Surface plasmon enhancement of photon extraction efficiency by silver nanoparticles: with applications in laser cooling of semiconductors

Iman Hassani Nia; O. Gokalp Memis; John Kohoutek; Ryan M. Gelfand; Hooman Mohseni

doi:10.1117/12.929356

9 October 2012 Surface plasmon enhancement of photon extraction efficiency by silver nanoparticles: with applications in laser cooling of semiconductors

Iman Hassani Nia, O. Gokalp Memis, John Kohoutek, Ryan M. Gelfand, Hooman Mohseni

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8457, Plasmonics: Metallic Nanostructures and Their Optical Properties X; 84573V (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.929356
Event: SPIE NanoScience + Engineering, 2012, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Laser cooling of materials has been one of the important topics of photonic research during recent years. This is due to the compactness, lack of vibration, and integratibility of this method. Although laser refrigeration has been achieved in rare earth doped glass, no net cooling of semiconductors has been observed yet. The main challenge in this regard is the photon trapping inside the semiconductors, due to its high refractive index, which prevents the extraction of the energy from the material. Various methods have been proposed to overcome photon trapping but they are either not feasible or introduce surface defects. Surface defects increase the surface recombination which absorbs some portion of the photoluminescence and converts it to heat. We exploit the surface plasmons produced in silver nanoparticles to scatter the PL and make the extraction efficiency significantly higher without increasing the surface recombination. This is also important in the semiconductor lighting industry and also for enhancing the performance of solar cells by coupling the sunlight into the higher index absorbing region. Finite difference time domain simulations were used to find the total power extraction efficiency of the silver nanoparticles. It is also proposed for the first time to use the silver nanoparticles as mask for dry etching. The results for both etched and unetched cases were compared with each other. We also refer to a method of silver nanoparticle fabrication which is easy to apply to all kinds of cooling targets and is relatively cheaper than deposition of complex anti-reflective coatings.

Citation Download Citation

Iman Hassani Nia, O. Gokalp Memis, John Kohoutek, Ryan M. Gelfand, and Hooman Mohseni "Surface plasmon enhancement of photon extraction efficiency by silver nanoparticles: with applications in laser cooling of semiconductors", Proc. SPIE 8457, Plasmonics: Metallic Nanostructures and Their Optical Properties X, 84573V (9 October 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.929356

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available