The surface of a gateless AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) is very sensitive to the attachment of electric charges which can greatly affect its channel conductance. For near two decades, HEMT has been researched as a possible sensor for chemical and bio-spices. In this study, we demonstrate the ability of an AlGaN/GaN HEMT to detect surface plasmon via the plasmonic generated hot-carrier injection. A theoretical model explaining the detecting mechanism will be introduced and verified by several experimental results. We will also discuss several possible applications of HEMT devices in the field of Plasmonics.
Three-dimensional optical Yagi-Uda nanoantenna array are fabricated using Nanospherical-Lens Lithography (NLL). The fabrication method can produce nanoantenna array that covers large area and with high throughput. The individual Yagi-Uda nanoantenna is consisted with 3 Au nanodisks separated by a thin layer of SiO2 obtained through sequential evaporation using NLL. The operation wavelength of the nanoantenna is designed is in the near infrared, which can be easily controlled by varying the structural parameters during NLL. We believe the results shown in this study can be applied to obtain directional antenna of nano-emitters and receivers in the near future.
In this research, nonlinearly two-photon pumped vortex lasing was firstly observed from perovskite metasurface. The lasing occurred at room temperature is based on the quasi-bound states in the continuum (QBIC) mode with a lasing threshold of 4.5mJ/cm2. The corresponding quality factor is around 1100. The vortex lasing mode is theoretically estimated to be a magnetic dipole mode with a topological charge of +1. In addition, the finite array size effect is found to be able to modulate the lasing. Results shown in this study should provide new ways to engineer more complex vortex beam lasing.
In this study, we demonstrate the ability to exclude the thermal effect and detect the generation of non-thermal hot carriers by surface plasmon using an AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor. We will also provide a theoretical model to explain the detecting mechanism. This proposed platform is very sensitive, which is at least two orders of magnitude more sensitive compared to the previous reports, can detect the hot carriers generated from discrete nanostructures illuminated by a continuous wave light. The quantitative measurements of hot carrier generation also open a new way to optimize the plasmonic nanoantenna design in many applications.
In this study, we will demonstrate the fabrication of a free-standing Au membrane with designed nano-patterns using Nanospherical-Lens Lithography. First, we will fabricate the Au membrane with designed nano-holes on top of the photoresist thin film. Then, the Au membrane is released in solvent and recovered on top of another thick metal membrane with larger holes. The surface plasmon resonance of the designed nano-holes is in the spectral range of mid infrared, which should be able to demonstrate surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectrum. We are currently measuring several IR-active molecules to demonstrate surface enhanced infrared absorption.
Conventional precision nanofabrication method, such as electron-beam lithography or focused-ion beam milling, can be used to fabrication of two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures. These 2D nanostructures, which are now referred as “metasurfaces”, have shown interesting optical properties and are intensely studied by researchers around the world in recent years. There are several phenomena, however, only exist in a 3D nanostructures. It is highly desirable to be able to overcome the obstacles to fabricate 3D nanostructures, which will possible open new applications for Plasmonics.
In this study, nanofabrication of various 3D nanostructures using a method combining Nanospherical-Lens Lithography and Hole Mask Lithograph will be demonstrated. The fabricated nanostructures would cover large-area and fabricated with high-throughput. The fabricated nanostructures can be made from various materials that can be evaporated. Nanostructures made from plasmonic metal, including Au, Ag and Al can be used for plasmonic applications. We will present several 3D nanostructures that can be fabricated using the proposed method. Several applications that take advantage of the fabricated nanostructures will also be introduced.
Chiral Plasmonics is a new and hot research topics, which studies the different in optical responses to the incident light with different handedness. Many new and exciting concepts have been reported in the literature; however, fabrication of these chiral nanostructures is not an easy task. It is especially hard to fabricate three-dimensional chiral nanostructures that cover large area and with high enough throughput.
In this study, we will demonstrate he fabrication of various chiral nanostructures using a method combining various nanofabrication technique, including Nanospherical-Lens Lithography (NLL), Nano-Stencil Lithography (NSL) and Hole Mask Lithography (HML). NLL is a technique that has been developed in our group for years and has been demonstrated to be able to integrated with HML to fabricated complicated nanostructures. In this investigation, we study the possibility to integrated the NSL and the HML so we are able to fabricate more nanostructures that can not be fabricated using NLL.
Finally, we will investigate the optical properties of the fabricated chiral nanostructures using three-dimensional finite difference time-domain method. Experimental measurements will also be performed to understand the actual optical properties of the fabricated nanostructures. In the end, we will use these chiral nanostructures to detect some chiral molecules.
Upconversion fluorescence from Lanthanide-doped nanocrystals has attracted widespread interests because of its greatly potential applications in various fields, such as photonic crystal lasers, material science, biological therapy, and so on. However, the relatively low quantum yield (typically < 5%) is the major limitation for upconversion nanocrystals. Meanwhile, in addition to the chemical methods, plasmonic structures have been adopted as another strategy to improve the radiation efficiency and control the relaxation process of the upcovnersion nanocrystals. We designed the anti-symmetric split ring resonators with various periods and the fishnet structures. The surface plasmon resonance peaks of the structure shift as the periods varies. For example, in a multi-layered plamsonic metasurface with the period of 250nm, both the electric and magnetic modes could be generated simultaneously when excited by the incident light with proper polarization. This plasmonic structure provides two different channels for the enhancement of upconversion fluorescence. The resonance peak of 650nm is magnetic resonance mode, while the peak of 980nm is electric resonance mode. The resonance peak of 980nm coincides with the absorption band of the Lanthanide-dopoed nanocrystal, and the peak of 650nm matches with its emission band. We found that the upconversion fluorescence intensity could be enhanced more than 10 times when the electric resonance frequency of the metasurface matches with the absorption band of the upconversion nanocrystals, while the magnetic mode overlaps with its emission band. This is due to the local density of optical states was significantly enhanced by the plasmonic metasurface. The detailed results and mechanism will be discussed.
Nanotechnology has been developed for decades and many interesting optical properties have been demonstrated. However, the major hurdle for the further development of nanotechnology depends on finding economic ways to fabricate such nanostructures in large-scale. Here, we demonstrate how to achieve low-cost fabrication using nanosphere-related techniques, such as Nanosphere Lithography (NSL) and Nanospherical-Lens Lithography (NLL).
NSL is a low-cost nano-fabrication technique that has the ability to fabricate nano-triangle arrays that cover a very large area. NLL is a very similar technique that uses polystyrene nanospheres to focus the incoming ultraviolet light and exposure the underlying photoresist (PR) layer. PR hole arrays form after developing. Metal nanodisk arrays can be fabricated following metal evaporation and lifting-off processes. Nanodisk or nano-ellipse arrays with various sizes and aspect ratios are routinely fabricated in our research group.
We also demonstrate we can fabricate more complicated nanostructures, such as nanodisk oligomers, by combining several other key technologies such as angled exposure and deposition, we can modify these methods to obtain various metallic nanostructures. The metallic structures are of high fidelity and in large scale. The metallic nanostructures can be transformed into semiconductor nanostructures and be used in several green technology applications.
KEYWORDS: Near field, Near field optics, Near field scanning optical microscopy, Silver, Heterodyning, Atomic force microscopy, Surface roughness, Surface plasmons, Interferometry, Optical microscopy
To study nano-scale optical local-field phenomena, an apertureless near-field scanning optical microscope (aNSOM) is
an important tool. Herein, an aNSOM has been developed and is utilized for observing the local surface plasmon
resonance, wave propagation, and nano-antenna enhancement of nanoprisms. The developed aNSOM, based on a
commercial atomic force microscope, is integrated with homodyne and heterodyne interferometric techniques to detect
the near-field amplitude and phase of nanostructures. With the help of mechanical system designs, different illumination
direction s and detections for different applications can be achieved.
A two-dimensional (2D) surface plasmon (SP)-enhanced optical trapping system based on a single high numerical
aperture objective has been developed. The system can be utilized to trap dielectric particles and simultaneously
provide imaging. The 40-fold electric field enhancement, and hence strong 2D trapping force distribution with SP
excitation through a gold film with a thickness of 45 nm in the near infrared region, was analyzed. The strong trapping
force and high-resolution trapping image of nanoparticles can be concurrently achieved via the same high NA objective.
The developed SP-enhanced trapping system was successfully applied to efficiently trap dielectric particles with a size
down to 350 nm on a cover slip surface and allows for real-time imaging observation. Also, in order to further increase
the penetration depth and the electric field of the evanescent wave, a coupled-waveguide surface plasmon resonance
configuration consisting of a five-layer structure of Bk7/Au/SiO2/Au/H2O for two-dimensional optical trapping has
been developed. Theoretical analysis shows that the maximum enhancement of the local electric field intensity is about
60-fold while the penetration depth is about 1 μm at the resonance angle. The trapped and aligned dielectric single layer
particles were spread over a large area with a reduction in feature size to form a hexagonally close-packed (HCP)
pattern on a cover slip surface. The HCP pattern has the potential for well-ordered 2D nanosphere lithography.
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