noncovalent interactions in chemistry, biology, physics, and all other molecular sciences. Especially, the dynamics of a proton or a hydrogen atom in the H-bond has attracted increasing attention, because it plays a crucial role in (bio)chemical reactions and some physical properties, such as dielectricity and proton conductivity. Here we report unprecedented H-bond-dynamics-based switching of electrical conductivity and magnetism in a H-bonded purely organic conductor crystal, κ-D3(Cat-EDT-TTF)2 (abbreviated as κ-D). This novel crystal κ-D, a deuterated analogue of κ-H3(Cat-EDT-TTF)2 (abbreviated as κ-H), is composed only of a H-bonded molecular unit, in which two crystallographically equivalent catechol-fused ethylenedithiotetrathiafulvalene (Cat-EDT-TTF) skeletons with a +0.5 charge are linked by a symmetric anionic [O···D···O](-1)-type strong H-bond. Although the deuterated and parent hydrogen systems, κ-D and κ-H, are isostructural paramagnetic semiconductors with a dimer-Mott-type electronic structure at room temperature (space group: C2/c), only κ-D undergoes a phase transition at 185 K, to change to a nonmagnetic insulator with a charge-ordered electronic structure (space group: P1). The X-ray crystal structure analysis demonstrates that this dramatic switching of the electronic structure and physical properties originates from deuterium transfer or displacement within the H-bond accompanied by electron transfer between the Cat-EDT-TTF π-systems, proving that the H-bonded deuterium dynamics and the conducting TTF π-electron are cooperatively coupled. Furthermore, the reason why this unique phase transition occurs only in κ-D is qualitatively discussed in terms of the H/D isotope effect on the H-bond geometry and potential energy curve.

We demonstrate two-dimensional photonic crystals of silicon carbide (SiC)-a wide bandgap semiconductor and one of the hardest materials-at near-infrared wavelengths. Although the refractive index of SiC is lower than that of a conventional semiconductor such as GaAs or Si, we show theoretically that a wide photonic bandgap, a broadband waveguide, and a high-quality nanocavity comparable to those of previous photonic crystals can be obtained in SiC photonic crystals. We also develop a process for fabricating SiC-based photonic crystals that experimentally show a photonic bandgap of 200 nm, a waveguide with a 40-nm bandwidth, and a nanocavity with a high quality factor of 4,500. This demonstration should stimulate further development of resilient and stable photonics at high power and high temperature analogous to SiC power electronics.

We demonstrate second-harmonic generation (SHG) in a silicon-carbide (SiC)-based heterostructure photonic crystal nanocavity by using a pulsed laser. We observe SHG light radiated from the SiC nanocavity and estimate the conversion efficiency in the cavity to be 2.59×10(-5) (=0.15  W(-1)) at an average input power of 0.17 mW. The near-field patterns and polarization characteristics of the SHG light are investigated experimentally and theoretically, and the results are in qualitatively good agreement.

Strongly enhanced quantum fluctuations often lead to a rich variety of quantum-disordered states. Developing approaches to enhance quantum fluctuations may open paths to realize even more fascinating quantum states. Here, we demonstrate that a coupling of localized spins with the zero-point motion of hydrogen atoms, that is, proton fluctuations in a hydrogen-bonded organic Mott insulator provides a different class of quantum spin liquids (QSLs). We find that divergent dielectric behavior associated with the approach to hydrogen-bond order is suppressed by the quantum proton fluctuations, resulting in a quantum paraelectric (QPE) state. Furthermore, our thermal-transport measurements reveal that a QSL state with gapless spin excitations rapidly emerges upon entering the QPE state. These findings indicate that the quantum proton fluctuations give rise to a QSL—a quantum-disordered state of magnetic and electric dipoles—through the coupling between the electron and proton degrees of freedom.