Research

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10 pages, 29213 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Quantum Many-Body Theory for Exciton-Polaritons in Semiconductor Mie Resonators in the Non-Equilibrium

by Andreas Lubatsch and Regine Frank

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(5), 1836; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10051836 - 06 Mar 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4625

We implement externally excited ZnO Mie resonators in a framework of a generalized Hubbard Hamiltonian to investigate the lifetimes of excitons and exciton-polaritons out of thermodynamical equilibrium. Our results are derived by a Floquet-Keldysh-Green’s formalism with Dynamical Mean Field Theory (DMFT) and a [...] Read more.

We implement externally excited ZnO Mie resonators in a framework of a generalized Hubbard Hamiltonian to investigate the lifetimes of excitons and exciton-polaritons out of thermodynamical equilibrium. Our results are derived by a Floquet-Keldysh-Green’s formalism with Dynamical Mean Field Theory (DMFT) and a second order iterative perturbation theory solver (IPT). We find that the Fano resonance which originates from coupling of the continuum of electronic density of states to the semiconductor Mie resonator yields polaritons with lifetimes between

0.6

ps and

1.45

ps. These results are compared to ZnO polariton lasers and to ZnO random lasers. We interpret the peaks of the exciton-polariton lifetimes in our results as a sign of gain narrowing which may lead to stable polariton lasing modes in the single excited ZnO Mie resonator. This form of gain may lead to polariton random lasing in an ensemble of ZnO Mie resonators in the non-equilibrium. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light Matter Interaction at Nanoscale: What Matters Most)

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9 pages, 1289 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hybrid External Cavity Laser with an Amorphous Silicon-Based Photonic Crystal Cavity Mirror

by Simone Iadanza, Chinna Devarapu, Alexandros Liles, Robert Sheehan and Liam O’Faoláin

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(1), 240; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10010240 - 28 Dec 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4328

Abstract

The authors present results on the performance of a hybrid external cavity photonic crystal laser-comprising semiconductor optical amplifier, and a 2D photonic crystal cavity fabricated in low-temperature amorphous silicon. The authors demonstrate that lithographic control over amorphous silicon photonic crystal cavity-resonant wavelengths is [...] Read more.

The authors present results on the performance of a hybrid external cavity photonic crystal laser-comprising semiconductor optical amplifier, and a 2D photonic crystal cavity fabricated in low-temperature amorphous silicon. The authors demonstrate that lithographic control over amorphous silicon photonic crystal cavity-resonant wavelengths is possible, and that single-mode lasing at optical telecommunications wavelengths is possible on an amorphous silicon platform. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light Matter Interaction at Nanoscale: What Matters Most)

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11 pages, 3463 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study of Thermal Effect in the Interaction of Nanosecond Capillary Discharge Extreme Ultraviolet Laser with Copper

by Huaiyu Cui, Yongpeng Zhao, Muhammad Usman Khan, Dongdi Zhao and Zhigang Fan

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(1), 214; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10010214 - 26 Dec 2019

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2124

Abstract

Interaction of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) laser with matters is an attractive subject since novel phenomena always occur under the effect of high energy photons. In this paper, the thermal effect involved in the interaction of a capillary discharge 46.9 nm laser with copper [...] Read more.

Interaction of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) laser with matters is an attractive subject since novel phenomena always occur under the effect of high energy photons. In this paper, the thermal effect involved in the interaction of a capillary discharge 46.9 nm laser with copper was studied theoretically and experimentally. The temperature variation of the laser-irradiated region of copper was calculated. According to the results, the copper surface was ablated obviously and presented the trace of melting, evaporation, and resolidification, which suggested the thermal effect occurred on the surface during the laser irradiation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light Matter Interaction at Nanoscale: What Matters Most)

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9 pages, 2349 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Near-IR Emitting Si Nanocrystals Fabricated by Thermal Annealing of SiN_x/Si₃N₄ Multilayers

by D. M. Zhigunov, A. A. Popov, Yu. M. Chesnokov, A. L. Vasiliev, A. M. Lebedev, I. A. Subbotin, S. N. Yakunin, O. A. Shalygina and I. A. Kamenskikh

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(22), 4725; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9224725 - 06 Nov 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2802

Abstract

Silicon nanocrystals in silicon nitride matrix are fabricated by thermal annealing of SiN_x/Si₃N₄ multilayered thin films, and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray reflectivity and diffraction analysis, photoluminescence and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. Si nanocrystals with a mean [...] Read more.

Silicon nanocrystals in silicon nitride matrix are fabricated by thermal annealing of SiN_x/Si₃N₄ multilayered thin films, and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray reflectivity and diffraction analysis, photoluminescence and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. Si nanocrystals with a mean size of about 4 nm are obtained, and their properties are studied as a function of SiN_x layer thickness (1.6–2 nm) and annealing temperature (900–1250 °C). The effect of coalescence of adjacent nanocrystals throughout the Si₃N₄ barrier layers is observed, which results in formation of distinct ellipsoidal-shaped nanocrystals. Complete intermixing of multilayered film accompanied by an increase of nanocrystal mean size for annealing temperature as high as 1250 °C is shown. Near-IR photoluminescence with the peak at around 1.3–1.4 eV is detected and associated with quantum confined excitons in Si nanocrystals: Photoluminescence maximum is red shifted upon an increase of nanocrystal mean size, while the measured decay time is of order of microsecond. The position of photoluminescence peak as compared to the one for Si nanocrystals in SiO₂ matrix is discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light Matter Interaction at Nanoscale: What Matters Most)

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17 pages, 14826 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Low-Damage Reactive Ion Etching of Nanoplasmonic Waveguides with Ultrathin Noble Metal Films

by Alina A. Dobronosova, Anton I. Ignatov, Olga S. Sorokina, Nikolay A. Orlikovskiy, Michail Andronik, Aleksey R. Matanin, Kirill O. Buzaverov, Daria A. Ezenkova, Sergey A. Avdeev, Dimitry A. Baklykov, Vitaly V. Ryzhkov, Aleksander M. Merzlikin, Aleksander V. Baryshev, Ilya A. Ryzhikov and Ilya A. Rodionov

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(20), 4441; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9204441 - 19 Oct 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4004

Abstract

Nanoplasmonic waveguides utilizing surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagation have been investigated for more than 15 years and are now well understood. Many researchers make their efforts to find the best ways of using light and overcoming the speed limit of integrated circuits by [...] Read more.

Nanoplasmonic waveguides utilizing surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagation have been investigated for more than 15 years and are now well understood. Many researchers make their efforts to find the best ways of using light and overcoming the speed limit of integrated circuits by means of SPPs. Here, we introduce the simulation results and fabrication technology of dielectric-metal-dielectric long-range nanoplasmonic waveguides, which consists of a multilayer stack based on ultrathin noble metals in between alumina thin films. Various waveguide topologies are simulated to optimize all the geometric and multilayer stack parameters. We demonstrate the calculated propagation length of L_prop = 0.27 mm at the 785 nm wavelength for the Al₂O₃/Ag/Al₂O₃ waveguides. In addition, we numerically show the possibility to eliminate signal cross-talks (less than 0.01%) between two crossed waveguides. One of the key technology issues of such waveguides’ nanofabrication is a dry, low-damage-etching of a multilayer stack with extremely sensitive ultrathin metals. In this paper, we propose the fabrication process flow, which provides both dry etching of Al₂O₃/Au(Ag)/Al₂O₃ waveguides nanostructures with high aspect ratios and non-damage ultrathin metal films patterning. We believe that the proposed design and fabrication process flow provides new opportunities in next-generation photonic interconnects, plasmonic nanocircuitry, quantum optics and biosensors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light Matter Interaction at Nanoscale: What Matters Most)

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16 pages, 5031 KiB

Open AccessArticle

SERS-Active Substrates Nanoengineering Based on e-Beam Evaporated Self-Assembled Silver Films

by Irina Boginskaya, Marina Sedova, Aleksandr Baburin, Konstantin Afanas’ev, Alexander Zverev, Vladimir Echeistov, Vitaly Ryzhkov, Ilya Rodionov, Bogdan Tonanaiskii, Ilya Ryzhikov and Andrey Lagarkov

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(19), 3988; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9193988 - 24 Sep 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3387

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been intensely studied as a possible solution in the fields of analytical chemistry and biosensorics for decades. Substantial research has been devoted to engineering signal enhanced SERS-active substrates based on semi-continuous nanostructured silver and gold films, or agglomerates [...] Read more.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been intensely studied as a possible solution in the fields of analytical chemistry and biosensorics for decades. Substantial research has been devoted to engineering signal enhanced SERS-active substrates based on semi-continuous nanostructured silver and gold films, or agglomerates of micro- and nanoparticles in solution. Herein, we demonstrate the high-amplitude spectra of myoglobin precipitated out of ultra-low concentration solutions (below 10 μg/mL) using e-beam evaporated continuous self-assembled silver films. We observe up to 10⁵ times Raman signal amplification with purposefully designed SERS-active substrates in comparison with the control samples. SERS-active substrates are obtained by electron beam evaporation of silver thin films with well controlled nanostructured surface morphology. The characteristic dimensions of the morphology elements vary in the range from several to tens of nanometers. Using optical confocal microscopy we demonstrate that proteins form a conformation on the surface of the self-assembled silver film, which results in an effective enhancement of giant Raman scattering signal. We investigate the various SERS substrates surface morphologies by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in combination with deep data analysis with Gwyddion software and a number of machine learning techniques. Based on these results, we identify the most significant film surface morphology patterns and evaporation recipe parameters to obtain the highest amplitude SERS spectra. Moreover, we demonstrate the possibility of automated selection of suitable morphological parameters to obtain the high-amplitude spectra. The developed AFM data auto-analysis procedures are used for smart optimization of SERS-active substrates nanoengineering processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light Matter Interaction at Nanoscale: What Matters Most)

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12 pages, 10124 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cm-Level Photonic-Crystal-Like Subwavelength Waveguide Platform with High Integration Density

by Xiangxin Huang, Gengxin Chen, Wen Zhou and Xuguang Huang

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(16), 3410; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9163410 - 19 Aug 2019

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3009

Abstract

In this paper, the cm-level photonic-crystal-like subwavelength waveguide platform is developed and analyzed by using the finite-difference time-domain method. The configuration can be considered as a hybrid waveguide combining with the advantages of a metal-dielectric-metal waveguide and a photonic crystal waveguide. The symmetric [...] Read more.

In this paper, the cm-level photonic-crystal-like subwavelength waveguide platform is developed and analyzed by using the finite-difference time-domain method. The configuration can be considered as a hybrid waveguide combining with the advantages of a metal-dielectric-metal waveguide and a photonic crystal waveguide. The symmetric and high reflection effect of metallic sidewall and the effect of the photonic crystal structure on the light-guiding mechanism and integration characteristics of the waveguide are systematically investigated. The results reveal that the cm-level photonic-crystal-like waveguide platform provides subwavelength confinement and very low propagation loss with the isolation more than 30 dB, which are promising for high-density photonic integration. The tradeoff between integration density and propagation loss is optimized. In addition, a T-shaped power splitter based on the waveguide platform is proposed. The excess loss of the T-shaped power splitter is less than

0.4

dB. A set of passive components can be exploited on the proposed cm-level photonic-crystal-like subwavelength waveguide platform in future work to constitute the large-scale integrated photonic systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light Matter Interaction at Nanoscale: What Matters Most)

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7 pages, 1247 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Deep Electrical Modulation of Terahertz Wave Based on Hybrid Metamaterial-Dielectric-Graphene Structure

by Liangping Xia, Xin Zhang, Man Zhang, Suihu Dang, Shijian Huang, Yong Tan, Wenjuan Yan and Hong-Liang Cui

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(3), 507; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9030507 - 01 Feb 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2603

Abstract

A terahertz modulation structure based on hybrid metamaterial and graphene is proposed and demonstrated in this work. The metamaterial with a square slit ring array excites terahertz resonance in the slits and enhances the interaction between the terahertz wave and graphene. The graphene [...] Read more.

A terahertz modulation structure based on hybrid metamaterial and graphene is proposed and demonstrated in this work. The metamaterial with a square slit ring array excites terahertz resonance in the slits and enhances the interaction between the terahertz wave and graphene. The graphene layer acting as the active material is tuned by the applied electrical field. With the separation by a dielectric layer between the graphene and the metallic structure, the resonant frequency and transmitted energy are both modulated by the graphene. Experimental result indicates that the modulation depth of the terahertz transmitted amplitude is 65.1% when the applied modulation voltage is tuned 5 V. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light Matter Interaction at Nanoscale: What Matters Most)

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14 pages, 9683 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Plasmonics in the Ultraviolet with Aluminum, Gallium, Magnesium and Rhodium

by Yael Gutiérrez, Rodrigo Alcaraz de la Osa, Dolores Ortiz, José María Saiz, Francisco González and Fernando Moreno

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(1), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/app8010064 - 04 Jan 2018

Cited by 74 | Viewed by 7905

Abstract

Ultraviolet plasmonics (UV) has become an active topic of research due to the new challenges arising in fields such as biosensing, chemistry or spectroscopy. Recent studies have pointed out aluminum, gallium, magnesium and rhodium as promising candidates for plasmonics in the UV range. [...] Read more.

Ultraviolet plasmonics (UV) has become an active topic of research due to the new challenges arising in fields such as biosensing, chemistry or spectroscopy. Recent studies have pointed out aluminum, gallium, magnesium and rhodium as promising candidates for plasmonics in the UV range. Aluminum and magnesium present a high oxidation tendency that has a critical effect in their plasmonic performance. Nevertheless, gallium and rhodium have drawn a lot of attention because of their low tendency of oxidation and, at the same time, good plasmonic response in the UV and excellent photocatalytic properties. Here, we present a short overview of the current state of UV plasmonics with the latest findings in the plasmonic response and applications of aluminum, gallium, magnesium and rhodium nanoparticles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light Matter Interaction at Nanoscale: What Matters Most)

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Review

Jump to: Research

16 pages, 1074 KiB

Open AccessReview

Towards Deep Integration of Electronics and Photonics

by Ivan A. Pshenichnyuk, Sergey S. Kosolobov and Vladimir P. Drachev

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(22), 4834; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9224834 - 12 Nov 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2988

Abstract

A combination of computational power provided by modern MOSFET-based devices with light assisted wideband communication at the nanoscale can bring electronic technologies to the next level. Obvious obstacles include a size mismatch between electronic and photonic components as well as a weak light–matter [...] Read more.

A combination of computational power provided by modern MOSFET-based devices with light assisted wideband communication at the nanoscale can bring electronic technologies to the next level. Obvious obstacles include a size mismatch between electronic and photonic components as well as a weak light–matter interaction typical for existing devices. Polariton modes can be used to overcome these difficulties at the fundamental level. Here, we review applications of such modes, related to the design and fabrication of electro–optical circuits. The emphasis is made on surface plasmon-polaritons which have already demonstrated their value in many fields of technology. Other possible quasiparticles as well as their hybridization with plasmons are discussed. A quasiparticle-based paradigm in electronics, developed at the microscopic level, can be used in future molecular electronics and quantum computing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light Matter Interaction at Nanoscale: What Matters Most)

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