Probing the optical near-field of plasmonic nano structure using scanning thermal microscopy.

Scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) enables to obtain thermal characteristic information such as temperature and thermal conductivity from the signals obtained by scanning a thermometer probe over a sample surface. Particularly, the precise control of the thermometer probe makes it possible to study near-field radiative heat transfer by measuring the near-field thermal energy, which implies that when light is used as a local heat source, photothermal energy can be detected from the optical near-field by approaching the probe in the near-field region. In this study, SThM is applied to generate sub-wavelength near-field optical image in the plasmonic grating coupler. Herein, by controlling the surface plasmon polariton generation, we show that the dominant component of SThM signal is from the optical response rather than the thermal response. The obtained near-field optical images have a spatial resolution of 40 nm and signal to noise ratio of up to 19.8. In addition, field propagation images in theZ-direction can be visualised with the precise control of the distance between the thermometer probe and the sample.

Copper-based etalon filter using antioxidant graphene layer.

Copper is a low-cost material compared to silver and gold, having high reflectivity in the near infrared spectral range as well as good electrical and thermal conductivity. Its properties make it a good candidate for metal-based low-cost multilayer thin-film devices and optical components. However, its high reflectance in the devices is reduced because copper is easily oxidized. Here, we suggest a copper-based Fabry-Perot optical filter consisting of a thin dielectric layer stacked between two copper films, which can realize low-cost production compared to a conventional silver-based etalon filter. The reduced performance due to the inherent oxidation of the copper surface can be overcome by passivating the copper films with monolayer graphene. The anti-oxidation of copper film is investigated by optical microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission measurement in UV-vi spectral ranges. Our results show that the graphene coating can be expanded for various metal-based optical devices in terms of anti-corrosion.

Tuning the electronic structure of single-walled carbon nanotube by high-pressure H2 exposure.

We report on an electronic structure change of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) on hexagonal boron nitride due to electron doping via high-pressure H2 exposure. The fractional coverage of hydrogenated carbon atom is estimated to be at least θ = 0.163 from the in situ I ds-V g measurements of the release process. Raman spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were carried out to support the in situ electrical measurements. In particular, we used the dissociative Langmuir-type model to yield the desorption coefficient k des by fitting it to the in situ electrical data. Finally, we applied this hydrogenation method to the SWNT network on the commercial Si/SiO2 substrate to open the possibility of the scalable n-type semiconducting SWNT FETs.

Photoluminescence of MoS2 on Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticles Depending on the Aggregate Size.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are promising candidates for ultrathin functional semiconductor devices. In particular, incorporating plasmonic nanoparticles into TMD-based devices enhances the light-matter interaction for increased absorption efficiency and enables control of device performance such as electronic, electrical, and optical properties. In this heterohybrid structure, manipulating the number of TMD layers and the aggregate size of plasmonic nanoparticles is a straightforward approach to tailoring device performance. In this study, we use photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, which is a commonly employed technique for monitoring device performance, to analyze the changes in electronic and optical properties depending on the number of MoS2 layers and the size of the gold nanoparticle (AuNP) aggregate under nonresonant and resonant excitation conditions. The PL intensity in monolayer MoS2/AuNPs increases as the size of aggregates increases irrespective of the excitation conditions. The strain induced by AuNPs causes a red shift, but as the aggregates grow larger, the effect of p-doping increases and the blue shift becomes prominent. In multilayer MoS2/AuNPs, quenched PL intensity is observed under nonresonant excitation, while enhancement is noted under resonant excitation, which is mainly contributed by p-doping and LSPR, respectively. Remarkably, the alteration in the spectral shape due to resonant excitation is evident solely in small aggregates of AuNPs across all layers.

Plasmon-exciton couplings in the MoS2/AuNP plasmonic hybrid structure.

The understanding and engineering of the plasmon-exciton coupling are necessary to control the innovative optoelectronic device platform. In this study, we investigated the intertwined mechanism of each plasmon-exciton couplings in monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and plasmonic hybrid structure. The results of absorption, simulation, electrostatics, and emission spectra show that interaction between photoexcited carrier and exciton modes are successfully coupled by energy transfer and exciton recombination processes. Especially, neutral exciton, trion, and biexciton can be selectively enhanced by designing the plasmonic hybrid platform. All of these results imply that there is another degree of freedom to control the individual enhancement of each exciton mode in the development of nano optoelectronic devices.