The characteristics of Au:VO2 nanocomposite thin film for photo-electricity applications

Au nanoparticles have been fabricated on normal glass substrates using nanosphere lithography (NSL) method. Vanadium dioxide has been deposited on Au/glass by reactive radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering. The structure and composition were determined by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope. Electrical and optical properties of bare VO₂ and Au:VO₂ nanocomposite thin films were measured. Typical hysteresis behavior and sharp phase transition were observed. Nanopartical Au could effectively reduce the transition temperature to 40 °C. The transmittance spectrum for both Au:VO₂ nanocomposite thin film shows high transmittance under transition temperature and low transmittance above transition temperature. The characteristics present the Au:VO₂ nanocomposite thin film can be used for applications, such as “smart window” or “laser protector”.     

Tunable optical properties of nano-Au on vanadium dioxide

The optical properties of Au nanoparticles deposited on thermochromic thin films of VO₂ are investigated using spectroscopy. A localized modification on the transmittance spectrum of VO₂ film is formed due to the presence of Au nanoparticles which exhibit localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in the visible-near IR region. The position of the modification wavelength region shows a strong dependence on the Au mass thickness and shifts toward the red as it increases. On the other hand, it was found that the LSPR of Au nanoparticles can be thermally tunable because of the thermochromism of the supporting material of VO₂. The LSPR wavelength, λ_SPR, shifts to the blue with increasing temperature, and shifts back to the red as temperature decreases. A fine tuning is achieved when the temperature is increased in a stepwise manner.     

Synthesis of composite gold/tin-oxide nanoparticles by nano-soldering

Composite Au–SnO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) are synthesized by nano-soldering of pure Au and SnO₂ NPs. The multi-step process involves synthesis of pure Au and SnO₂ NPs separately by nanosecond pulse laser ablation of pure gold and pure tin targets in deionized water and post-ablation laser heating of mixed solution of Au colloidal and SnO₂ colloidal to form nanocomposite. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) were used to study the effect of laser irradiation time on morphology of the composite Au–SnO₂ NPs. The spherical particles of 4 nm mean size were obtained for 5 min of post-laser heating. Increased mean size and elongated particles were observed on further laser heating. UV–vis spectra of Au–SnO₂ nanocomposites show red shift in the plasmon resonance absorption peak and line shape broadening with respect to pure Au NPs. The negative binding energy shift of Au 4f_7/2 peak observed in X-ray Photoelectron Spectra (XPS) indicates charge transfer in the nano-soldered Au–SnO₂ between gold and tin oxide and formation of soldered nanocomposite.     

Au-MoOx nanoparticles for LSPR hydrogen detection prepared by a facile anodizing method

Nowadays, the plasmonic properties of defective transition metal oxides, have attracted great attention in the sensing and catalyst applications. The aim of this paper is to fabricate plasmonic Au-MoO_x nanoparticles (NPs) using a facile anodizing in liquid approach to be used as localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) hydrogen sensor. Firstly, dark blue MoO_x nanosheets with a strong NIR (700–800 nm) LSPR band were obtained. The Au-MoO_x NPs (Au size=5–7 nm) were then obtained by adding a gold cation into the blue MoO_x liquid base. Thanks to the catalytic properties of Au NP, this system exhibited LSPR hydrogen sensing ability where the LSPR variations allowed us to detect hydrogen in the 0–3% concentration range with a good linearity and possible many data points.     

SHINERS and plasmonic properties of Au Core SiO2 shell nanoparticles with optimal core size and shell thickness

Shell‐isolated nanoparticles (NPs)‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS) can be potentially applied to virtually any substrate type and morphology. How to take a step forward to prepare SHINERS NPs (SHINs) with superior performance is critical for the practical applications of surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in the breadth and depth. Here, we present a method to obtain 120 nm diameter gold NPs coated with ultrathin silica shells (1–4 nm). The silica shell can be controlled growth through carefully tuning a series of parameters, such as amount of 3‐aminopropyl triethoxysilane used, pH, reaction time, and reaction temperature. We compare the enhancement factor of the obtained 120 nm Au with a 4 nm silica shell NPs to the 55 nm Au with a 4 nm silica shell NPs, and the activity of a 120 nm SHINs is nearly 24 times that the 55 nm SHIN from a single particle view. We also compare the enhancement factor of 1 nm silica shell Au@SiO₂ NPs with the bare Au NPs. The enhancement factor of 1 nm silica shell Au@SiO₂ NPs was found to be about twice that of the bare particles. For a deeper understanding of the source of the giant enhanced electrical field of the 1 nm silica shell Au@SiO₂ NPs, we study the plasmonic property of single 1 nm silica shell Au@SiO₂ NP on a gold film substrate through correlation of the structure of single NP using SEM with its SPR spectroscopy. We find that the multipolar interaction between the single Au@SiO₂ NP and gold film substrate is important for the SERS. Our studies on the performance of 120 nm SHINs and the plasmonic property of these particles can significantly expand the applications of SHINERS technique and improve the understanding of physical nature of SHINs. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the spectral difference between electroluminescence and photoluminescence of Si nanocrystals: a mechanism study of electroluminescence

A highly dense and uniform layer of Au nanoparticles (NPs) on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) film has been produced by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique toward the production of an improved efficiency photovoltaic device. The advantage of PLD over other techniques is the easy and precise control of the Au NPs size and spatial distribution, without needing of further NP surface functionalization. The efficiency enhancement factor related to Au NPs doping has been evaluated in a solar cell based on poly-(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) diffused bilayer. The short-circuit current density, J _SC, increases by 18 % and the power conversion efficiency by 22 %, respectively, in comparison with an equivalent device without Au NPs. The optical and morphological properties of the Au NPs layer have been selected in order to evaluate the contribution of the surface plasmon resonance as enhancement factor of the solar cell efficiency, in a range size where light scattering is negligible.     

Synthesis and characterisations of Au-nanoparticle-doped TiO2 and CdO thin films

In the present study, pure and gold nanoparticle (Au NP)-doped titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and cadmium oxide (CdO) thin film were prepared by the sol–gel method, and the effect of Au NP doping on the optical, structural and morphological properties of these thin films was investigated. The prepared thin films were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ultraviolet–visible–near infrared (UV–Vis–NIR) spectra. While the optical band increases from 3.62 to 3.73 for TiO₂ thin films, it decreases from 2.20 to 1.55 for CdO thin films with increasing Au doping concentration. Analysis of XRD indicates that the intensities of peaks of the crystalline phase have increased with the increasing Au NP concentrations in all thin films. SEM images demonstrate that the surface morphologies of the samples were affected by the incorporation of Au NPs. Consequently, the most significant results of the present study are that the Au NPs can be used to modify the optical, structural and morphological properties of TiO₂ and CdO thin films.     

Coalescence of Cluster Beam Generated Sub‐2 nm Bare Au Nanoparticles and Analysis of Au Film Growth Parameters

In this work is presented the growth model for Au films grown on a carbon substrate at room temperature by using as building blocks Au nanoparticles (NPs) with 1.4 nm mean size generated via remote cluster beam synthesis and soft landing on the substrate. The key results highlighted in this work are that 1) the deposited nanoparticles coalesce at substrate level in such a way that the film growth is 3D, 2) newly formed nanoparticles at substrate level are predominantly magic number clusters and 3) coalescensce takes place as soon as two neighboring nanopartciles come closer than a critical distance. The film growth was investigated by TEM as a function of Au load, in the range 0–1.2 μg/cm². Two distinct regimes are identified: the “landing regime” and the “coalescence regime”. During the latter the film growth is 3D with a dynamic scaling exponent z of 2.13. Particular attention was devoted to the study of the evolution of the NP population from the moment they are generated with the cluster beam generator to the moment they land on the substrate and coalesce with other NPs. Our results show that 1) the NPs generated by the cluster beam are heterogeneous in size and are made by more than 95% by Au Magic numbers, mainly Au₂₀ and Au₅₅ and 2) kinetic processes (coalescence) at substrate level is capable of producing NPs populations made of larger Au magic numbers containing up to several thousands of Au atoms. Experimental and simulation results provide insight into the coalescence mechanism and provide strong evidence that the NPs coalesce when the nearest neighbor distance is below a critical mark. The critical distance is at its minimum 0.4‐0.5 nm and it is still unclear whether it is constant or not although the best matching simulation results seem to point to a superlinear dependence from the NP size difference between two neighboring candidate coalescing NPs. The coalescence phenomenon investigated in this work pinpoints the unique self‐organization properties of these small Au NPs in creating films with a stable edge‐to‐edge mean nearest neighbor distance of the order of 1.4 nm.     

Dual plasmonic‐enhanced bulk‐heterojunction solar cell incorporating gold nanoparticles into solution‐processed anode buffer layer and active layer

A dual plasmonic resonance effect on the performance of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT):phenyl C61‐butyricacid methyl ester (PC61BM) based polymer solar cells (PSCs) has been demonstrated by selectively incorporating 25 nm colloidal gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) in a solution‐processed molybdenum oxide (MoO₃) anode buffer layer and 5 nm colloidal Au NPs in the active P3HT:PCBM layer. The devices exhibit up to ～20% improvement in power conversion efficiency which is attributed to the dual effect of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of Au NPs with enhanced light absorption and exciton generation. Our report shows a guideline on the usage of dual LSPR effect for the solution‐processed polymer solar cells to achieve high efficiencies. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Laser generated Ag and Ag–Au composite nanoparticles for refractive index sensor

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) wavelength of metal nanoparticles (NPs) is highly sensitive to size, shape and the surrounding medium. Metal targets were laser ablated in liquid for preparation of spherical Ag and Ag@Au core–shell NP colloidal solution for refractive index sensing. The LSPR peak wavelength and broadening of the NPs were monitored in different refractive index liquid. Quasi-static Mie theory simulation results show that refractive index sensitivity of Ag, Ag–Au alloy and Ag@Au core–shell NPs increases nearly linearly with size and shell thickness. However, the increased broadening of the LSPR peak with size, alloy concentration and Au shell thickness restricts the sensing resolution of these NPs. Figure-of-merit (FOM) was calculated to optimize the size of Ag NPs, concentration of Ag–Au alloy NPs and Au shell thickness of Ag@Au core–shell NPs. The refractive index sensitivity (RIS) and FOM were optimum in the size range 20–40 nm for Ag NPs. Laser generated Ag@Au NPs of Au shell thickness in the range of 1–2 nm showed optimum FOM, where thin layer of Au coating can improve the stability of Ag NPs.     

Waveguide properties and optical switching of prism-coupled Au:SiO2 nanocomposite films

In this study, we present theoretical and experimental analyses on the waveguide mode properties of prism-coupled Au:SiO₂ nanocomposite films with the near infrared laser of 1550 nm wavelength where the optical absorption diminished enough for the generation of guided mode. The evolution of guided mode in the nanocomposite waveguide and its propagation properties were also evaluated. As an effective way of utilizing the surface plasmon resonance properties for the application to optical switching devices, we employed an attenuated total internal reflection type optical switch geometry and tested its effectiveness for the absorptive opto-functional materials system using a cross-modulation technique with 532-nm pump and 1550-nm probe beams. The index change probe beam experiences was found to be purely refractive in nature and negative in sign, presumably due to the photo-thermal effect induced in the nanocomposite film by the irradiation of pump beam.     

Organic‐inorganic hybrids based on phenanthrene‐functionalized gold nanoparticles for OLEDs

The electroluminescence intensity of the phenanthrene‐functionalized gold nanoparticles, PMPT‐Au nanoparticles/CPB: Ir(PIA)₂ (acac) film, was increased by 4.9 times compared with control device, CPB: Ir(PIA)₂ (acac) due to coupling between the excitons of emissive layer and localized surface plasmonic resonance of PMPT‐Au NPs. The maximum luminous efficiencies of devices II to IV with PMPT‐Au NPs were 39.2 cd A^?1 (11.8 V), 40.1 cd A^?1 (10.5 V), and 43.1 cd A^?1 (9.0 V), respectively. The increment of current efficiency with PMPT‐Au NP coated devices was strongly related to the energy transfer between the radiated light generated from CBP: Ir(PIA)₂ (acac) emissive layer and localized surface plasmonic resonance excited by PMPT‐Au NP layer.     

High–Yield Production of Uniform Gold Nanoparticles with Sizes from 31 to 577 nm via One‐Pot Seeded Growth and Size‐Dependent SERS Property

In this work, uniform, quasi‐spherical gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) with sizes of 31–577 nm are prepared via one‐pot seeded growth with the aid of tris‐base (TB). Distinct from the seeded growth methods available in literature, the present method can be simply implemented by subsequently adding the aqueous dispersion of the 17 nm Au‐NP seeds and the aqueous solution of HAuCl₄ into the boiling aqueous TB solution. It is found that at the optimal pH range, the sizes of the final Au NPs and their concentrations are simply controlled by either the particle number of the Au seed dispersion or the concentration of the HAuCl₄ solution, while the latter enables us to produce large Au NPs at very high concentration. Moreover, as‐prepared Au NPs of various sizes are coated on glass substrates to test their surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities by using 4‐aminothiophenol (4‐ATP) molecules as probes, which exhibit “volcano type” dependence on the Au NP sizes at fixed excitation wavelength. Furthermore, the Au NPs with sizes of ≈97 and 408 nm exhibit the largest SERS enhancement at the excitation wavelength of 633 and 785 nm, respectively.     

Tunable passively Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser using MoWS2/rGO nanocomposite saturable absorber

We demonstrated a tunable Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL) using MoWS₂/rGO nanocomposite as passive saturable absorber. Further, the Mo_1?xW_xS₂/rGO nanosheets, with x proportion of 0.2, are synthesized using hydrothermal exfoliation technique. The proposed nanocomposite-PVA based thin film is fabricated by mixing the MoWS₂/rGO nanosheets with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The fabricated thin film is sandwiched between two fiber ferrules to realize the proposed saturable absorber (SA). Further, the proposed MoWS₂/rGO-PVA based thin film SA exhibits a fast relaxation time and a high damage threshold which are suitable to realize a Q-switched pulsed laser with a tunable wavelength range of 10?nm that extends from 1028?nm to 1038?nm. For the highest pump power of 267.4?mW, the generated Q-switched pulses exhibit a narrow pulse width of 1.22 μs, the pulse repetition rate of 90.4?kHz, the highest pulse energy of 2.13?nJ and its corresponding average power of 0.193?mW. To the best of author’s knowledge, this is the first realization of a tunable Q-switching fiber laser in a 1?μm wavelength using MoWS₂/rGO nanocomposite saturable absorber.     

Systematic Control of Size and Morphology in the Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles

The synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) capped by poly(1‐vinylpyrrolidin‐2‐one (PVP, average  = 10 000 kDa) yields moderately dispersed (6–8.5 nm) product with limited morphological control while larger NPs (15–20 nm) are reliably prepared using trisodium citrate (Na₃Cit) as a reductant/capping agent. Excellent size control in the intermediate 10 nm regime is achieved by hybridizing these methodologies, with highly monodisperse, polycrystalline Au NPs forming. For a Na₃Cit:PVP:Au ratio of 3.5:3.5:1, anisotropic NPs with an aspect ratio of 1.8:1 suggest the systematic agglomeration of NP pairs. Enhanced control of NP morphology is allowed by the 1,2‐tetradecanediol reduction of Au^III in the presence of straight chain, molecular anti‐agglomerants. Last, ligand substitution is used to controllably grow preformed Au seeds. In spite of the extended growth phase used, the replacement of phosphine by 1‐pentadecylamine affords highly monodisperse, cuboidal NPs containing a single clearly visible twinning plane. The allowance of particle growth parallel to this close‐packed plane explains the remarkable particle morphology.     

Highly efficient Nd:Gd0.6Y0.4VO4 laser by direct in-band pumping at 914 nm and observation of self-mode-locked operation

A highly efficient Nd:Gd_0.6Y_0.4VO₄ laser by direct in-band pumping at 914?nm is demonstrated for the first time. With an absorbed power of 3.7?W, a maximum output power of 2.65?W at 1064?nm was obtained, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 72%. We also experimentally observed that the laser system could be efficiently operated in the self-mode-locked state in the range of 0.9?C3.3?GHz. The pulse width was measured to be 16 ps at a repetition rate of 1.75?GHz.     

Electrical,optical and structural properties of pure and gold-coated VO2 thin films on quartz substrate

In the present study, vanadium dioxide films were grown on quartz glass substrate by reactive KrF laser ablation technique using a vanadium dioxide target. The gold films of various thicknesses were then deposited on the VO₂ film by sputtering technique. Films were characterized by X-ray diffraction to determine crystallography, by four-point probe to determine the electrical property and by double-beam spectrophotometry to determine optical reflection and transmission behaviour in the 200–2500 nm spectral region. The resistance per square of VO₂ thin film decreases by two orders of magnitude across the metal insulator transition (MIT). The optical transmittance and reflectance exhibits, strong temperature dependence in the infrared region without a significant change in the visible region for VO₂ thin films. The presence of gold layer on VO₂ films significantly reduces the resistance per square, the critical temperature and percentage transmittance of the materials.     

Temperature-agile and structure-tunable optical properties of VO2/Ag thin films

By integrating together VO₂??s unique near-room-temperature (RT) semiconductor?Cmetal (S?CM) phase transition with a thin silver (Ag) layer??s plasmonic properties, VO₂/Ag multilayers could present a much enhanced optical transmission change when increasing the temperature from RT to over VO₂??s S?CM phase-transition temperature. Changing VO₂ and Ag layer thicknesses can also significantly tune their transmission and absorption properties, which could lead to a few useful designs in optoelectronic and energy-saving industries.     

High-power neodymium-doped mixed vanadate bounce geometry laser, mode locked with nonlinear mirror

The highest power neodymium-doped mixed vanadate laser oscillator is presented. Using a crystal of Nd:Gd_0.6Y_0.4VO₄ in the bounce geometry, average output powers of 27.5?W in multimode and 23?W in TEM₀₀ operation were achieved. The first nonlinear mirror mode-locked operation of a mixed vanadate laser is also presented, with 16.8?W output power??the highest power mode-locked mixed vanadate oscillator, to the best of our knowledge. Self-starting continuous-wave mode locking was observed at a repetition rate of 100?MHz, pulse duration of 12.7?ps and central wavelength of 1063.8?nm, in TEM₀₀ mode.     

Resonant Raman scattering in ultrafine CdSxSe1−x colloidal particles

Vibrational spectra of ultrafine (～1.8 nm) CdS _x Se_1?x colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) are studied by resonant Raman scattering (RRS). The detected difference of the shape and spectral position of the longitudinal optical vibration band in comparison with the spectrum of slightly larger NPs (≥ 2 nm) is explained by the dominance of surface atoms as their fraction increases above 50%. The correlation of experimental results with ab initio calculated vibrational spectra and with vibration anharmonicity enhancement as the NP size decreases is discussed.