This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 9545 including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction, and Conference Committee listing.

Electromagnetic radiation propagating through any molecular system typically experiences a characteristic change in its polarization state as a result of light-matter interaction. Circularly polarized light is commonly absorbed or scattered to an extent that is sensitive to the incident circularity, when it traverses a medium whose constituents are chiral. This research assesses specific modifications to the properties of circularly polarized light that arise on passage through a system of surface-functionalized spherical nanoparticles, through the influence of chiral molecules on their surfaces. Non-functionalized nanospheres of atomic constitution are usually inherently achiral, but can exhibit local chirality associated with such surface-bound chromophores. The principal result of this investigation is the quantification of functionally conferred nanoparticle chirality, manifest through optical measurements such as circularly polarized emission. The relative position of chiral chromophores fixed to a nanoparticle sphere are first determined by means of spherical coverage co-ordinate analysis. The total electromagnetic field received by a spatially fixed, remote detector is then determined. It is shown that bound chromophores will accommodate both electric and magnetic dipole transition moments, whose scalar product represents the physical and mathematical origin of chiral properties identified in the detected signal. The analysis concludes with discussion of the magnitude of circular differential optical effects, and their potential significance for the characterization of surface-functionalized nanoparticles.

Quantum wells (QWs) are thin semiconductor layers than confine electrons and holes in one dimension. They are widely used for optoelectronic devices, particularly semiconductor lasers, but have so far been produced using expensive epitaxial crystal-growth techniques. This has motivated research into the use of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, which can be synthesized chemically at low cost, and can be processed in the solution phase. However, initial demonstrations of optical gain from colloidal nanocrystals involved high thresholds. Recently, colloidal synthesis methods have been developed for the production of thin, atomically flat semiconductor nanocrystals, known as nanoplatelets (NPLs). We investigated relaxation of high-energy carriers in colloidal CdSe NPLs, and found that the relaxation is characteristic of a QW system. Carrier cooling and relaxation on time scales from picoseconds to hundreds of picoseconds are dominated by Auger-type exciton-exciton interactions. The picosecond-scale cooling of hot carriers is much faster than the exciton recombination rate, as required for use of these NPLs as optical gain and lasing materials. We therefore investigated amplified spontaneous emission using close-packed films of NPLs. We observed thresholds that were more than 4 times lower than the best reported value for colloidal nanocrystals. Moreover, gain in these films is 4 times higher than gain reported for other colloidal nanocrystals, and saturates at pump fluences more than two orders of magnitude above the ASE threshold. We attribute this exceptional performance to large optical cross-sections, relatively slow Auger recombination rates, and narrow ensemble emission linewidths.

Semiconductor quantum dots are considered a promising material class with the potential of highly tunable and novel optoelectronic properties. Recent research efforts have shown that quantum dots, assembled in well-ordered 1D, 2D and 3D geometries have the potential to funnel excitons via Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) through the nanocrystal composite. Understanding the inter quantum dot coupling and the spatial extend of exciton diffusion is key to design material for the deliberate control of energy transport through them. In this regard, we study Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) between CdSe quantum dots in a well-defined 2D assembly with different interparticle distances. We then examine the spatial extent of FRET coupling between quantum dots using confocal fluorescence hyperspectral imaging. We spatially map out the degree of the coupling between the neighboring quantum dots by exciting the quantum dots at a known location and collect fluorescence signals at various distances relative to the excitation. We show that by varying the dimensionality, energy landscape, and exciton density, we are able to manipulate the spatial extent of exciton diffusion through the QDs assembly. Modeling was done in conjunction the experiments and well described our observations in each case. The results provide in-depth understanding into the spatial extent of exciton diffusion via FRET through ordered quantum dot assemblies and provide useful insights in engineering nano-building structures to direct and enhance the direction of the exciton transport to a preferred sites.

Nanostructured organosilicon luminophores (NOLs) are branched molecular structures having two types of covalently bonded via silicon atoms organic luminophores with efficient Förster energy transfer between them. They combine the best properties of organic luminophores and inorganic quantum dots: high absorption cross-section, excellent photoluminescence quantum yield, fast luminescence decay time, good processability and low toxicity. A smart choice of organic luminophores allowed us to design and synthesize a library of NOLs, absorbing from VUV to visible region and emitting at the desired wavelengths from 390 to 650 nm. They can be used as unique wavelength shifters in plastic scintillators and other applications.

The integration of plasmonic nanostructures on silicon photonics enhances the photonic properties and functionalities of optical devices such as silicon photonic waveguides in the near infrared spectrum. Indeed, the use of electromagnetic surface waves associated with charge density waves on the surface of a conducting material (i.e. surface plasmons-polaritons) could confine and therefore enhance the local electromagnetic field relative to the electromagnetic field in a silicon photonic waveguide. In such a hybrid plasmonic-photonic integrated platform, the surface plasmons-polaritons are used for short-distance and strong interaction with matter while the photonic modes in silicon photonic waveguides are used for long-distance propagation of information. The integration of the plasmonic nanostructures and the photonic waveguides is based on evanescent directional coupling. Due to the subwavelength confinement of the electromagnetic fields in the plasmonic structures, optical near field measurements with the use of near-field scanning optical microscopes (NSOM) are required to reveal and to understand the propagation characteristics of light in integrated plasmonic devices on silicon photonics. The aim of this contribution is to present and to discuss the optical near field images of some integrated plasmonic devices. The interpretation of NSOM images provides a rich understanding of the physical mechanisms involved in plasmonic-photonic integrated structures.

Motivated by a greater need for increased performance in modern-day technology, this paper shows the results of theoretical calculations for the optical properties of Al/SiO₂ nano-layered metamaterial with hyperbolic dispersion. Our main focus is on designing a metamaterial with low losses, since losses might outweigh any increase in speed of photonic devices. We have investigated the effect of three major variables (number/thickness of the Al layers and Al fill fraction) on inherent losses and hyperbolic dispersion using the effective medium approximation with non-local corrections. Our model predicts a variation of the dielectric permittivity only in the perpendicular direction as the number of Al layers changes. First, we present the results of the detailed study of varying the number of Al layers, N, in attempt to find the “saturation limit” of non-local corrections in Al/SiO2 layers. Next, we changed Al fill fraction in a sample of N= 20 layers to find parameters for the material with minimized losses. We found that both of these effects determine the transition wavelength to hyperbolic dispersion, which allows for fine-tuning of the optical properties for future applications.

Potential solar energy applications of metamaterial absorbers require spectrally tunable resonance to ensure the overlap with intrinsic absorption profiles of active materials. Although those resonance peaks of metamaterial absorbers can be tuned precisely by lithography-fabricated nanopatterns with different lateral dimensions, they are too expensive for practical large-area applications. In this work, we will report another freedom to tune the spectral position of the super absorbing resonance, i.e. the spacer thickness. The structure was fabricated by evaporating an optically opaque metallic ground plate, a dielectric spacer layer, and a top metallic thin film followed by thermal annealing processes to form discrete nanoparticles. As the spacer thickness increases from 10-90 nm, two distinct shifts of the absorption peak can be observed [i.e. a blue-shift for thinner (10-30 nm) and a red-shift for thicker spacer layers (30-90 nm)]. To understand the physical mechanism, we characterized effective optical constants of top nanopattern layer and loaded them into numerical simulation models. A good agreement with experimental data was only observed in the thick spacer region (i.e. 30-90 nm). The optical behavior for thinner spacers cannot be explained by effective medium theory and interference mechanism. Therefore, a microscopic study has to be performed to reveal strongly coupled modes under metallic nanopatterns, which can be interpreted as separate antennas strongly coupled with the ground plate. Since the resonant position is sensitive to the spacer thickness, a tunable super absorbing metasurface is realizable by introducing spatial tunable materials like stretchable chemical/ biomolecules.

Due to its wide direct band gap and large exciton binding energy allowing for efficient excitonic emission at room temperature, ZnO has attracted attention as a luminescent material in various applications such as UV-light emitting diodes, chemical sensors and solar cells. While low-cost growth techniques, such as chemical bath deposition (CBD), of ZnO thin films and nanostructures have been already reported; nevertheless, ZnO thin films and nanostructures grown by costly techniques, such as metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy, still present the most interesting properties in terms of crystallinity and internal quantum efficiency. In this work, we report on highly efficient and highly crystalline ZnO micropods grown by CBD at a low temperature (< 90°C). XRD and low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) investigations on as-grown ZnO micropods revealed a highly crystalline ZnO structure and a strong UV excitonic emission with internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of 10% at room temperature. Thermal annealing at 900°C of the as-grown ZnO micropods leads to further enhancement in their structural and optical properties. Low-temperature PL measurements on annealed ZnO micropods showed the presence of phonon replicas, which was not the case for as-grown samples. The appearance of phonon replicas provides a strong proof of the improved crystal quality of annealed ZnO micropods. Most importantly, low-temperature PL reveals an improved IQE of 15% in the excitonic emission of ZnO micropods. The ZnO micropods IQE reported here are comparable to IQEs reported on ZnO structures obtained by costly and more complex growth techniques. These results are of great interest demonstrating that high quality ZnO microstructures can be obtained at low temperatures using a low-cost CBD growth technique.

Tip Enhanced Raman Scattering (TERS), a technique that provides molecular information on the nanometer scale, has been a subject of great scientific interest for 15 years. But regardless of the recent achievements and applications of TERS, ranging from material science and nanotechnology, strain measurement in semiconductors, to cell biological applications, the TERS technique has been hampered by extremely long acquisition times, measured in hours, required for collection of reasonably high pixel density TERS maps. In this talk, specifics of the TERS setup that enable fast, high pixel density nano-Raman imaging will be discussed: The innovative integration of technologies brings high-throughput optics and high-resolution scanning for high-speed imaging without interferences between the techniques. The latest developments in near-field optical probes also provide reliable solutions for academic and industrial researchers alike to easily get started with nanoscale Raman spectroscopy. Thanks to those latest instrumental developments, we will present the nanoscale imaging of chemical and physical properties of graphene, carbone nanotubes and self-assembled monolayers of organic molecules, with a spatial resolution routinely obtained in TERS maps in the 15 - 20 nm range and a best resolution achieved being of 7 nm

Porous silica nanoparticles are considering good systems for drug cargo and liquid separation. In this work we studied the release of rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) from solid and porous silica nanoparticles. Solid and porous SiO₂ spheres were prepared by sol-gel method. Nanoporous channels were produced by using a surfactant that was removed by chemical procedure. Rh6G was incorporated into the channels by impregnation. The hexagonal structure of the pores was detected by XRD and confirmed by HRTEM micrographs. Rh6G released from the particles by stirring them in water at controlled speed was studied as function of time by photoluminescence. Released ratio was faster in the solid nanoparticles than in the porous ones. In the last case, a second release mechanism was observed. It was related with rhodamine coming out from the porous.

ZnO possess distinctive characteristics such as low cost, wide band gap (3.36 eV) and large exciton binding energy (60meV). As the band gap lies in ultra violet (UV) region, ZnO is considered as a novel material for the fabrication of ultra violet light emitting diodes (UV-LEDs). However, ZnO being intrinsic n-type semiconductor the key challenge lies in realization of stable and reproducible p-type ZnO. In the present research dual acceptor group-V elements such as P and N are simultaneously doped in ZnO films to obtain the p-type characteristics. The deposition is made by programmable spray pyrolysis technique upon glass substrates at 697K. The optimum doping concentration of P and N were found to be 0.75 at% which exhibits hole concentration of 4.48 x 10^18 cm-3 and resistivity value of 9.6 Ω.cm. The deposited p-ZnO were found to be stable for a period over six months. Highly conducting n-type ZnO films is made by doping aluminum (3 at%) which exhibits higher electron concentration of 1.52 x 10^19 cm-3 with lower electrical resistivity of 3.51 x 10-2 Ω.cm. The structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of the deposited n-ZnO and p-ZnO thin films are investigated. An efficient p-n homojunction has been fabricated using the optimum p-ZnO:(P,N) and n-ZnO:Al layers. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics show typical rectifying characteristics of p-n junction with a low turn on voltage. Electroluminescence (EL) studies reveals the fabricated p-n homojunction diodes exhibits strong emission features in ultra-violet (UV) region around 378 nm.

It is well known that irradiation of colloidal quantum dots can dramatically enhance their emission efficiencies, leading to so-called photoinduced fluorescence enhancement (PFE). This process is the result of the photochemical and photophysical properties of quantum dots and the way they interact with the environment in the presence of light. It has been shown that such properties can be changed significantly using metal oxides. Using spectroscopic techniques, in this paper we investigate emission of different types of quantum dots (with and without shell) in the presence of metal oxides with opposing effects. We observed significant increase of PFE when quantum dots are deposited on about one nanometer of aluminum oxide, suggesting such oxide can profoundly increase quantum yield of such quantum dots. On the other hand, copper oxide can lead to significant suppression of emission of quantum dots, making them nearly completely dark instantly.

Advanced power generation technologies including solid oxide fuel cells require advancements in sensor technologies for efficient operation. Gas sensors for SOFC anode streams must be stable in high temperature and under reducing atmospheres. Optical sensing technologies offer the potential for good stability and sensing response under harsh conditions but are relatively new as compared to alternative sensing approaches and require significant developments in underlying device and enabling materials technology. In this paper, the near infrared optical sensing response of La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃, a representative correlated perovskite material, is presented. Hydrogen sensing performance was measured in laboratory scale sensing experiments in the range of 1-4% hydrogen. The effect of oxygen on sensor recovery behavior was also examined. The films show a large, recoverable response to the introduction of hydrogen to the gas stream. The results presented here suggest this unique class of materials is a strong candidate for future sensor development efforts targeted at optical sensor applications but also requires additional fundamental research to understand the mechanistic origin of observed optical sensing responses.

Luminescent nanoscale materials (LNMs) have received widespread interest in sensing and lighting applications due to their enhanced emissive properties. For sensing applications, LNMs offer improved sensitivity and fast response time which allow for lower limits of detection. Meanwhile, for lighting applications, LNMs, such as quantum dots, offer an improved internal quantum efficiency and controlled color rendering which allow for better lighting performances. Nevertheless, due to their nanometric dimensions, nanoscale materials suffer from extremely weak luminescence excitation (i.e. optical absorption) limiting their luminescence intensity, which in turn results in a downgrade in the limits of detection and external quantum efficiencies. Therefore, enhancing the luminescence excitation is a major issue for sensing and lighting applications. In this work, we report on a novel photonic approach to increase the luminescence excitation of nanoscale materials. Efficient luminescence excitation increase is achieved via a gain-assisted waveguided energy transfer (G-WET). The G-WET concept consists on placing nanoscale materials atop of a waveguiding active (i.e. luminescent) layer with optical gain. Efficient energy transfer is thus achieved by exciting the nanoscale material via the tail of the waveguided mode of the active layer emission. The G-WET concept is demonstrated on both a nanothin layer of fluorescent sensitive polymer and on CdSe/ZnS quantum dots coated on ZnO thin film, experimentally proving up to an 8-fold increase in the fluorescence of the polymer and a 3-fold increase in the luminescence of the CdSe/ZnS depending of the active layer emission regime (stimulated vs spontaneous emission). Furthermore, we will discuss on the extended G-WET concept which consists on coating nanoscale materials on a nanostructured active layer. The nanostructured active layer offers the necessary photonic modulation and a high specific surface which can presumably lead to a more efficient G-WET concept. Finally, the efficiency as well as the observation conditions of the GWET will be discussed and compared with more conventional charge transfer or dipole-dipole energy transfer.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with natural layer structures have been proven to provide extraordinary physical and chemical properties. Bismuth chalcogenides are examples of such two-dimensional materials. They are strongly bonded within layers and weak van der Waals interaction ties those layers together. Such naturally layered structure allows chemical intercalation of foreign atoms into the van der Waals gaps. Here, we show that by adding large number of copper atoms into van der Waals gaps of bismuth chalcogenides, we observed counter-intuitive enhancement of optical transparency together with improved electrical conductivity, which is on the contrary to most bulk materials in which doping reduces the light transmission. This surprising behavior is caused by substantial tuning of material optical property and nanophotonic anti-reflection effect unique to ultra-thin nanoplates. With the intercalation of copper atoms, large number of electrons have been added into the semiconducting material system and effectively lift the Fermi level of the resulting material to its conduction band, as proved by our densityfunctional- theory computations. Occupied lower states in the conduction band do not allow the optical excitation of electrons in the valence band to the bottom of the conduction band, leading to an effective widening of optical band gap. Optical transmission is further enhanced by constructive interference of reflected beams as bismuth chalcogenides have large permittivity than the environment. The synergy of these two effects in two-dimensional nanostructures can be exploited for various optoelectronic applications including transparent electrode. The reversible intercalation process allows potential dynamic tuning capability.

Molecular photonic wires (MPWs) present interesting applications in energy harvesting, artificial photosynthesis, and nano-circuitry. MPWs allow the directed movement of energy at the nanoscopic level. Extending the length of the energy transfer with a minimal loss in efficiency would overcome an important hurdle in allowing MPWs to reach their potential. We investigated Homogenous Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (HomoFRET) as a means to achieve this goal. We designed a simple, self-assembled DNA nanostructure with specifically placed dyes (Alexa488-Cy3-Cy3.5-Alexa647-Cy5.5) at a distance of 3.4 nm, a separation at which energy transfer should theoretically be very high. The input of the wire was at 466 nm with an output up to 697 nm. Different structures were studied where the Cy3.5 section of the MPW was extended from one to six repeats. We found that though the efficiency cost is not null, HomoFRET can be extended up to six repeat dyes with only a 22% efficiency loss when compared to a single step system. The advantage is that these six repeats created a MPW which was 17 nm longer, almost 2.5 times the initial length. To confirm the existence of HomoFRET between the Cy3.5 repeats fluorescence lifetime and fluorescence lifetime anisotropy was measured. Under these conditions we are able to demonstrate the energy transfer over a distance of 30.4 nm, with an end-to-end efficiency of 2.0%, by utilizing a system with only five unique dyes.

Organic contaminants and corrosion in water treatment effluents are a current global problem and the development of effective methods to facilitate the removal of organic contaminants and corrosion control strategies are required to mitigate this problem. TiO₂ nanomaterials that are exposed to UV light can generate electron-hole pairs, which undergo redox reactions to produce hydroxyl radicals from adsorbed molecular oxygen. They hydroxyl radicals are able to oxidize organic contaminants in water. This same process can be used in conjunction to protect metals from corrosion via cathodic polarization. In this work, TiO₂ nanomaterials were synthesized and electrophoretically deposited on conductive substrates to serve as films or membranes. An illuminated TiO₂ film on a conductive surface served as the photoanode and assisted in the cathodic protection of stainless steel (SS304) and the degradation of organic pollutants, in this case glucose. This proof-of-concept relied on photoelectrochemical experiments conducted using a potentiostat and a xenon lamp illumination source. The open-circuit potential changes that determine whether a metal is protected from corrosion under illumination was observed; and the electrical characteristics of the TiO₂ film or membrane under dark and arc lamp illumination conditions were also analyzed. Furthermore, the effect of organic contaminants on the photocathodic protection mechanism and the oxidation of glucose during this process were explored.

The main goal of our research is to develop new types of technologically important optically active quantum dot (QD) based materials, study their properties and explore their biological applications. For the first time chiral II-VI QDs have been prepared by us using microwave induced heating with the racemic (Rac), D- and L-enantiomeric forms of penicillamine as stabilisers. Circular dichroism (CD) studies of these QDs have shown that D- and L-penicillamine stabilised particles produced mirror image CD spectra, while the particles prepared with a Rac mixture showed only a weak signal. It was also demonstrated that these QDs show very broad emission bands between 400 and 700 nm due to defects or trap states on the surfaces of the nanocrystals. These QDs have demonstrated highly specific chiral recognition of various biological species including aminoacids. The utilisation of chiral stabilisers also allowed the preparation of new water soluble white emitting CdS nano-tetrapods, which demonstrated circular dichroism in the band-edge region of the spectrum. Biological testing of chiral CdS nanotetrapods displayed a chiral bias for an uptake of the D- penicillamine stabilised nano-tetrapods by cancer cells. It is expected that this research will open new horizons in the chemistry of chiral nanomaterials and their application in nanobiotechnology, medicine and optical chemo- and bio-sensing.

AgInS₂-ZnS (ZAIS) quaternary semiconductors nanocrystals are versatile cadmium-free luminescent nanomaterials. Their broad emission spectrum and strong absorption make them ideal for the development of new white-LED devices taking advantage of nano-optical phenomena. We recently found strategies to increase the photoluminescence quantum yield of ZAIS nanocrystals up to 80%. In a second step toward high efficiency luminescent materials, we aim at increasing the net conversion efficiency of ZAIS nanocrystals by coupling them with metallic nano-antennae. Indeed, by grafting ZAIS nanocrystals onto carefully chosen metal/dielectric core/shell nanoparticles, both the absorption and emission processes can be tuned and enhanced. A finite-element simulation based on the discrete dipole approximation (DDA) was used to predict the nano-optical behavior of silver@oxide@ZAIS nanostructures. Desirable combinations of materials and geometry for the antennae were identified. A chemical method for the synthesis of the simulated nanostructures was developed. The coupling of ZAIS nanocrystals emission with the plasmonic structure is experimentally observed and is in accordance with our predictions.

Several works have already shown that the excitation of plasmonic structures through waveguides enables a strong light confinement and low propagation losses [1]. This kind of excitation is currently exploited in areas such as biosensing [2], nanocircuits[3] and spectroscopy[4]. The efficient excitation of surface plasmon modes (SPP) with guided modes supported by high-index-contrast waveguides, such as silicon-on-insulator waveguides, had already been shown [1,5]. However, the use of weakconfined guided modes of a glass ion exchanged waveguide as a SPP excitation source represents a technological challenge, because the mismatch between the size of their respective electromagnetic modes is so high that the resultant coupling loss is unacceptable for practical applications. In this work, we describe how an adiabatic taper structure formed by an intermediate high-index-contrast layer placed between a plasmonic structure and an ion-exchanged waveguide decreases the mismatch between effective indices, size, and shape of the guided modes. This hybrid structure concentrates the electromagnetic energy from the micrometer to the nanometer scale with low coupling losses to radiative modes. The electromagnetic mode confined to the high-index-contrast waveguide then works as an efficient source of SPP supported by metallic nanostructures placed on its surface. We theoretically studied the modal properties and field distribution along the adiabatic coupler structure. In addition, we fabricated a high-index-contrast waveguide by electron beam lithography and thermal evaporation on top of an ion-exchanged waveguide on glass. This structure was characterized with the use of near field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). Numerical simulations were compared with the experimental results. [1] N. Djaker, R. Hostein, E. Devaux, T. W. Ebbesen, and H. Rigneault, and J. Wenger, J. Phys. Chem. C 114, 16250 (2010). [2] P. Debackere, S. Scheerlinck, P. Bienstman, R. Baets, Opt. Express 14, 7063 (2006).] [3] A. A. Reiserer, J.-S. Huang, B. Hecht, and T. Brixner. Opt. Express 18(11), 11810–11820 (2010). [4] R. Salas-Montiel, A. Apuzzo, C. Delacour, Z. Sedaghat, A. Bruyant et al. Appl. Phys Lett 100, 231109 (2012) [5] A. Apuzzo M. Fevier, M. Salas-Montiel et al. Nano letters, 13, 1000-1006

Polyaniline (PAn)-coated silica spheres have been synthesized by attaching various amounts of N-[3- (trimethoxysilyl)propyl]aniline (TMSPA) and polymerizing with ammonium persulfate. The ratios of tetraethoxy orthosilicate and TMSPA were 10:1 (PAn-A), 5:1 (PAn-B), and 3:1 (PAn-C). After polymerization of the aniline moieties the –OH absorption peak drastically reduced and the new sharp peaks appeared at 1398 cm^-1 and 617 cm^-1 representing C-N and C-S stretching vibrations, respectively. The polymerized spheres were soaked into the acetone for three months. New absorption peak at 1712 cm-1 representing C=O stretching vibration of an ester appears after three months storage in acetone and becomes stronger with the smaller amount of PAn. Although the sphere film color is gray when it is dried, the color turned to dark when it was wetted with methanol. Complicated solvatochromic behavior was observed for whole UV-visible range depending on the solvent. The solution color changed from clear to dark brown, brown, and yellow for the PAnA, PAnB and PAnC, respectively. The absorption peaks of the dried solution for PAn-A and PAn-B at 3230, 2972, 2926, 1712, 1434/1377, and 1051 cm^-1 represent C-OH, R-CH₃, R₂-CH₂, -C=O, C-H, and Si- O-Si absorption, respectively. Photoluminescence peak of the solution shifted toward longer wavelength with the decrease the amount of PAn. The sequence of the amount of new material formation is PAn-A > PAn-B > PAn-C.

In this paper the characteristics of Tantalum nanoparticles produced by laser ablation method is investigated experimentally with a first harmonic of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser of 1064 nm wavelengths at 6 ns pulse. Spherical nanoparticles of Ta and tantalum oxide have been produced successfully by using a Ta target in ethanol. The fluency of laser was 0.9 J/cm². The samples were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photo luminescence (PL), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and absorption spectroscopy analyses. The size of produced nanoparticles is mainly in the range between 10–20 nm, structural and phase compositional of produced Ta nanoparticles.

Transmissions and resonant tunneling of two-dimensional (2D) photonic superlattices (PhSLs) are discussed. We consider PhSL composed of two alternating 2D-photonic crystals. The structure is denoted as A/B/A/B……A/B, where photonic crystals A and B act as photonic wells and barriers, respectively. The transmission coefficient is calculated using the Transfer Matrix Method (TMM) in combination with Bloch theorem. The transmission spectra of the PhSLs indicate that the formation of photonic miniband and minigap inside the wells. The positions and number of the minibands can be artificially tuned by varying the well width. By appropriately choosing the structure parameters, these interesting results can be used to develop new photonic devices.

Epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) metamaterials are designed to exhibit a near-zero response for the real part of the dielectric permittivity at a given frequency or in a specific frequency range. Typically, this frequency range is relatively small. In this paper, we present an approach to broaden this range by controlling the size of the nanoparticles embedded in a thin film. Noble metal nanoparticles exhibit an external size effect that redshifts the Surface Plasmon Resonance frequency with an increase of the size of the particles. The absorption spectrum of a material can be directly related to its dielectric permittivity via the Kramers-Kronig relations. We use the Kramers-Kronig relations to retrieve the complex effective dielectric permittivity of a composite film, which is designed to exhibit ENZ behavior over a broad frequency range. We synthesize a composite thin film embedded with metal nanoparticles of a broad size distribution. Such a material exhibits a broad SPR, and, in turn, broadband ENZ behavior.

For the analysis of ZnO luminescence the system of rate equations (SRE) was proposed. It contains a set of parameters that characterizes processes participating in luminescence: zone-zone excitation, excitons formation and recombination, formation and disappearance of photons and surface plasmons (SP). It is shown that experimental ZnO microstructure radiation intensity dependence on photoexcitation level can be approximated by using SRE. Thus, the values of these parameters can be estimated and used for luminescence analysis. This approach was applied for the analysis of ZnO microfilms radiation with different thickness of Ag island film covering. It was revealed that the increase of cover thickness leads to the increase of losses and decrease of probability of photons to SP conversion. In order to take into account visible emission, rate equations for levels populations in band-gap and for corresponding photons and SP were added to SRE. By using such SRE it is demonstrated that the form of visible luminescence intensity dependence on excitation level (P) like P^1/3, as obtained elsewhere [1], is possible only in case of donor-acceptor pairs existence. The proposed approach was applied for consideration of experimental results obtained in [5-8] taking into account their interpretation of these results based on assumption about transfer of electrons from defect level in ZnO band-gap to metal and then to conduction band in ZnO. Results of performed calculations using modified SRE revealed that effects observed in these papers can exist under only low pumping level. This result will be experimentally checked later.

A technique to fabricate dye (rhodamine B) sensitized solar cells based on Titanium Oxide (TiO₂) and Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles are reported. The TiO₂ was synthesized using the sol-gel method and the ZnO was synthesized by hydrolysis method to obtain nanoparticles of ~ 5 nm and 150 nm respectively. ZnO was doped with Al³⁺ in order to enhance the photovoltaic efficiency to promote the electrons mobility. The photovoltaic conversion characterization of films of TiO₂, ZnO and ZnO:Al³⁺ nanoparticles is also reported. The generated photocurrent was measured by two methods; one of those uses a three electrode electrochemical cell and the other use an electronic array where the cells were exposed to UV lamp and the sun light. The role of the TiO₂, ZnO and Al³⁺ doped ZnO nanoparticles is discussed to obtain a better efficiency in the generation of photocurrent (PC). The results exhibited by the electrochemical cell method, efficiencies of 0.55 (PC=187 μA/cm²) and 0.22 (PC=149 μA/cm²) for TiO₂ and undoped ZnO respectively. However, when ZnO is doped with Al³⁺ at the higher concentration the efficiency was 0.44. While using the electronic array the results exhibited efficiencies of 0.31 (PC=45 μA/cm²) and 0.09 (PC=16 μA/cm²) for TiO₂ and undoped ZnO respectively. However, when ZnO is doped with Al³⁺ at the higher concentration the efficiency was 0.44 and 0.48 for electrochemical cell and electronic array respectively. This shows that Al³⁺ enhances the photogenerated charge carriers increasing the mobility of electrons.

An optical method to obtain a colloidal solution starting from a mixture of silver nanopowder and ethanol is presented. The particles of the silver nanopowder do not exhibit a specific shape, however in the colloidal solution are spherical. This method is carry out when the mixture is irradiated with a pulsed laser at 532 nm via optical fiber. Due to a stronger absorption of the laser light by silver nanoparticles arise both photofragmentation and photomelting processes. The photomelting process starts when the laser energy is 5 mJ/cm², inducing an enlargement of nanoparticles whereas the photofragmentation occurs when the laser energy is 25 mJ/cm² causing a reduction on their sizes (the higher energy is, the smaller nanoparticles are). Results show that it is possible to obtain a colloidal silver solution and to control the particle size by adjusting the laser energy. Experiments were performed at 5 and 25 mJ/cm², and the results are presented.

Amplitude and phase contributions to mixed volume holographic gratings were extracted from measured contours of angular selectivity. Holograms for the investigation were recorded in the glassy polymer material with phenan-threnequinone (PQ) using the DPSS CW laser (532 nm) and then self-developed due to molecular diffusion of PQ, reaching diffraction efficiency about 40%. Refractive index and absorbance modulation amplitudes of those holograms were obtained as adjustable parameters from theoretical equations by fitting angular dependencies of zeros and 1^st orders diffraction efficiency measured at 450, 473, 532, and 633 nm at the different stages of hologram development. Mixed gratings manifest themselves in asymmetrical transmittance selectivity contours with one minimum and one maximum shifted with respect to the Bragg angle, while symmetrical contours with a minimum or a maximum at the Bragg angle are characteristic of pure phase and amplitude gratings, respectively. In the course of a hologram development, it converts from a predominantly amplitude-mixed to almost purely phase one in the case of readout using a light within the absorption band of PQ and maintains the phase nature besides it. The value of refractive index amplitude is ranging from 5×10^-6 to 10^-4 and the value of absorbance amplitude is up to 140 m^-1.