Ultimate capabilities of sharp metal tips for plasmon nanofocusing, near-field trapping and sensing

This Letter considers an ‘ultimate’ nanofocusing system with arguably the largest field enhancements achievable in plasmonic nanofocusing structures. These enhancements appear far beyond those required for single molecule detection. The proposed structure is demonstrated to be ∼4 orders of magnitude more efficient for trapping of small nanoparticles and single molecules, than the tip-assisted trapping. It does not require direct irradiation of the tip, and this will enable highly targeted delivery of the optical energy to nanoscale regions as small as a few nanometers (e.g., inside living cells) for trapping, imaging, localized heat discharge, and superior sensing in a new generation of nano-optical detectors.     

Contribution of terahertz waves to near-field radiative heat transfer between graphene-based hyperbolic metamaterials

Hyperbolic metamaterials alternately stacked by graphene and silicon(Si) are proposed and theoretically studied to investigate the contribution of terahertz(THz) waves to near-field radiative transfer. The results show that the heat transfer coefficient can be enhanced several times in a certain THz frequency range compared with that between graphene-covered Si bulks because of the presence of a continuum of hyperbolic modes. Moreover, the radiative heat transfer can also be enhanced remarkably for the proposed structure even in the whole THz range. The hyperbolic dispersion of the graphenebased hyperbolic metamaterial can be tuned by varying the chemical potential or the thickness of Si, with the tunability of optical conductivity and the chemical potential of graphene fixed. We also demonstrate that the radiative heat transfer can be actively controlled in the THz frequency range.     

Tunability of temperature-dependent absorption in a graphene-based hybrid nanostructure cavity

Enhanced absorption is obtained in a hybrid nanostructure composed of graphene and one-dimensional photonic crystal as a cavity in the visible wavelength range thanks to the localized electric field around the defect layers. The temperature-induced wavelength shift is revealed in the absorption spectra in which the peak wavelength is red-shifted by increasing the temperature. This temperature dependence comes from the thermal expansion and thermo-optical effects in the constituent layers of the structure. Moreover, the absorption peaks can be adjusted by varying the incident angle. The results show that absorption is sensitive to TE/TM polarization and its peak values for the TE mode are higher than the TM case. Also, the peak wavelength is blue-shifted by increasing the incident angle for both polarizations. Finally, the possibility of tuning the absorption using the electro-optical response of graphene sheets is discussed in detail. We believe our study may be beneficial for designing tunable graphene-based temperature-sensitive absorbers.     

Electronic spin precession in graphene-based superlattice with periodical gate and magnetic modulation

The spin precession in graphene superlattice with periodically modulated electrostatic field and efficient exchange field is investigated theoretically. It is found that the efficient exchange field can induce a spin precession, which is different from the case of the Rashba spin–orbit interaction. The spin precession is complete isoamplitude for normal incidence. For inclined incidence, the precession disappears when the effective exchange field is set into a certain range. It is also found periodical electrostatic field can revive the disappeared precession, but electronic transport is suppressed, which leads to some dips in the conductance spectrum.     

Electronic and structural properties of graphene-based transparent and conductive thin film electrodes

We demonstrate that graphene-based transparent and conductive thin films (GTCFs), fabricated by thermal reduction of graphite oxide, have very similar electronic and structural properties as highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). Electron spectroscopy results suggest that the GTCFs are also semi-metallic and that the individual graphene sheets of the film are predominantly oriented parallel to the substrate plane. These films may therefore be considered as a technologically relevant analogue to HOPG electrodes, which cannot be easily processed into thin films.     

Reconstruction of vibroacoustic fields in half-space by using hybrid near-field acoustical holography

In this paper we examine the accuracy and efficiency of reconstructing the vibroacoustic quantities generated by a vibrating structure in half-space by using hybrid near-field acoustic holography (NAH) and modified Helmholtz equation least squares (HELS) formulations. In hybrid NAH, we combine modified HELS with an inverse boundary element method (IBEM) to reconstruct a vibroacoustic field. The main advantage of this approach is that the majority of the input data can be regenerated but not measured, thus the efficiency is greatly enhanced. In modified HELS, we expand the field acoustic pressure in terms of outgoing and incoming spherical waves and specify the corresponding expansion coefficients by solving a system of equations obtained by matching the assumed-form solution to the measured acoustic pressure. Here the system of equations is ill conditioned and Tikhonov regularization is implemented through singular value decomposition (SVD) and the generalized cross-validation (GCV) method. Numerical examples of a dilating and oscillating spheres and finite cylinder are demonstrated. Test results show that hybrid NAH can yield a more accurate reconstruction than does a modified HELS, but a modified HELS is more efficient than is hybrid NAH [Work supported by NSF].     

Underwater hybrid near-field acoustical holography based on the measurement of vector hydrophone array

Hybrid near-field acoustical holography(NAH) is developed for reconstructing acoustic radiation from a cylindrical source in a complex underwater environment. In hybrid NAH,we combine statistically optimized near-field acoustical holography(SONAH) and broadband acoustical holography from intensity measurements(BAHIM) to reconstruct the underwater cylindrical source field. First,the BAHIM is utilized to regenerate as much acoustic pressures on the hologram surface as necessary,and then the acoustic pressures are taken as input to the formulation implemented numerically by SONAH. The main advantages of this technology are that the complex pressure on the hologram surface can be reconstructed without reference signal,and the measurement array can be smaller than the source,thus the practicability and efficiency of this technology are greatly enhanced. Numerical examples of a cylindrical source are demonstrated. Test results show that hybrid NAH can yield a more accurate reconstruction than conventional NAH. Then,an experiment has been carried out with a vector hydrophone array. The experimental results show the advantage of hybrid NAH in the reconstruction of an acoustic field and the feasibility of using a vector hydrophone array in an underwater NAH measurement,as well as the identification and localization of noise sources.     

Isotropy of optical excitations in few-layer graphenes

The geometric and the most band structures of monolayer and AB-stacked bilayer graphenes exhibit strong anisotropy. Nevertheless, the absorption spectra are isotropic for the polarization vector on graphene plane. The velocity matrix elements dominate this property. These results suggest that AA- and AB-stacked few-layer graphenes and graphites manifest this feature.     

光存储技术中超分辨近场结构研究进展

超分辨近场结构(Super-RENS)是近场光学存储中最具有潜力和应用前景的方案之一。介绍了Super-RENS从基本类型到第三代Super-RENS的发展历程,简述了掩膜材料的研究进展以及Super-RENS在不同记录系统中的应用。展望了它的发展前景。     

锯齿型石墨纳米带叠层复合结的电子输运

基于紧束缚格林函数方法,研究了两半无限长锯齿型石墨纳米带叠层复合结的电子输运性质.结果表明,层间次近邻相互作用、叠层区长度及门电压对复合结的电子透射谱有重要调制作用.层间次近邻相互作用导致复合结的透射谱关于费米能呈现非对称性,与实验结果很好相符.低于费米能第一子能区内周期性出现透射系数为0和1的台阶,呈现全反射与透射现象.随散射结长度增加,透射系数在1内周期性振荡,呈现明显的量子干涉效应.在门电压调控下,低于费米能的透射系数出现了从1到0的转变,类似于开关效应.相关结果对基于石墨烯器件的设计与应用有指导意义.     

Generation and manipulation of spin current via a hybrid four-terminal single-molecule junction

We present a new device which consists of a molecular quantum dot (MQD) attached to a normal-metal, two ferromagnetic (FM), and a superconducting leads. The spin-related Andreev reflection (AR) current and the spin-dependent single-particle tunneling current through the normal-metal terminal are obtained, and it is found that the spin current exhibits the transistor-like behavior. The joint effects of the coherent spin flip and the angle between magnetic moments of the two FM leads on the spin current are also studied, these results provide the possibility to manipulate the spin current with the system parameters.     

Thermodynamic properties of tunneling quasiparticles in graphene-based structures

Thermodynamic properties of quasiparticles in a graphene-based structures are investigated. Two graphene superconducting layers (one superconducting component is placed on the top layered-graphene structure and the other component in the bottom) separated by oxide dielectric layers and one normal graphene layer in the middle. The quasiparticle flow emerged due to external gate voltage, we considered it as a gas of electron–hole pairs whose components belong to different layers. This is a striking result in view of the complexity of these systems: we have established that specific heat exhibits universal (?T³) behavior at low T, independent from the gate voltage and the superconducting gap. The experimental observation of this theoretical prediction would be an important step towards our understanding of critical massless matter.     

Fock-Darwin states of dirac electrons in graphene-based artificial atoms

We investigate the Fock-Darwin states of the massless chiral fermions confined in a graphitic parabolic quantum dot. In light of Klein tunneling, we analyze the condition for confinement of the Dirac fermions in a cylindrically symmetric potential. New features of the energy levels of the Dirac electrons as compared to the conventional electronic systems are discussed. We also evaluate the dipole-allowed transitions in the energy levels of the dots. We propose that in the high magnetic field limit, the band parameters can be accurately determined from the dipole-allowed transitions.     

Structure-dependent Fano resonances in the infrared spectra of phonons in few-layer graphene

The in-plane optical phonons around 200?meV in few-layer graphene are investigated utilizing infrared absorption spectroscopy. The phonon spectra exhibit unusual asymmetric features characteristic of Fano resonances, which depend critically on the layer thickness and stacking order of the sample. The phonon intensities in samples with rhombohedral (ABC) stacking are significantly higher than those with Bernal (AB) stacking. These observations reflect the strong coupling between phonons and interband electronic transitions in these systems and the distinctive variation in the joint density of electronic states in samples of differing thickness and stacking order.     

Equipartition of current in metallic armchair nanoribbon of graphene-based device

We numerically investigate the mesoscopic electronic transport properties of Bernal-stacked bilayer/trilayer graphene connected with four monolayer graphene terminals. In armchair-terminated metallic bilayer graphene, we show that the current from one incoming terminal can be equally partitioned into other three outgoing terminals near the charge-neutrality point, and the conductance periodically fluctuates, which is independent of the ribbon width but influenced by the interlayer hopping energy. This finding can be clearly understood by using the wave function matching method, in which a quantitative relationship between the periodicity, Fermi energy, and interlayer hopping energy can be reached. Interestingly, for the trilayer case, when the Fermi energy is located around the charge-neutrality point, the fractional quantized conductance 1/(4e²h) can be achieved when system exceeds a critical length.     

Surface potentials of few-layer graphene films in high vacuum and ambient conditions

The surface potentials of few-layer graphene (FLG) films in high vacuum and ambient conditions have been investigated by employing electrostatic force microscopy. It is found that the surface potential of FLG films in ambient air has a constant large depression compared to that measured in a high vacuum. Our experimental results indicate that the shift is most likely caused by the presence of ambient adsorbates on the outmost graphene surfaces. The surface potentials increase with the number of graphene layers and approach the bulk value for five or more graphene layers in high vacuum as well as in ambient air. Since the contribution of the surface adsorbates is a constant value, we further show that the thickness dependence of the surface potential can be sufficiently explained by the nonlinear Thomas-Fermi Theory in both conditions.     

Modelling of magnetic effects in near-field optics

Green's dyadic technique represents a powerful tool for calculations in electrodynamics, especially in modelling optical properties of nanoscopic objects. The method does not only provide field distributions, but also maps of susceptibilities and densities of states. Whereas the formalism is well established for dielectrics and electric fields, I present here a straight forward extension to tensors of both electric and magnetic type as well as mixed ones and furthermore to the situation where objects with dielectric and magnetic permeabilities are present together. As examples, characteristic field patterns are compared for elementary dielectric and magnetic perturbations. Green's tensors calculated for a coral structure reveal that mixed susceptibilities can exhibit other symmetries than pure electric or magnetic ones. Maps of all tensor components can thus give essential clues to the interpretation of near-field images. Received 15 December 2002 Published online 20 June 2003 RID="a" ID="a"Files “maths.ps” and “tensors.ps” are only available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org RID="b" ID="b"e-mail: Ursula.Schroeter@uni-konstanz.de     

Study of storage capacity in various carbon/graphene-based solid-state supercapacitors

Solid-state electrochemical double-layer capacitor (SEDLC) forms excellent energy storage device for high-power applications. They are highly reliable, with no electrolyte leaks, and can be packaged to suit various applications. The electrode material can be activated carbon to graphene. These can have a range of particle size, surface area, pore size and pore distribution for charge storage. The emphasis will be to optimize the graphene to carbon blend in the electrodes which would provide appreciable storage density of the SEDLC. We can use perfluorosulfonic acid polymer as the solid electrolyte in the SEDLC assembly. They have high ionic conductivity, good thermal stability, and mechanical strength. They also have excellent long-term chemical stability. Carbon is widely used for many practical applications, especially for the adsorption of ions and molecules, as it is possible to synthesize one-, two- or three-dimensional (1-, 2-, or 3-D) carbons. Some of the problems in activated carbon like varying micro or mesopores, poor ion mobility due to varying pore distribution, low electrical conductivity, can be overcome using graphene and blends of graphene with carbon of the right pore dimension and distribution. Graphene in various structural nomenclatures have been used by various groups for charge storage. Graphene nanoplates (GNP), with narrow mesopore distributions have been effectively used for SEDLCs. SEDLCs assembled with GNP and blends of GNP with Vulcan XC and solid polymer electrolyte like Nafion show exceptional performance. The cyclic voltammetric studies show that they support high scan rates with substantial smaller capacitance drop as we increase scan rates. Optimization of the electrode structure in terms of blend percentage, binder content and interface character in the frequency and time domain provides excellent insight into the double-layer interface.     

Bound states of Dirac electrons in a graphene-based magnetic quantum dot

We investigate the magnetically confined states of the massless Dirac fermions in a graphene quantum dot formed by the inhomogeneous distributions of the magnetic fields inside and outside the dot. The calculated energy spectrum exhibits quite different features with and without the magnetic field inside the dot. It is found that the degeneracy of the relativistic Landau level with negative angular momenta can be lifted, and this degeneracy breaking can be modulated by the magnetic field inside the dot. Moreover, such a system can form the strongly localized states within the dot and along its boundary, especially with the magnetic field inside the dot.