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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,027 records · Page 57
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Surface plasmon enhanced third-order optical nonlinearity of Ag nanocomposite film

We obtain a large third-order optical nonlinearity (χ{sup (3)} ≈ 10{sup −10}esu) of silver nanoparticles dispersed in polyvinyl alcohol/tetraethyl orthosilicate matrix using single beam z-scan technique at 532 nm by Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. We have shown that mechanisms responsible for third-order optical nonlinearity of Ag nanocomposite film are reverse saturable absorption (RSA) and self-defocusing in the purlieu of surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Optical band-gap and width of SPR band of Ag nanocomposite film decrease with increasing silver concentration, which leads to enhancement of local electric field and hence third-order optical nonlinearity. Optical limiting, due to RSA has also been demonstrated at 532 nm.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Design for high-power, single-lobe, grating-surface-emitting quantum cascade lasers enabled by plasmon-enhanced absorption of antisymmetric modes

Resonant coupling of the transverse-magnetic polarized (guided) optical mode of a quantum-cascade laser (QCL) to the antisymmetric surface-plasmon modes of 2nd-order distributed-feedback (DFB) metal/semiconductor gratings results in strong antisymmetric-mode absorption. In turn, lasing in the symmetric mode, that is, surface emission in a single-lobe far-field beam pattern, is strongly favored over controllable ranges in grating duty cycle and tooth height. By using core-region characteristics of a published 4.6 μm-emitting QCL, grating-coupled surface-emitting (SE) QCLs are analyzed and optimized for highly efficient single-lobe operation. For infinite-length devices, it is found that when the antisymmetric mode is resonantly absorbed, the symmetric mode has negligible absorption loss (∼0.1 cm{sup −1}) while still being efficiently outcoupled, through the substrate, by the DFB grating. For finite-length devices, 2nd-order distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) gratings are used on both sides of the DFB grating to prevent uncontrolled reflections from cleaved facets. Equations for the threshold-current density and the differential quantum efficiency of SE DFB/DBR QCLs are derived. For 7 mm-long, 8.0 μm-wide, 4.6 μm-emitting devices, with an Ag/InP grating of ∼39% duty cycle, and ∼0.22 μm tooth height, threshold currents as low as 0.45 A are projected. Based on experimentally obtained internal efficiency values from high-performance QCLs, slope efficiencies as high as 3.4 W/A are projected; thus, offering a solution for watt-range, single-lobe CW operation from SE, mid-infrared QCLs.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

The effects of the substrate surface roughness on graphene plasmons

We investigate the effects of variation in the gap size between mono-layer graphene and a substrate with a randomly rough surface on the linear response of graphene’s π electron bands within the approximation of Dirac fermions. We adopt the electrostatic Green’s function developed by Rahman and Maradudin [Phys. Rev. B 21, 2137–2143 (1980)] for the surface of a dielectric medium, which exhibits a Gaussian distributed height profile and combine it with the polarization function of graphene described as a zero-thickness planar layer at a fixed distance from the mean position of the substrate surface. We specifically consider the effects of a random gap size on the two-dimensional sheet plasmon mode in heavily doped graphene, both on its dispersion relation in the long-wavelength limit and its broadening due to Landau damping in the continuum of inter-band electron-hole excitations at shorter wavelengths.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tailoring the surface plasmon resonance of embedded silver nanoparticles by combining nano- and femtosecond laser pulses

We demonstrate that the broad surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of a single layer of near-coalescence silver nanoparticles (NPs), embedded in a dielectric matrix can be tailored by irradiation with a single nanosecond laser pulse into a distribution featuring a sharp resonance at 435 nm. Scanning electron microscopy studies reveal the underlying mechanism to be a transformation into a distribution of well-separated spherical particles. Additional exposure to multiple femtosecond laser pulses at 400 nm or 800 nm wavelength induces polarization anisotropy of the SPR, with a peak shift that increases with laser wavelength. The spectral changes are measured in-situ, employing reflection and transmission micro-spectroscopy with a lateral resolution of 4 μm. Spectral maps as a continuous function of local fluence can be readily produced from a single spot. The results open exciting perspectives for dynamically tuning and switching the optical response of NP systems, paving the way for next-generation applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Enhanced multicolor fluorescence in bioimaging using deep-ultraviolet surface plasmon resonance

Enhanced multicolor fluorescence has been achieved using deep-ultraviolet surface plasmon resonance (DUV-SPR) on an aluminum thin film using the Kretschmann configuration. The film thickness and the incident angle of the light were optimized by calculations using the Fresnel equations. The presence of a surface oxide layer was also considered in the calculations. Experimental measurements showed that DUV-SPR led to a strong enhancement of the fluorescence intensity from both quantum dots and dye-labeled cells.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Local excitation of strongly coupled exciton-surface plasmons polaritons by a single nanoantenna

We demonstrate experimentally local coupling of light from free space to exciton-surface plasmon polaritons (X-SPPs). This is achieved by using a single, sub-wavelength gold nanowire on top of a thin silver film which is covered with a 30 nm thick layer of J-aggregating dyes in polyvinyl alcohol. We show that the nanowire acts as an antenna that resonantly scatters light to X-SPPs states with a Rabi splitting of 0.1 eV. The locally excited X-SPPs properties are studied by angle resolved spectroscopy of the far-field leaky photons and are compared to the large-scale response through Kretschmann reflection measurements and to theoretical calculations. The nanowire scattering properties are studied by dark-field scattering measurements and finite-difference time-domain simulations. This method to locally excite X-SPPs can potentially be useful for future applications of hybrid light matter states.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Efficient out-coupling and beaming of Tamm optical states via surface plasmon polariton excitation

We present evidence of optical Tamm states to surface plasmon polariton (SPP) coupling. We experimentally demonstrate that for a Bragg stack with a thin metal layer on the surface, hybrid Tamm-SPP modes may be excited when a grating on the air-metal interface is introduced. Out-coupling via the grating to free space propagation is shown to enhance the transmission as well as the directionality and polarization selection for the transmitted beam. We suggest that this system will be useful on those devices, where a metallic electrical contact as well as beaming and polarization control is needed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of the band structure of InGaN/GaN quantum well on the surface plasmon enhanced light-emitting diodes

The spontaneous emission (SE) of InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) structure with silver(Ag) coated on the n-GaN layer has been investigated by using six-by-six K-P method taking into account the electron-hole band structures, the photon density of states of surface plasmon polariton (SPP), and the evanescent fields of SPP. The SE into SPP mode can be remarkably enhanced due to the increase of electron-hole pairs near the Ag by modulating the InGaN/GaN QW structure or increasing the carrier injection. However, the ratio between the total SE rates into SPP mode and free space will approach to saturation or slightly decrease for the optimized structures with various distances between Ag film and QW layer at a high injection carrier density. Furthermore, the Ga-face QW structure has a higher SE rate than the N-face QW structure due to the overlap region of electron-hole pairs nearer to the Ag film.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spectral response of localized surface plasmon in resonance with mid-infrared light

We study spectral responses of localized surface plasmons (LSPs) in gold nanorods, which resonate at mid-infrared frequencies, by transmission spectroscopy and electromagnetic field analyses. The resonance linewidth is found to be linearly proportional to the resonance frequency, indicating that the dephasing due to Drude relaxation is suppressed and that the overall dephasing is dominated by radiative damping. Owing to the reduced radiative/non-radiative damping and large geometrical length of the nanorod, near-field intensity enhancement exceeds several hundred times. Nonetheless the resonance linewidth is comparable with or larger than the bandwidth of a 100-fs pulse, and therefore the enhanced near-field as short as 100-fs can be created upon pulsed excitation. The large enhancements with appropriate bandwidths make LSPs promising for enhanced nonlinear spectroscopies, coherent controls, and strong-field light-matter interactions in the mid-infrared range.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Asymmetric coupling and dispersion of surface-plasmon-polariton waves on a periodically patterned anisotropic metal film

The morphology of a columnar thin film (CTF) of silver renders it an effectively biaxially anisotropic continuum. CTFs of silver deposited on one-dimensional gratings of photoresist showed strong blazing action and asymmetrically coupled optical radiation to surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) waves propagating only along one direction supported by either the CTF/photoresist or the CTF/air interfaces. Homogenization of the CTFs using the Bruggeman formalism revealed them to display hyperbolic dispersion, and the dispersion of SPP waves was adequately described thereby.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Plasmon resonance enhanced mechanical detection of ligand binding

Small molecule binding to the active site of enzymes typically modifies the mechanical stiffness of the enzyme. We exploit this effect, in a setup which combines nano-mechanics and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) enhanced optics, for the label free detection of ligand binding to an enzyme. The large dynamic range of the signal allows to easily obtain binding curves for small ligands, in contrast to traditional SPR methods which rely on small changes in index of refraction. Enzyme mechanics, assessed by nano-rheology, thus emerges as an alternative to electronic and spin resonances, assessed by traditional spectroscopies, for detecting ligand binding.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Efficient conversion of surface-plasmon-like modes to spatial radiated modes

We propose a spoof surface plasmon polariton (SPP) emitter which is composed of ultrathin corrugated metallic strips, exhibiting the directional radiation property. The spoof SPP emitter provides a way to quickly convert the SPP mode to a radiated mode. By controlling phase modulations produced by the phase-gradient metasurface on the ultrathin metallic strips, we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that spoof SPP waves are converted into spatial propagating waves with high efficiency, which are further radiated with flexible beam steering. The proposed method sets up a link between SPP waves and radiation waves in a highly controllable way, which would possibly open an avenue in designing new kinds of microwave and optical elements in engineering.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Enhanced single photon emission from positioned InP/GaInP quantum dots coupled to a confined Tamm-plasmon mode

We report on the enhancement of the spontaneous emission in the visible red spectral range from site-controlled InP/GaInP quantum dots by resonant coupling to Tamm-plasmon modes confined beneath gold disks in a hybrid metal/semiconductor structure. The enhancement of the emission intensity is confirmed by spatially resolved micro-photoluminescence area scans and temperature dependent measurements. Single photon emission from our coupled system is verified via second order autocorrelation measurements. We observe bright single quantum dot emission of up to ∼173 000 detected photons per second at a repetition rate of the excitation source of 82 MHz, and calculate an extraction efficiency of our device as high as 7%.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

A parity-time symmetric coherent plasmonic absorber-amplifier

Non-Hermitian parity-time (PT)-symmetric optical potentials have led to a new class of unidirectional photonic components based on the spatially symmetric and balanced inclusion of loss and gain. While most proposed and implemented PT-symmetric optical devices have wavelength-scale dimensions, no physical constraints preclude development of subwavelength PT-symmetric components. We theoretically demonstrate a nanoscale PT-symmetric, all-optical plasmonic modulator capable of phase-controlled amplification and directional absorption. The modulator consists of two deeply subwavelength channels composed of either gain or loss dielectric material, embedded in a metallic cladding. When illuminating on-resonance by two counter-propagating plane waves, the aperture's total output can be modulated by changing the phase offset between the two waves. Modulation depths are greater than 10 dB, with output power varying from less than one half of the incident power to more than six times amplification. Off-resonance, the aperture possesses strong phase-controlled directionality with the output from one side varying from perfect absorption to strong scattering and transmission. The device design provides a platform for nanoscale all-optical modulators with gain while potentially enabling coherent perfect absorption and lasing in a single, compact structure.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Spectra of surface plasmon polariton enhanced electroluminescence from electroformed Al-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Ag diodes

Narrow band-pass filters have been used to measure the spectral distribution of electroluminescent photons with energies between 1.8 eV and 3.0 eV from electroformed Al-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Ag diodes with anodic Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} thicknesses between 12 nm and 18 nm. Electroforming of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diodes is a non-destructive dielectric breakdown that results in a conducting channel in the insulator and changes the initial high resistance of the MIM diode to a low resistance state. It is a critical step in the development of resistive-switching memories that utilize MIM diodes as the active element. Electroforming of Al-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Ag diodes in vacuum results in voltage-controlled negative resistance (VCNR) in the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. Electroluminescence (EL) and electron emission into vacuum (EM) develop simultaneously with the current increase that results in VCNR in the I-V characteristics. EL is due to recombination of electrons injected at the Al-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} interface with radiative defect centers in Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. Measurements of EL photons between 1.8 eV and 3.0 eV using a wide band-pass filter showed that EL intensity is exponentially dependent on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} thickness for Al-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Ag diodes between 12 nm and 20 nm thick. Enhanced El intensity in the thinnest diodes is attributed to an increase in the spontaneous emission rate of recombination centers due to high electromagnetic fields generated in Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} when EL photons interact with electrons in Ag or Al to form surface plasmon polaritons at the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Ag or Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Al interface. El intensity is a maximum at 2.0–2.2 eV for Al-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Ag diodes with Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} thicknesses between 12 nm and 18 nm. EL in diodes with 12 nm or 14 nm of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} is enhanced by factors of 8–10 over EL from a diode with 18 nm of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The extent of EL enhancement in the thinnest diodes can vary significantly between samples. A narrow band of recombination centers was found in one Al-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Ag diode with 12 nm of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}; it had EL intensity 100 times greater at 2.15 eV than the diode with 18 nm of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. EL intensity for photons with energies greater than 2.6 eV is nearly the same for all diodes.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Surface plasmons at the Brillouin zone boundary of an oblique lattice

In periodic systems of low-symmetry, the Bragg condition for the complete interference of waves along the contour of the Brillouin zone (BZ) boundary is not generally satisfied. As a result, band-gaps do not necessarily occur at this boundary. This letter demonstrates this experimentally by recording the iso-frequency contours for surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) supported on a diffraction grating with an underlying 2D oblique Bravias lattice. It is shown that these contours do not intersect the BZ boundary perpendicularly, as the symmetry operations of the lattice place no conditions on the surface wave interference at this boundary.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Performance analysis of higher mode spoof surface plasmon polariton for terahertz sensing

We investigated the spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) on 1D grooved metal surface for terahertz sensing of refractive index of the filling analyte through a prism-coupling attenuated total reflection setup. From the dispersion relation analysis and the finite element method-based simulation, we revealed that the dispersion curve of SSPP got suppressed as the filling refractive index increased, which cause the coupling resonance frequency redshifting in the reflection spectrum. The simulated results for testing various refractive indexes demonstrated that the incident angle of terahertz radiation has a great effect on the performance of sensing. Smaller incident angle will result in a higher sensitive sensing with a narrower detection range. In the meanwhile, the higher order mode SSPP-based sensing has a higher sensitivity with a narrower detection range. The maximum sensitivity is 2.57 THz/RIU for the second-order mode sensing at 45° internal incident angle. The proposed SSPP-based method has great potential for high sensitive terahertz sensing.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Observation of a hole-size-dependent energy shift of the surface-plasmon resonance in Ni antidot thin films

A combined experimental and theoretical study of the magneto-optic properties of a series of nickel antidot thin films is presented. The hole diameter varies from 869 down to 636 nm, while the lattice periodicity is fixed at 920 nm. This results in an overall increase of the polar Kerr rotation with decreasing hole diameter due to the increasing surface coverage with nickel. In addition, at photon energies of 2.7 and 3.3 eV, where surface-plasmon excitations are expected, we observe distinct features in the polar Kerr rotation not present in continuous nickel films. The spectral position of the peaks exhibits a red shift with decreasing hole size. This is explained within the context of an effective medium theory by a change in the effective dielectric function of the Ni thin films.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗