Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering and fluorescence emission of gold nanoparticle–multiwalled carbon nanotube hybrids

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are grafted with gold (Au) nanoparticles of different sizes (1–12 and 1–20 nm) to form Au–MWCNT hybrids. The Au nanoparticles pile up at defect sites on the edges of MWCNTs in the form of chains. The micro‐Raman scattering studies of these hybrids were carried using visible to infrared wavelengths (514.5 and 1064 nm). Enhanced Raman scattering and fluorescence is observed at an excitation wavelength of 514.5 nm. It is found that the graphitic (G) mode intensity enhances by 10 times and down shifts by approximately 3 cm⁻¹ for Au–MWCNT hybrids in comparison with pristine carbon nanotubes. This enhancement in G mode due to surface‐enhanced Raman scattering effect is related to the interaction of MWCNTs with Au nanoparticles. The enhancement in Raman scattering and fluorescence for large size nanoparticles for Au–MWCNTs hybrids is corroborated with localized surface plasmon polaritons. The peak position of localized surface plasmons of Au nanoparticles shifts with the change in environment. Further, no enhancement in G mode was observed at an excitation wavelength of 1064 nm. However, the defect mode (D) mode intensity enhances, and peak position is shifted by approximately 40 cm⁻¹ to lower side at the same wavelength. The enhanced intensity of D mode at 1064 nm excitation wavelength is related to the double resonance phenomenon and shift in the particular mode occurs due to more electron phonon interactions near Fermi level. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comparative study of solid-silver and silver-shell nanodimers on surface plasmon resonances

We investigated numerically the scattering cross sections and near-field intensities of solid-silver and silver-shell (shell thickness d = 10 nm) nanodimers that interact with incident plane wave by the use of finite-element method with three-dimensional models. Results show that the silver-shell cases exhibit tunable surface plasmon resonances and its rotational effects can induce more surface plasmons in a wider range of wavelength that are not observed for the solid-silver cases with the same volume (1,046,666 nm³).     

Stimulated emission from optically excited CdxHg1−xTe structures at room temperature

Main requirements for the optimization of Cd_xHg_1?xTe (MCT) structures with a view to increasing the wavelength of stimulated emission under optical pumping are discussed. A 2–2.5 μm stimulated emission from optimized MCT structures is observed experimentally at room temperature. The measured values of the gain in the active medium amount to 50 cm^?1 at a 2 μm emission wavelength.     

Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering from gold‐coated germanium oxide nanowires

We utilized bulk‐synthesized nanowires (NWs) of germanium dioxide as nanoscale structures that can be coated with noble metals to allow the excitation of surface plasmons over a broad frequency range. The NWs were synthesized on substrates of silicon using gold‐catalyst‐assisted vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth mechanism in a simple quartz tube furnace setup. The resulting NWs have diameters of ∼100–200 nm, with lengths averaging ∼10–40 µm and randomly distributed on the substrate. The NWs are subsequently coated with thin films of gold, which provide a surface‐plasmon‐active surface. Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) studies with near‐infrared (NIR) excitation at 785 nm show significant enhancement (average enhancement > 10⁶) with good uniformity to detect submonolayer concentrations of 4‐methylbenzenethiol (4‐MBT), trans‐1,2‐bis(4‐pyridyl)ethylene (BPE), and 1,2‐benzendithiol (1,2‐BDT) probe molecules. We also observed an intense, broad continuum in the Raman spectrum of NWs after metal coating, which tended to diminish with the analyte monolayer formation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Te/TeO2-SiO2复合薄膜的吸收和非线性光学特性研究

应用分光光度计测量Te/TeO₂-SiO₂复合薄膜的透射光谱和吸收光谱, 在480nm附近观察到Te颗粒引起的等离子体共振吸收峰; 采用Z扫描技术研究了共振(激发波长为532 nm)和非共振情况下(激发波长1064 nm) 不同电位制备薄膜的Te颗粒状态与复合薄膜的三阶非线性极化率的关系. 基于有效介质理论对复合薄膜的三阶非线性效应进行分析, 研究Te颗粒大小对Te/TeO₂-SiO₂复合薄膜的非线性光学性质的影响及其产生机理. 结果表明薄膜制备过电位增大, Te的粒径减小, 颗粒数量多, 颗粒分布趋于均匀, 使得金属颗粒的表面等离子体共振峰红移, 吸收强度增强, 导致三阶非线性光学效应增强, χ⁽³⁾由1064 nm的5.12×10^-7 esu增大为532 nm的8.11×10^-7 esu. 关键词： 碲 二氧化碲 复合薄膜 三阶非线性     

Metal-enhanced Singlet Oxygen Generation: A Consequence of Plasmon Enhanced Triplet Yields

In this Rapid Communication, we report the first observation of Metal-Enhanced singlet oxygen generation (ME¹O₂). Rose Bengal in close proximity to Silver Island Films (SiFs) can generate more singlet oxygen, a three-fold increase observed, as compared to an identical glass control sample but containing no silver. The enhanced absorption of the photo-sensitizer, due to coupling to silver surface plasmons, facilitates enhanced singlet oxygen generation. The singlet oxygen yield can potentially be adjusted by modifying the choice of MEF (Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence) & MEP (Metal Enhance Phosphorescence) parameters, such as distance dependence for plasmon coupling and wavelength emission of the coupling fluorophore. This is a most helpful observation in understanding the interactions between plasmons and lumophores, and this approach may well be of significance for singlet oxygen based clinical therapy.     

Simulation on near-field light generated by metal nano-dot on GaAs substrate for heat source of heat-assisted magnetic recording

Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) is promising for achieving more than 1 Tb/inch² recording density. A near-field transducer (NFT), which forms a hot spot of 10–100 nm in diameter on a recording medium, is necessary in HAMR. In this study, localized surface plasmons generated by a metal nano-dot in a novel device for a heat source of heat-assisted magnetic recording were analyzed using a simple model in which a metal hemisphere was formed on a GaAs substrate and a quasi-electrostatic approximation. The scattering and absorption efficiencies as well as the enhancement factor were investigated for several kinds of metal. As a result, their dependence on the wavelength and the polarization direction of the incident light was clarified.     

Parametric study of plasma active medium and gain saturation region in a Ne-like soft X-ray laser

Plasmas created by the interaction of high power optical laser with a target surface can be used as a source of soft X-ray lasers. Plasma and pump laser characteristics play significant role in achieving high gain coefficient for such plasma based on soft X-ray lasers. In the present work, the plasma active medium parameters for germanium element at a wavelength of 19.6 nm irradiated by a double-pulse pump laser have been studied using MED103 hydrodynamic code. For this purpose, first, the effects of laser intensity, pulse width and delay time of two pulses on the gain coefficient have been investigated and the optimum conditions for the maximum gain extent of Ne-like germanium soft X-ray laser are obtained. Then, in order to calculate the intensity of such high gain lasers in which Linford equation is invalid, we have adopted the general formula of amplified spontaneous emission intensity, which is valid in all range of intensities even at much higher intensities than saturation intensity. Finally, the soft X-ray laser intensities in the saturated areas for different plasma lengths have been calculated. The results show that the output of soft X-ray laser intensity with 294 cm⁻¹ gain coefficient can reach to about several times saturated intensity by applying a 1–2 mm plasma length as the active medium.     

Surface plasmon photodetectors and their applications

Surface plasmon photodetectors are of vigorous current interest. Such detectors typically combine a metallic structure that supports surface plasmons with a photodetection structure based on internal photoemission or electron‐hole pair creation. Detector architectures are highly varied, involving surface plasmons on planar metal waveguides, on metal gratings, on nano‐particles, ‐islands, or ‐antennas, or involving plasmon‐mediated transmission through one or many sub‐wavelength holes in a metal film. Properties inherent to surface plasmons, such as sub‐wavelength confinement and their ability to resonate on tiny metallic structures, are exploited to convey useful characteristics to detectors in addressing applications such as low‐noise high‐speed detection, single‐plasmon detection, near‐ and mid‐infrared imaging, photovoltaic solar energy conversion, and (bio)chemical sensing. The operating principles behind surface plasmon detectors are reviewed, the literature on the topic is surveyed, and avenues that appear promising are highlighted.     

Improving the emission efficiency of periodic plasmonic structures for lasing applications

We report on a two dimensional plasmonic structure that utilizes an Ag film for the generation of surface plasmons and a layer of the organic semiconductor tri(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq₃) doped with the laser dye 4-dicyanmethylene-2-methyl-6-(p-dimethylaminostyryl)-4 H-pyran (DCM) as an active medium. The dispersion diagram of this structure exhibits a plasmonic bandgap in the dye emission wavelength range. At the flat band-edge, the group velocity tends to zero, so that the density of surface plasmon modes is high. This may yield a lasing action. However, the device suffers from the energy dissipation due to metal absorption and unwanted radiation. We examine how some of them may be overcome. Firstly, we propose the use of long range surface plasmons (LRSPs) characterized by a low loss coefficient. To this end, we investigate theoretically and experimentally the best conditions for the excitation of these modes. A strong emission is observed compared to that from a planar structure. These modes provide a high performance-an enhancement factor of 3-when the dye thickness is about 100 nm, a value consistent with the numerical findings. We further demonstrate that the use of a spacer layer significantly increases the emission efficiency. Finally, we suggest a specific design for the laser structure for minimal radiation loss.     

Gain-assisted propagation of electromagnetic energy in subwavelength surface plasmon polariton gap waveguides

The propagation of electromagnetic energy via coupled surface plasmon polariton modes in a metal-insulator-metal heterostructure is analyzed analytically for a core material exhibiting optical gain. It is shown that a sufficiently large gain can completely compensate for the absorption losses due to energy dissipation in the metallic boundaries, enabling long-range transport with a confinement below the diffraction limit for on-chip switching and sensing applications. For a free-space wavelength of 1500 nm, lossless propagation in a gold-semiconductor-gold waveguide with a core size of 50 nm is predicted for a gain coefficient γ = 4830 cm⁻¹, comparable to that of semiconductor gain media. The gain requirements decrease with the use of low-index nanocrystal-doped glasses or polymers as core materials.     

Ag:Bi2O3复合膜的线性和非线性光学性质

从实验和理论两个方面，探讨了金属Ag不同掺杂浓度对Ag:Bi₂O₃复合膜线性和非线性光学性质的影响. 用吸收光谱研究了Ag浓度与Ag:Bi₂O₃复合膜表面等离子体共振带之间的关系；用皮秒Z-扫描技术研究了共振和非共振情况下(激发光波长分别为532nm和1064nm)，金属Ag浓度与复合膜三阶非线性极化率的关系. 基于表面等离子体共振理论和局域场增强理论对复合膜进行了分析，得到了不同Ag浓度时Ag:Bi₂O₃复合膜的三阶非线性效应，研究了激发波长和金属浓度对复合膜线性和非线性光学性质的影响. 结果表明，等离子体共振增强和合适的金属掺杂浓度使得三阶极化率增强二个量级，在Ag浓度为35％左右和接近等离子体共振频率(相应吸收带位于560nm—622nm)的532nm激发时，χ⁽³⁾具有最大值2.4×10^-9esu. 关键词： 金属纳米颗粒 复合膜 三阶非线性 表面等离子体共振     

Back focal plane imaging of Tamm plasmons and their coupled emission

The unique optical properties of Tamm plasmons (TPs) – such as flexible wavevector matching conditions including inplane wavevector within the light line, and existing both S‐ and P‐polarized TPs − facilitate them for direct optical excitation. The Tamm plasmon‐coupled emission (TPCE) from a combined photonic–plasmonic structure sustaining both surface plasmons (SPs) and TPs is described in this paper. The sensitivity of TPCE to the emission wavelength and polarization is examined with back focal plane imaging and verified with the numerical calculations. The results reveal that the excited probe can couple with both TPs and SPs, resulting in surface plasmon‐coupled emission (SPCE) and TPCE, respectively. The TPCE angle is strongly dependent on the wavelength allowing for spectral resolution using different observation angles. These Tamm structures provide a new tool to control the optical emission from dye molecules and have many potential applications in fluorescence‐based sensing and imaging.     

Nanostructuring of thin Au films by means of short UV laser pulses

The particle size distribution, morphology and optical properties of the Au nanoparticle (NP) structures for surface enhanced Raman signal (SERS) application are investigated in dependence on their preparation conditions. The structures are produced from relatively thin Au films (10–20 nm) sputtered on fused silica glass substrate and irradiated with several pulses (6 ns) of laser radiation at 266 nm and at fluencies in the range of 160–412 mJ/cm². The SEM inspection reveals nearly homogeneously distributed, spherical gold particles. Their initial size distribution of the range of 20–60 nm broadens towards larger particle diameters with prolonged irradiation. This is accompanied by an increase in the uncovered surface of the glass substrate and no particle removal is observed. In the absorption profiles of the nanostructures, the broad peak centred at 546 nm is ascribed to resonant absorption of surface plasmons (SPR). The peak position, halfwidth and intensity depend on the shape, size and size distribution of the nanostructured particles in agreement with literature. From peak intensities of the Raman spectra recorded for Rhodamine 6G in the range of 300–1800 cm⁻¹, the relative signal enhancement by factor between 20 and 603 for individual peaks is estimated. The results confirm that the obtained structures can be applied for SERS measurements and sensing.     

Propagation and nanofocusing of infrared surface plasmons on tapered transmission lines: Influence of the substrate

We study the propagation of mid-infrared surface plasmons on non-tapered and tapered two-wire transmission lines on Si and CaF₂ substrates, the two materials representing substrates with large and small refractive index, respectively. A comparative numerical study predicts a larger effective wavelength and an increased propagation length (i.e. weaker damping) for the CaF₂ substrate. By near-field microscopy we image the near-field distribution along the transmission lines and experimentally verify surface plasmon propagation. Amplitude- and phase-resolved near-field images of a non-tapered transmission line on CaF₂ reveal a standing wave pattern caused by back-reflection of the surface plasmons at the open-ended transmission line. Calculated and experimental near-field images of tapered transmission lines on Si and CaF₂ demonstrate that for both substrates the mid-IR surface plasmons are compressed when propagating along the taper. Importantly, the nanofocus at the taper apex yields a stronger local field enhancement for the low-refractive index substrate CaF₂. We assign the more efficient nanofocusing on CaF₂ to the weaker damping of the surface plasmons.     

Dye assisted enhanced transmission in near field optical lithography

Surface plasmon lithography using embedded-amplitude masks has received considerable attention in recent times for its ability to produce high density features with resolution beyond diffraction limit. However plasmon damping caused due to intrinsic metal absorption restricts the achievable aspect ratio of the fabricated features. One possible way to rectify this issue is to use a gain medium to amplify the surface plasmons and thereby increase their propagation length. In this context this paper proposes a novel concept of employing dye medium to enhance plasmon propagation in mask based surface plasmon lithography, so as to obtain higher transmission depth in the writing medium. The proposed concept is supported by numerical simulations and the results obtained indicate a 14.5 fold field enhancement in presence of dye (gain) medium.     

Optimizing surface-enhanced Raman scattering by template guided assembling of closely spaced silver nanocluster arrays

We present an easy approach to synthesize closely spaced regular arrays of silver nanoclusters, which are self-assembled by depositing gas-phase synthesized metal nanoclusters onto pre-patterned triblock copolymer templates. The array has a high particle density of about 2 ×10³ particles per μm², and an average interparticle space of about 20 nm. The surface plasmon resonance wavelength of the array is tuned due to the interparticle plasmon coupling. High SERS sensitivity for less than one layer trans-1,2-bi-(4-pyridyl) ethylene (BPE) molecule detection, with an enhancement factor of 2.6 ×10⁶, has been demonstrated for a substrate with this array. The enhanced Raman signal was found to be 5 times higher than that measured from the substrate with randomly distributed silver nanoparticles.     

Photoluminescence enhancement by localized surface plasmons in AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN double heterostructures

Double heterostructures AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy and designed for use as light emitting diodes for 360 nm wavelength were patterned by shallow nanoholes and injected with Ag/SiO₂ or Al nanoparticles. A 1.8 times increase in the photoluminescence and microcathodoluminescence signal from the GaN active region was observed for 100 nm diameter Al nanoparticles, the efficiency decreased compared to the reference planar samples for small Al nanoparticles of 30–40 nm diameter, and a moderate increase of 1.2 times was detected for Ag/SiO₂ nanoparticles. The observed phenomena are explained by the GaN emitter coupling with localized surface plasmons produced by metallic nanoparticles. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Effect of surface roughness on surface plasmon resonance absorption

The absorption of light by surface plasmons has been studied using the method of attenuated total reflection. The reflectance from a quartz-Ag interface has been measured as a function of angle and surface structure for the wavelength region from 3600 to 6000 . It is shown that the reflectance minimum for a smooth Ag film is changed in both angular position and spectral half-width by roughening the Ag surface with CaF₂ underlayers. Dispersion curves are presented which show that the wave vector of a surface plasmon propagating on an irregular surface is greater than that of an equally energetic surface plasmon propagating on a planar surface.     

Elementary excitations in multiple quantum wire structures

We calculate the plasmon dispersion of electrons in multiple quantum wire structures. Wave function overlapping effects between different wires are neglected. The Coulomb interaction potential is calculated for a model with circular wire area. Analytical results for the excitation spectrum of electron multiple quantum wire structures are obtained within an one-subband model. Landau damping of intrasubband plasmons is discussed. Results for an electron superlattice within a two-subband model are presented and the coupling of intersubband plasmons with intrasubband plasmons is calculated. We compare the theoretical results with recent Raman measurements of intrasubband plasmons in Al _x Ga_1–x As/GaAs wire superlattices. The plasmon dispersion for boson multiple quantum wire structures also is calculated.