Multifunctional plasmonic film for recording near-field optical intensity

Thermoplasmonics in Solar Energy Conversion: Materials, Nanostructured Designs, and Applications

The indispensable requirement for sustainable development of human society has forced almost all countries to seek highly efficient and cost-effective ways to harvest and convert solar energy. Though continuous progress has advanced, it remains a daunting challenge to achieve full-spectrum solar absorption and maximize the conversion efficiency of sunlight. Recently, thermoplasmonics has emerged as a promising solution, which involves several beneficial effects including enhanced light absorption and scattering, generation and relaxation of hot carriers, as well as localized/collective heating, offering tremendous opportunities for optimized energy conversion. Besides, all these functionalities can be tailored via elaborated designs of materials and nanostructures. Here, first the fundamental physics governing thermoplasmonics is presented and then the strategies for both material selection and nanostructured designs toward more efficient energy conversion are summarized. Based on this, recent progress in thermoplasmonic applications including solar evaporation, photothermal chemistry, and thermophotovoltaic is reviewed. Finally, the corresponding challenges and prospects are discussed.

High Fluence Chromium and Tungsten Bowtie Nano-antennas

Nano-antennas are replicas of antennas that operate at radio-frequencies, but with considerably smaller dimensions when compared with their radio frequency counterparts. Noble metals based nano-antennas have the ability to enhance photoinduced phenomena such as localized electric fields, therefore-they have been used in various applications ranging from optical sensing and imaging to performance improvement of solar cells. However, such nano-structures can be damaged in high power applications such as heat resisted magnetic recording, solar thermo-photovoltaics and nano-scale heat transfer systems. Having a small footprint, nano-antennas cannot handle high fluences (energy density per unit area) and are subject to being damaged at adequately high power (some antennas can handle just a few milliwatts). In addition, given that nano-antennas are passive devices driven by external light sources, the potential damage of the antennas limits their use with high power lasers: this liability can be overcome by employing materials with high melting points such as chromium (Cr) and tungsten (W). In this article, we fabricate chromium and tungsten nano-antennas and demonstrate that they can handle 110 and 300 times higher fluence than that of gold (Au) counterpart, while the electric field enhancement is not significantly reduced.

Surface plasmon assisted laser ablation of stainless steel

Colloidal Au nanoparticles (NPs) were decorated on stainless steel for surface plasmon enhanced laser ablation. A comparative study of the laser ablation efficiency was carried out on stainless steel samples with and without the Au NPs decoration at a variable pulsed laser fluence and laser pulse number. Higher ablation efficiency was clearly demonstrated in the former as illustrated from the larger diameter, maximum depth and the cross-sectional area of the crater generated by the laser ablation under the same conditions. Additionally, both the maximum depth and efficiency enhancement were found to depend on the laser fluence and pulse number. The maximum enhanced ablation efficiency of 36% based on the cross-sectional area of the crater was obtained at 1 pulse number of laser fluence 1.53 J cm^-2. The efficiency enhancement of laser ablation is attributed to the highly enhanced surface plasmon field at the interface between Au NPs and stainless steel.

Sub-diffraction spatial mapping of nanomechanical modes using a plasmomechanical system

Plasmomechanical systems - formed by introducing a mechanically compliant gap between metallic nanostructures - produce large optomechanical interactions that can be localized to deep subwavelength volumes. This unique ability opens a new path to study optomechanics in nanometer-scale regimes inaccessible by other methods. We show that the localized optomechanical interactions produced by plasmomechanics can be used to spatially map the displacement modes of a vibrating nanomechanical system with a resolution exceeding the diffraction limit. Furthermore, we use white light illumination for motion transduction instead of a monochromatic laser, and develop a semi-analytical model matching the changes in optomechanical coupling constant and motion signal strength observed in a broadband transduction experiment. Our results clearly demonstrate the key benefit of localized and broadband performance provided by plasmomechanical systems, which may enable future nano-scale sensing and wafer-scale metrology applications.

Patterned Plasmonic Surfaces-Theory, Fabrication, and Applications in Biosensing

Low-profile patterned plasmonic surfaces are synergized with a broad class of silicon microstructures to greatly enhance near-field nanoscale imaging, sensing, and energy harvesting coupled with far-field free-space detection. This concept has a clear impact on several key areas of interest for the MEMS community, including but not limited to ultra-compact microsystems for sensitive detection of small number of target molecules, and "surface" devices for optical data storage, micro-imaging and displaying. In this paper, we review the current state-of-the-art in plasmonic theory as well as derive design guidance for plasmonic integration with microsystems, fabrication techniques, and selected applications in biosensing, including refractive-index based label-free biosensing, plasmonic integrated lab-on-chip systems, plasmonic near-field scanning optical microscopy and plasmonics on-chip systems for cellular imaging. This paradigm enables low-profile conformal surfaces on microdevices, rather than bulk material or coatings, which provide clear advantages for physical, chemical and biological-related sensing, imaging, and light harvesting, in addition to easier realization, enhanced flexibility, and tunability.

Nanomechanical motion transduction with a scalable localized gap plasmon architecture

Plasmonic structures couple oscillating electromagnetic fields to conduction electrons in noble metals and thereby can confine optical-frequency excitations at nanometre scales. This confinement both facilitates miniaturization of nanophotonic devices and makes their response highly sensitive to mechanical motion. Mechanically coupled plasmonic devices thus hold great promise as building blocks for next-generation reconfigurable optics and metasurfaces. However, a flexible approach for accurately batch-fabricating high-performance plasmomechanical devices is currently lacking. Here we introduce an architecture integrating individual plasmonic structures with precise, nanometre features into tunable mechanical resonators. The localized gap plasmon resonators strongly couple light and mechanical motion within a three-dimensional, sub-diffraction volume, yielding large quality factors and record optomechanical coupling strength of 2 THz·nm⁻¹. Utilizing these features, we demonstrate sensitive and spatially localized optical transduction of mechanical motion with a noise floor of 6 fm·Hz^−1/2, representing a 1.5 orders of magnitude improvement over existing localized plasmomechanical systems.

Flexible approaches are required for building plasmomechanical devices for tunable optical devices. Here, Roxworthy et al. introduce a plasmonic-nanoelectromechanical systems device where gap plasmon resonators are embedded into arrays of moving silicon nitride nanostructures, yielding thousands of devices per chip.

Realization of Fractal-Inspired Thermoresponsive Quasi-3D Plasmonic Metasurfaces with EOT-Like Transmission for Volumetric and Multispectral Detection in the Mid-IR Region

We use a paradigmatic mathematic model known as Sierpiński fractal to reverse-engineer artificial nanostructures that can potentially serve as plasmonic metasurfaces as well as nanogap electrodes. Herein, we particularly demonstrate the possibility of obtaining multispectral extraordinary optical transmission-like transmission peaks from fractal-inspired geometries, which can preserve distinct spatial characteristics. To achieve enhanced volumetric interaction and thermal responsiveness within the framework, we consider a bilayer, quasi-three-dimensional (3D) configuration that relies on the unique approach of combining complementary and noncomplementary surfaces, while avoiding the need for multilayer alignment on the nanoscale. We implement an improved version of the model to (1) increase the volume of quasi-3D nanochannels and enhance the lightening-rod effect of the metasurfaces, (2) harness cross-coupling as a mechanism for achieving better sensitivity, and (3) exploit optical magnetism for pushing the resonances to longer wavelengths on a miniaturized platform. We further demonstrate vertical coupling as an effective route for ultimate miniaturization of such quasi-3D nanostructures. We report a wavelength shift up to 1666 nm/refractive index unit and 2.5 nm/°C, implying the usefulness of the proposed devices for applications such as dielectrophoretic sensing and nanothermodynamic study of molecular reactions in the chemically active mid-IR spectrum.

Tunable optical response of bowtie nanoantenna arrays on thermoplastic substrates

Thermally responsive polymers present an interesting avenue for tuning the optical properties of nanomaterials on their surfaces by varying their periodicity and shape using facile processing methods. Gold bowtie nanoantenna arrays are fabricated using nanosphere lithography on prestressed polyolefin (PO), a thermoplastic polymer, and optical properties are investigated via a combination of spectroscopy and electromagnetic simulations to correlate shape evolution with optical response. Geometric features of bowtie nanoantennas evolve by annealing at temperatures between 105 °C and 135 °C by releasing the degree of prestress in PO. Due to the higher modulus of Au versus PO, compressive stress occurs on Au bowtie regions on PO, which leads to surface buckling at the two highest annealing temperatures; regions with a 5 nm gap between bowtie nanoantennas are observed and the average reduction is 75%. Reflectance spectroscopy and full-wave electromagnetic simulations both demonstrate the ability to tune the plasmon resonance wavelength with a window of approximately 90 nm in the range of annealing temperatures investigated. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering measurements demonstrate that maximum enhancement is observed as the excitation wavelength approaches the plasmon resonance of Au bowtie nanoantennas. Both the size and morphology tunability offered by PO allows for customizing optical response.

Towards do-it-yourself planar optical components using plasmon-assisted etching

In recent years, the push to foster increased technological innovation and basic scientific and engineering interest from the broadest sectors of society has helped to accelerate the development of do-it-yourself (DIY) components, particularly those related to low-cost microcontroller boards. The attraction with DIY kits is the simplification of the intervening steps going from basic design to fabrication, albeit typically at the expense of quality. We present herein plasmon-assisted etching as an approach to extend the DIY theme to optics, specifically the table-top fabrication of planar optical components. By operating in the design space between metasurfaces and traditional flat optical components, we employ arrays of Au pillar-supported bowtie nanoantennas as a template structure. To demonstrate, we fabricate a Fresnel zone plate, diffraction grating and holographic mode converter—all using the same template. Applications to nanotweezers and fabricating heterogeneous nanoantennas are also shown.

Recently, there has been a growing interest in do-it-yourself components to accelerate development of inexpensive fabrication approaches. Here, Chen et al. present a plasmon-assisted etching technique to fabricate planar optical components using arrays of gold pillar-supported bowtie nanoantennas as a template.

One-step green synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles with ascorbic acid and their versatile surface post-functionalization

Gold and silver nanoparticles, with different sizes, have been synthesized using ascorbic acid which allows a versatile and simple post-functionalisation.

Long-range and rapid transport of individual nano-objects by a hybrid electrothermoplasmonic nanotweezer

Plasmon-enhanced optical trapping is being actively studied to provide efficient manipulation of nanometre-sized objects. However, a long-standing issue with previously proposed solutions is how to controllably load the trap on-demand without relying on Brownian diffusion. Here, we show that the photo-induced heating of a nanoantenna in conjunction with an applied a.c. electric field can initiate rapid microscale fluid motion and particle transport with a velocity exceeding 10 μm s(-1), which is over two orders of magnitude faster than previously predicted. Our electrothermoplasmonic device enables on-demand long-range and rapid delivery of single nano-objects to specific plasmonic nanoantennas, where they can be trapped and even locked in place. We also present a physical model that elucidates the role of both heat-induced fluidic motion and plasmonic field enhancement in the plasmon-assisted optical trapping process. Finally, by applying a d.c. field or low-frequency a.c. field (below 10 Hz) while the particle is held in the trap by the gradient force, the trapped nano-objects can be immobilized into plasmonic hotspots, thereby providing the potential for effective low-power nanomanufacturing on-chip.

A measurement of the maximal forces in plasmonic tweezers

Plasmonic tweezers that are designed to trap nanoscale objects create many new possibilities for single-molecule targeted studies. Numerous novel designs of plasmonic nanostructures are proposed in order to attain stronger forces and weaker laser intensity. Most experiments have consisted only of immobilization observations--that is, particles stick when the laser is turned on and fall away when the laser is turned off. Studies of the exertable forces were only theoretical. A few studies have experimentally measured trap stiffness. However, as far as we know, no studies have addressed maximal forces. In this paper, we present a new experimental design in which the motion of the trapped particle can be monitored in either parallel or orthogonal directions to the plasmonic structure's symmetric axis. We measured maximal trapping force through such monitoring. Although stiffness would be useful for force-calibration or immobilization purposes, for which most plasmonic tweezers are used, we believe that the maximal endurable force is significant and thus, this paper presents this aspect.

Plasmon-assisted audio recording

We present the first demonstration of the recording of optically encoded audio onto a plasmonic nanostructure. Analogous to the "optical sound" approach used in the early twentieth century to store sound on photographic film, we show that arrays of gold, pillar-supported bowtie nanoantennas could be used in a similar fashion to store sound information that is transferred via an amplitude modulated optical signal to the near field of an optical microscope. Retrieval of the audio information is achieved using standard imaging optics. We demonstrate that the sound information can be stored either as time-varying waveforms or in the frequency domain as the corresponding amplitude and phase spectra. A "plasmonic musical keyboard" comprising of 8 basic musical notes is constructed and used to play a short song. For comparison, we employ the correlation coefficient, which reveals that original and retrieved sound files are similar with maximum and minimum values of 0.995 and 0.342, respectively. We also show that the pBNAs could be used for basic signal processing by ablating unwanted frequency components on the nanostructure thereby enabling physical notch filtering of these components. Our work introduces a new application domain for plasmonic nanoantennas and experimentally verifies their potential for information processing.