Optoelectronic phenomena in gold metal nanostructures due to the inverse Faraday effect.

The inverse Faraday effect (IFE) is an opto-magnetic phenomenon that produces static magnetic fields in a wide range of materials during illumination with circularly polarized light. This study analyzes non-magnetic gold (Au) metal nanostructures, providing insight into plasmonic enhancement of the magnetic and optoelectronic phenomena associated with the IFE. We report a simple numerical approach in combination with full-wave optical simulations (finite-difference time-domain method) for tracking the optically-induced motion of electrons inside plasmonic nanostructures that gives rise to the IFE. In addition to static magnetic fields, a circulating drift current is observed, where the direction of current is the same as the chirality of the circularly polarized light. Our results indicate a significant enhancement of this drift current by ~100 times in Au nanoparticles due to larger optical field gradients in comparison with bulk Au films. We also report on the size, geometry, and spectral dependence of the induced drift currents and static magnetic fields, which we predict can exceed 1×10-3 T under 1015 W m-2 optical intensity for spherical Au nanoparticles. Our results inform the development of new classes of magneto-optic and optoelectronic behavior that can be obtained via direct manipulation of electron dynamics by the optical fields inside metals.

Enhanced Widefield Quantum Sensing with Nitrogen-Vacancy Ensembles Using Diamond Nanopillar Arrays.

Surface micro- and nano-patterning techniques are often employed to enhance the optical interface to single photoluminescent emitters in diamond, but the utility of such surface structuring in applications requiring ensembles of emitters is still open to investigation. Here, we demonstrate scalable and fault-tolerant fabrication of closely packed arrays of fluorescent diamond nanopillars, each hosting its own dense, uniformly bright ensemble of near-surface nitrogen-vacancy centers. We explore the optimal sizes for these structures and realize enhanced spin and photoluminescence properties resulting in a 4.5 times increase in optically detected magnetic resonance sensitivity when compared to unpatterned surfaces. Utilizing the increased measurement sensitivity, we image the mechanical stress tensor in each diamond pillar across the arrays and show that the fabrication process has a negligible impact on in-built stress compared to the unpatterned surface. Our results represent a valuable pathway toward future multimodal and vector-resolved imaging studies, for instance in biological contexts.

Real-time detection and identification of nematode eggs genus and species through optical imaging.

Nematode eggs are pervasive pathogens that infect billions of people and livestock every year. Adult parasitic nematode worms can be distinguished based on their size and morphology. However, their eggs, particularly their species Ascaris lumbricoides and Ascaris suum cannot be identified from each other. Identifying eggs of helminths from wastewater and sludge is important from a public health perspective to minimize the spread of Ascaris infections. Numerous methods exist for nematode identification, from a morphological-based approach to high throughput sequencing technology. However, these techniques are not consistent and often laborious and time-consuming. In this study, we demonstrate that non-invasive real-time identification of eggs is possible based on their intrinsic fluorescence. Using confocal microscopy, we investigate the autofluorescence properties of five species of nematode eggs and observe clear differences between genus and for the first time their species in sludge samples. This non-invasive imaging technique could lead to better understanding of these species and may assist in early control of diseases.

Hybrid diamond/ carbon fiber microelectrodes enable multimodal electrical/chemical neural interfacing.

Implantable medical devices are now in regular use to treat or ameliorate medical conditions, including movement disorders, chronic pain, cardiac arrhythmias, and hearing or vision loss. Aside from offering alternatives to pharmaceuticals, one major advantage of device therapy is the potential to monitor treatment efficacy, disease progression, and perhaps begin to uncover elusive mechanisms of diseases pathology. In an ideal system, neural stimulation, neural recording, and electrochemical sensing would be conducted by the same electrode in the same anatomical region. Carbon fiber (CF) microelectrodes are the appropriate size to achieve this goal and have shown excellent performance, in vivo. Their electrochemical properties, however, are not suitable for neural stimulation and electrochemical sensing. Here, we present a method to deposit high surface area conducting diamond on CF microelectrodes. This unique hybrid microelectrode is capable of recording single-neuron action potentials, delivering effective electrical stimulation pulses, and exhibits excellent electrochemical dopamine detection. Such electrodes are needed for the next generation of miniaturized, closed-loop implants that can self-tune therapies by monitoring both electrophysiological and biochemical biomarkers.

Solution-deposited F:SnO2/TiO2 as a base-stable protective layer and antireflective coating for microtextured buried-junction H2-evolving Si photocathodes.

Protecting Si photocathodes from corrosion is important for developing tandem water-splitting devices operating in basic media. We show that textured commercial Si-pn(+) photovoltaics protected by solution-processed semiconducting/conducting oxides (plausibly suitable for scalable manufacturing) and coupled to thin layers of Ir yield high-performance H2-evolving photocathodes in base. They also serve as excellent test structures to understand corrosion mechanisms and optimize interfacial electrical contacts between various functional layers. Solution-deposited TiO2 protects Si-pn(+) junctions from corrosion for ∼24 h in base, whereas junctions protected by F:SnO2 fail after only 1 h of electrochemical cycling. Interface layers consisting of Ti metal and/or the highly doped F:SnO2 between the Si and TiO2 reduce Si-emitter/oxide/catalyst contact resistance and thus increase fill factor and efficiency. Controlling the oxide thickness led to record photocurrents near 35 mA cm(-2) at 0 V vs RHE and photocathode efficiencies up to 10.9% in the best cells. Degradation, however, was not completely suppressed. We demonstrate that performance degrades by two mechanisms, (1) deposition of impurities onto the thin catalyst layers, even from high-purity base, and (2) catastrophic failure via pinholes in the oxide layers after several days of operation. These results provide insight into the design of hydrogen-evolving photoelectrodes in basic conditions, and highlight challenges.

Flexible inorganic nanowire light-emitting diode.

We report a highly flexible light-emitting device in which inorganic nanowires are the optically active components. The single-crystalline ZnO nanowires are grown at 80 degrees C on flexible polymer-based indium-tin-oxide-coated substrates and subsequently encapsulated in a minimal-thickness, void-filling polystyrene film. A reflective top contact serving as the anode in the diode structure is provided by a strongly doped p-type polymer and an evaporated Au film. The emission through the polymer side of this arrangement covers most of the visual region. Electrical and optical properties as well as performance limitations of the device structure are discussed.