Optical transmission measurements of silver, silver-gold alloy and silver-gold segmented nanorods in thin film alumina

Broadband hyperbolic metamaterial covering the whole visible-light region

Nanowire-based hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) with rich optical dispersion engineering capabilities are promising for use in miniaturization devices, such as nanophotonic chips and circuits. Herein, based on a one-step and template-free sputtering method, we are capable of precisely tuning the microstructural parameters of Ag nanowires (with a diameter <10  nm) in silica matrix, offering plenty of opportunities to perform hyperbolic dispersion engineering. Thus, the effective plasma frequency of the designed HMMs was shifted into the near-ultraviolet region (∼350  nm), leading to a broadband hyperbolic dispersion feature covering the whole visible-light region. This demonstration could pave the way for the development of metamaterial-based flat lenses, deep-subwavelength waveguiding, and broadband perfect absorbers and sensing, etc.

Growth and optical properties of Ag-Ti composite nanorods based on oblique angle co-deposition technique

Ag-Ti composite nanorod structures with various Ag compositions were fabricated by the oblique angle co-deposition technique, and their optical transmission spectra are tuned by composition ratios of Ag and Ti, polarization directions, and deposition angles. Such tunable optical properties have potential applications in optoelectronics. Specially, for the Ag80 composite nanorod structures, there exists a wavelength, where it is isotropic. We also show that the transmission spectra of the Ag80 composite nanorod structure for the deposition angle of 87.5° are greater than 90%, while the transmission spectra for the 75° deposition angle are lower than 20%. Utilizing such a property, high or low transmission lenses can be designed.

Template-Free Growth of Well-Ordered Silver Nano Forest/Ceramic Metamaterial Films with Tunable Optical Responses

Currently, the limitations of conventional methods for fabricating metamaterials composed of well-aligned nanoscale inclusions either lack the necessary freedom to tune the structural geometry or are difficult for large-area synthesis. In this Communication, the authors propose a fabrication route to create well-ordered silver nano forest/ceramic composite single-layer or multi-layer vertically stacked structures, as a distinctive approach to make large-area nanoscale metamaterials. To take advantage of direct growth, the authors fabricate single-layer nanocomposite films with a well-defined sub-5 nm interwire gap and an average nanowire diameter of ≈3 nm. Further, artificially constructed multilayer metamaterial films are easily fabricated by vertical integration of different single-layer metamaterial films. Based upon the thermodynamics as well as thin film growth dynamics theory, the growth mechanism is presented to elucidate the formation of such structure. Intriguing steady and transient optical properties in these assemblies are demonstrated, owing to their nanoscale structural anisotropy. The studies suggest that the self-organized nanocomposites provide an extensible material platform to manipulate optical response in the region of sub-5 nm scale.

Ag-Cu mixed phase plasmonic nanostructures fabricated by shadow nanosphere lithography and glancing angle co-deposition

By combining shadow nanosphere lithography with a glancing angle co-deposition technique, mixed-phase Ag-Cu triangular nanopatterns and films were fabricated. They were prepared at different compositions with respect to Ag from 100% to 0% by changing the relative deposition ratio of each metal. Characterizations by ellipsometry, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction revealed that the thin films and nanopatterns were composed of small, well-mixed Ag and Cu nano-grains with a diameter less than 20 nm, and their optical properties could be described by an effective medium theory. All compositions of the nanopattern had the same shape, but showed tunable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties. In general, the LSPR of the nanopatterns redshifted with decreasing composition. Such a relation could be fitted by an empirical model based on the bulk theory of alloy plasmonics. By changing the colloidal template and the material deposited, this fabrication technique can be used to produce other alloy plasmonic nanostructures with predicted LSPR wavelengths.

Plasmonic nanorod arrays of a two-segment dimer and a coaxial cable with 1 nm gap for large field confinement and enhancement

Seeking plasmonic nanostructures with large field confinement and enhancement is significant for photonic and electronic nanodevices with high sensitivity, reproducibility, and tunability. Here, we report the synthesis of plasmonic arrays composed of two-segment dimer nanorods and coaxial cable nanorods with ∼1 nm gap insulated by a self-assembled Raman molecule monolayer. The gap-induced plasmon coupling generates an intense field in the gap region of the dimer junction and the cable interlayer. As a result, the longitudinal plasmon resonance of nanorod arrays with high tunability is obviously enhanced. Most interestingly, the field enhancement of dimer nanorod arrays can be tuned by the length ratio L1/L2 of the two segments, and the maximal enhancement appears at L1/L2 = 1. In that case, the two-photon luminescence (TPL) of dimer nanorod arrays and the Raman intensity in the dimer junction is enhanced by 27 and 30 times, respectively, under resonant excitation. In the same way, the Raman intensity in the gap region is enhanced 16 times for the coaxial cable nanorod arrays. The plasmonic nanorod arrays synthesized by the facile method, having tunable plasmon properties and large field enhancement, indicate an attractive pathway to the photonic nanodevices.

Spectral properties of nanoengineered Ag/Au bilayer rods fabricated by electron beam lithography

Ag/Au bimetallic nanoparticles possess the combinatory advantages of Au and Ag nanoparticles and can also be utilized to tune the properties of localized surface plasmon resonance. Ag/Au bilayer nanorods were prepared by electron beam lithography, and their spectral properties were investigated. Compared with Ag monolayer nanorods, Ag/Au bilayer nanorods show broader localized surface plasmon resonance bands, and the longitudinal mode and transverse mode localized surface plasmon bands show blueshift and redshift, respectively. The maximum near-field intensity of the longitudinal mode of the Ag/Au nanorod is less than half that of the Ag/Au nanorod without gold layer. Shape-induced modification of Ag/Au bilayer nanorods on their spectral properties was also discussed.

Tunable plasmonic coupling between silver nano-cubes and silver nano-hole arrays

A quasi-three-dimensional (quasi-3D) system composed of Ag nano-cubes and Ag nano-hole arrays was fabricated through a low cost chemical process. The coupling of localized surface plasmons (LSPs) in the cube-hole array system has been investigated through surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) from Rhodamine 6G (R6G) molecules. A SERS enhancement factor as large as 1.1 × 10(8) can be achieved due to this plasmonic coupling effect, and is highly sensitive to geometrical parameters, such as cube-hole array distance, hole diameter, inter-hole spacing and Ag film thickness.

High-performance biosensing using arrays of plasmonic nanotubes

We show that aligned gold nanotube arrays capable of supporting plasmonic resonances can be used as high performance refractive index sensors in biomolecular binding reactions. A methodology to examine the sensing ability of the inside and outside walls of the nanotube structures is presented. The sensitivity of the plasmonic nanotubes is found to increase as the nanotube walls are exposed, and the sensing characteristic of the inside and outside walls is shown to be different. Finite element simulations showed good qualitative agreement with the observed behavior. Free standing gold nanotubes displayed bulk sensitivities in the region of 250 nm per refractive index unit and a signal-to-noise ratio better than 1000 upon protein binding which is highly competitive with state-of-the-art label-free sensors.

Multiple surface plasmon modes for gold/silver alloy nanorods

Alloy nanorods consisting of bimetallic gold and silver are synthesized by employing the electrochemical codeposition of Au/Ag alloy materials into the pores of anodized aluminum oxide templates. This paper presents the variation of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) modes of the Au(x)/Ag(1-x) alloy nanorods as a function of relative compositions of Au and Ag. Transverse and multiple longitudinal modes were observed when the length was longer than ca. 300 nm. For a given length, the transverse LSPR mode systematically blue-shifted as the Ag portion increased, while there was little variation in peak positions of the longitudinal LSPR modes. The optical properties of the Au(x)/Ag(1-x) alloy nanorods were calculated using the discrete dipole approximation and showed a good agreement with the experimental measurements.