Coupling of a single-photon emitter in nanodiamond to surface plasmons of a nanochannel-enclosed silver nanowire

Self-Assembly of Nanodiamonds and Plasmonic Nanoparticles for Nanoscopy

Nanodiamonds have emerged as promising agents for sensing and imaging due to their exceptional photostability and sensitivity to the local nanoscale environment. Here, we introduce a hybrid system composed of a nanodiamond containing nitrogen-vacancy center that is paired to a gold nanoparticle via DNA hybridization. Using multiphoton optical studies, we demonstrate that the harmonic mode emission generated in gold nanoparticles induces a coupled fluorescence emission in nanodiamonds. We show that the flickering of harmonic emission in gold nanoparticles directly influences the nanodiamonds' emissions, resulting in stochastic blinking. By utilizing the stochastic emission fluctuations, we present a proof-of-principle experiment to demonstrate the potential application of the hybrid system for super-resolution microscopy. The introduced system may find applications in intracellular biosensing and bioimaging due to the DNA-based coupling mechanism and also the attractive characteristics of harmonic generation, such as low power, low background and tissue transparency.

Plasmonically Enhanced Superradiance of Broken-Symmetry Diamond Color Center Arrays Inside Core-Shell Nanoresonators

Superradiance was demonstrated in broken-symmetry arrays of SiV diamond color centers embedded into concave plasmonic nanoresonators. The coupled configurations, including the diamond-silver (bare) and diamond-silver-diamond (coated) nanoresonators’ geometry parameters as well as the emitters’ azimuthal orientation and distance from the metal, were numerically optimized. An objective function consisting of the total fluorescence enhancement multiplied by the corrected emission quantum efficiency was used to design nanoresonators that promote superradiance. A larger total fluorescence enhancement was achieved via a larger number of emitters in both geometries, in coated spherical and in bare ellipsoidal nanoresonators. The superradiance performance was better in the case of a smaller number of emitters in bare spherical and coated ellipsoidal nanoresonators and in the case of a larger number of emitters in coated spherical and bare ellipsoidal nanoresonators. Ellipsoidal geometry is advantageous independent of composition and seeding. The configurations optimal for non-cooperative fluorescence enhancement and superradiance are coincidental. A radiative rate enhancement proportional to the number of emitters was found in wide spectral regions; therefore, superradiance implies N-fold enhancements coexist at excitation and emission. In ellipsoidal nanoresonators, the better superradiance achieved via a smaller quality-factor is accompanied by larger frequency pulling.

Ag-Diamond Core-Shell Nanostructures Incorporated with Silicon-Vacancy Centers

Silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers in diamond have attracted attention as highly stable fluorophores for sensing and as possible candidates for quantum information science. While prior studies have shown that the formation of hybrid diamond-metal structures can increase the rates of optical absorption and emission, many practical applications require diamond plasmonic structures that are stable in harsh chemical and thermal environments. Here, we demonstrate that Ag nanospheres, produced both in quasi-random arrays by thermal dewetting and in ordered arrays using electron-beam lithography, can be completely encapsulated with a thin diamond coating containing SiV centers, leading to hybrid core-shell nanostructures exhibiting extraordinary chemical and thermal stability as well as enhanced optical properties. Diamond shells with a thickness on the order of 20-100 nm are sufficient to encapsulate and protect the Ag nanostructures with different sizes ranging from 20 nm to hundreds of nanometers, allowing them to withstand heating to temperatures of 1000 °C and immersion in harsh boiling acid for 24 h. Ultrafast photoluminescence lifetime and super-resolution optical imaging experiments were used to study the SiV properties on and off the core-shell structures, which show that the SiV on core-shell structures have higher brightness and faster decay rate. The stability and optical properties of the hybrid Ag-diamond core-shell structures make them attractive candidates for high-efficiency imaging and quantum-based sensing applications.

Shear-solvo defect annihilation of diblock copolymer thin films over a large area

Achieving defect-free block copolymer (BCP) nanopatterns with a long-ranged orientation over a large area remains a persistent challenge, impeding the successful and widespread application of BCP self-assembly. Here, we demonstrate a new experimental strategy for defect annihilation while conserving structural order and enhancing uniformity of nanopatterns. Sequential shear alignment and solvent vapor annealing generate perfectly aligned nanopatterns with a low defect density over centimeter-scale areas, outperforming previous single or sequential combinations of annealing. The enhanced order quality and pattern uniformity were characterized in unprecedented detail via scattering analysis and incorporating new mathematical indices using elaborate image processing algorithms. In addition, using an advanced sampling method combined with a coarse-grained molecular simulation, we found that domain swelling is the driving force for enhanced defect annihilation. The superior quality of large-scale nanopatterns was further confirmed with diffraction and optical properties after metallized patterns, suggesting strong potential for application in optoelectrical devices.

Strong Coupling between a Quasi-single Molecule and a Plasmonic Cavity in the Trapping System

We theoretically investigate the strong coupling phenomenon between a quasi-single molecule and a plasmonic cavity based on the blue-detuned trapping system. The trapping system is made up of a metallic nanohole array. A finite-difference time-domain method is employed to simulate the system, and the molecule is treated as a dipole in simulations. By calculating the electromagnetic field distributions, we obtain the best position for trapping a molecule, and we get the strong coupling phenomenon that there are two splitting peaks in the transmission spectrum when the molecule is trapped in the structure, while only one peak is observed in the one without the molecule. We also find that only when the molecule polarization parallels to the incident light wave vector can we observe a strong coupling phenomenon.

A Photonic Switch Based on a Hybrid Combination of Metallic Nanoholes and Phase-change Vanadium Dioxide

A photonic switch is an integral part of optical telecommunication systems. A plasmonic bandpass filter integrated with materials exhibiting phase transition can be used as a thermally reconfigurable optical switch. This paper presents the design and demonstration of a broadband photonic switch based on an aluminium nanohole array on quartz utilising the semiconductor-to-metal phase transition of vanadium dioxide. The fabricated switch shows an operating range over 650 nm around the optical communication C, L, and U band with maximum 20%, 23% and 26% transmission difference in switching in the C band, L band, and U band, respectively. The extinction ratio is around 5 dB in the entire operation range. This architecture is a precursor for developing micron-size photonic switches and ultra-compact modulators for thin film photonics.

The Response of HeLa Cells to Fluorescent NanoDiamond Uptake

Fluorescent nanodiamonds are promising probes for nanoscale magnetic resonance measurements. Their physical properties predict them to have particularly useful applications in intracellular analysis. Before using them in intracellular experiments however, it should be clear whether diamond particles influence cell biology. While cytotoxicity has already been ruled out in previous studies, we consider the non-fatal influence of fluorescent nanodiamonds on the formation of reactive oxygen species (an important stress indicator and potential target for intracellular sensing) for the first time. We investigated the influence of different sizes, shapes and concentrations of nanodiamonds on the genetic and protein level involved in oxidative stress-related pathways of the HeLa cell, an important model cell line in research. The changes in viability of the cells and the difference in intracellular levels of free radicals, after diamond uptake, are surprisingly small. At lower diamond concentrations, the cellular metabolism cannot be distinguished from that of untreated cells. This research supports the claims of non-toxicity and includes less obvious non-fatal responses. Finally, we give a handhold concerning the diamond concentration and size to use for non-toxic, intracellular measurements in favour of (cancer) research in HeLa cells.

Nanocarbon-Coated Porous Anodic Alumina for Bionic Devices

A highly-stable and biocompatible nanoporous electrode is demonstrated herein. The electrode is based on a porous anodic alumina which is conformally coated with an ultra-thin layer of diamond-like carbon. The nanocarbon coating plays an essential role for the chemical stability and biocompatibility of the electrodes; thus, the coated electrodes are ideally suited for biomedical applications. The corrosion resistance of the proposed electrodes was tested under extreme chemical conditions, such as in boiling acidic/alkali environments. The nanostructured morphology and the surface chemistry of the electrodes were maintained after wet/dry chemical corrosion tests. The non-cytotoxicity of the electrodes was tested by standard toxicity tests using mouse fibroblasts and cortical neurons. Furthermore, the cell-electrode interaction of cortical neurons with nanocarbon coated nanoporous anodic alumina was studied in vitro. Cortical neurons were found to attach and spread to the nanocarbon coated electrodes without using additional biomolecules, whilst no cell attachment was observed on the surface of the bare anodic alumina. Neurite growth appeared to be sensitive to nanotopographical features of the electrodes. The proposed electrodes show a great promise for practical applications such as retinal prostheses and bionic implants in general.

Low-loss plasmonic supermodes in graphene multilayers

We investigate the supermodes in arbitrary layers of graphene sheets, which are collective guided modes formed by coupling of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in each graphene sheet. In terms of the dispersion relation, we analyse the effective indexes and mode profiles of the supermodes. Numerical simulations reveal that the supermodes can be well approximated by linear superposition of SPPs in individual graphene sheets. Among all the possible supermodes, there is an interesting one possessing both lowest propagation loss and shortest mode wavelength. The loss of the supermode decreases as the number of layers increases and saturates at about 5 layers. The graphene multilayers may find potential applications in low-loss plasmonic waveguides and so constructed optical devices.