Special issue on advanced characterisations of materials, devices and applications

Abstract Characterisation plays a vital role in both the academic and industrial worlds, providing a feedback loop between the design and optimisation of device performance. The rapid development of hardware and software has pushed characterisation techniques to new extremes, while their combination has provided new insight in cross-disciplinary fields, where multi-physics and multi-scale measurements are needed. In the Special Issue of the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, entitled ‘Advanced Characterisations of Materials, Devices and Applications’, we have compiled a comprehensive collection of 29 articles, showcasing the latest advancements in various fields, such as semiconductor materials and devices, plasmonics and nanophotonics, and two-dimensional materials and devices, among others. In this editorial, we concisely summarise the key research highlights of these studies.