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  • Unidirectional and topological surface plasmon polaritons are currently attracting substantial interest and intense debate. Realistic material models and energy conservation considerations are essential to correctly understand extreme wave effects in non-reciprocal plasmonics, and to assess their potential for novel devices.

    • Francesco Monticone
    Comment
  • Philip Warren Anderson is one of the founding fathers of modern condensed-matter physics. With his death on 29 March 2020, we have lost one of the most influential physicists of the twentieth century.

    • Diederik S. Wiersma
    • Bart A. van Tiggelen
    • Ad Lagendijk
    Comment
  • Research activities in the areas of X-ray imaging and ultraviolet sterilization illustrate how photonics is helping to combat the threat of COVID-19.

    Editorial
  • Integrated quantum photonic chips offer the promise of a convenient, scalable platform for performing tasks such as quantum communication and information processing.

    Editorial
  • Does the popularity of a recent online photonics conference signify a growing appetite for a change in scientific interaction?

    Editorial
  • The arrival of light-emitting diodes based on new materials is posing challenges for the characterization and comparison of devices in a trusted and consistent manner. Here we provide some advice and guidelines that we hope will benefit the community.

    • Miguel Anaya
    • Barry P. Rand
    • Samuel D. Stranks
    Comment
  • The certification of solar cells with exceptional performance is now common practice in order to ratify claims. Should similar schemes be introduced for other optoelectronic devices?

    Editorial
  • Evgeny Dianov (1936–2019) was a pioneer of fibre-optics research in the former Soviet Union and director of a highly successful research centre in Moscow dedicated to the field.

    • Anatoly Grudinin
    • Peter Kazansky
    • David Payne
    Comment
  • Father of the semiconductor laser, Nobel Prize laureate and director of the Ioffe Institute in St Petersburg, Zhores Alferov was a much-loved scientist and educator whose research changed the modern world.

    • Sergey Ivanov
    Comment
  • Yaron Silberberg of the Weizmann Institute in Israel passed away in April. Here, some of his former students and friends remind us of who Yaron was: a creative researcher and a mentor without ego with major achievements in nonlinear optics, microscopy and quantum physics.

    • Dan Oron
    • Nirit Dudovich
    • Mordechai (Moti) Segev
    Comment
  • The Shockley–Queisser model is a landmark in photovoltaic device analysis by defining an ideal situation as reference for actual solar cells. However, the model and its implications are easily misunderstood. Thus, we present a guide to help understand and to avoid misinterpreting it.

    • Jean-Francois Guillemoles
    • Thomas Kirchartz
    • Uwe Rau
    Comment
  • As a pioneer in the research on ultra-high-quality dielectric microresonators and their applications in nonlinear optics, frequency metrology and laser science, Mikhail Gorodetsky is badly missed.

    • Igor Bilenko
    • Vladimir Ilchenko
    • Tobias J. Kippenberg
    Comment