Growth mechanism and photoelectric properties of a silver nanowire network prepared by solid state ionics method.

A macroscopic silver nanowire (AgNW) network is grown by solid state ionics method. The ion flow during growth of the AgNW network is controlled by maintaining a current in the order of 10-7 A. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis reveals that the growth direction of AgNWs in the network is irregular and spread evenly in all directions and the nanowires are 40-160 nm in diameter. The microcosmic mechanism of silver nanostructures grown by the solid state ionics method is established by real time and in situ SEM analysis of the growth process of the AgNW networks. To study the photoelectric properties of the network, a self-supported AgNW network sample (∼1 mm wide and 8 mm long) is irradiated with lasers of different wavelengths of 375, 405, 532, 633, 808, and 1064 nm and 10.6 µm, and changes in the current between the two ends of the sample are recorded. The network displays negative photoconductance effect, and the maximum light responsivity is 43 mA W-1. The network displays light responsivity in the ultraviolet light-to-mid-infrared light region, with response times of tens of milliseconds. These findings indicate that the AgNW network has broad application prospect in ultra-wide spectrum photoelectric detection.

Facile fabrication of eutectic gallium-indium alloy nanostructure and application in photodetection.

Eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn) alloy is a kind of liquid metal and has attracted much attention due to good properties. In order to satisfy the trend of miniaturization and realize more practical applications, the exploration for preparation method and properties of EGaIn at nanoscale are very important. Here, facile vacuum thermal evaporation method is developed to fabricate EGaIn nanostructures. The EGaIn nanoparticle and nanofilm with naturally formed 5 nm thick oxide layers are well prepared. The oxide film formed on the EGaIn surface is an important factor, making the properties of the nanostructure different from the properties of the bulk. Compared with ignorance of oxide layer in bulk materials, the proportion of oxide layer increases evidently in nanostructures, which produce obvious influence on the electric and optical properties. The rectifying characteristic and optoelectronic performance are experimentally observed. The EGaIn nanostructures can generate evident photocurrent responses with good responsivities (∼1 mA W-1) and response speed (∼1 s) under irradiation of 206 nm, 405 nm, 532 nm, 635 nm, 808 nm, 1064 nm and 10.6 µm lasers. These properties are completely different from the metallic properties of EGaIn bulk material.

Self-assembled gold micro/nanostructure arrays based on superionic conductor RbAg4I5 films.

Herein, we propose a new strategy to fabricate gold (Au) micro/nanostructure arrays by photocatalytic solid-state electrochemical reaction between superionic conductor RbAg4I5 and Au films. The Au and RbAg4I5 films were successively deposited on a clean quartz substrate by vacuum thermal deposition method. A copper microgrid possessing periodic holes 100 µm in diameter was put above the RbAg4I5 film as a mask plate, whereupon irradiation from a 405 nm wavelength laser was used to diffuse gold ions (Au+ ions) into vacant silver sites of RbAg4I5 and transfer Au+ through ion passageways in the RbAg4I5 film. When the laser was turned off, the Au+ ions were easily reduced due to low activity compared to the silver (Ag+) ions. After multiple on/off cycles of the 405 nm laser, the irradiated area of uniform Au film exhibited a periodic structural unit array whose period was the same as that of the mask plate hole array. Atomic force microscope and scanning electron microscope images revealed that a self-assembled needle-like nanostructure array grew perpendicular to the substrate surface inside each circle's structural unit. The height of the grown nanostructure array increased with laser power density. Raman enhancement of the gold nanostructure array as substrate was detected using Rhodamine 6G (R6G) ethanol solutions as probe molecules. The enhancement effect increased with the height of the grown nanostructure array, and could increase by two orders of magnitude greater than that of unirradiated Au film. This strategy offers a new method for the micro/nanostructure processing of gold and provides microscale-array-mediated surface-enhancement Raman-scattering (SERS) substrates comprising Au nanostructures for application in high-sensitivity spectrum analysis.

Fabrication of high performance surface enhanced Raman scattering substrates by a solid-state ionics method.

Silver nanostructures were prepared by a solid-state ionics method using fast ionic conductor RbAg(4)I(5) films under a direct current electric field (DCEF). The surface morphology of the silver nanostructures grown under different constant current fields was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Rhodamine 6G (R6G) aqueous solutions were used as probe molecules to detect the Raman enhancement performance of the silver nanostructure substrates. The effect of external electric field current intensity on the surface morphology of the silver nanostructures during the preparation was studied in detail. The enhancement effect of the silver nanostructure surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates with different surface morphologies toward R6G was determined. We found that disordered silver nanowires (DSNW), ordered silver nanowires (OSNW), densely arranged silver nanobamboo arrays (SNBA) and compactly arranged silver nanobud clusters (SNBC) were respectively obtained when the constant current intensity was 3 µA, 5 µA, 8 µA and 12 µA under the same vacuum evaporation plating conditions. The limiting concentrations of R6G for these SERS substrates were found to be 10(-7) mol l(-1), 10(-13) mol l(-1), 10(-13) mol l(-1) and 10(-16) mol l(-1), respectively.

[Study of LED chip spectrum acquisition system based on CPLD].

The light emitting diode (LED) chip spectrum inspection is a key technology in LED chip scaled manufacturing. According to the principle of spectrum inspection and aiming at the demand of applications of LED chip spectrum inspection, the present paper studies the spectrum acquisition system based on complex programmable logic device (CPLD). The CPLD, the main chip, provides the working timing signal to the linear charge coupled device (CCD) and controls the signal modulating, conversion and storage, and transmission of sampling rate and data in transfer module. The system adopts raster monochromator as prismatic parts of apparatus and linear CCD as photoelectricity conversion parts to inspect the opposite spectrum energy distributing curve, and mean while calculate the spectrum parameter of LED chip photics characteristic. Based on the CPLD , the LED chip spectrum acquisition system with the virtues of simplicity and celerity satisfies the precision request of LED chip spectrum inspection.

High-Responsivity Photodetector Based on a Suspended Monolayer Graphene/RbAg4I5 Composite Nanostructure.

Graphene has excellent electrical, optical, thermal, and mechanical properties that make it an ideal optoelectronic material. However, it still has some problems, such as a very low light absorption rate, which means it cannot meet the application requirements of high-performance optoelectronic devices. Here, we produce a high-responsivity photodetector based on a monolayer graphene/RbAg4I5 composite nanostructure. With the aid of poly(methyl methacrylate), we suspend the monolayer graphene on a hollow carving groove with a width of 100 µm. A RbAg4I5 film evaporated on the back of the graphene causes the composite nanostructure to generate a large photocurrent under periodic illumination. Experimental results show that the dissociation and recombination of ion-electron bound states (IEBSs) are responsible for the excellent photoresponse. The device has very high (>1 A W-1) responsivity in wide-band illumination wavelength from 375 nm to 808 nm, especially at 375 nm, where it shows a responsivity of up to ∼5000 A W-1. We designed the dimensions of the carving groove to allow the light spot to cover the entire groove, and we cut the graphene sheet to match the length of the carving groove. With the structural optimizations, the energy of light can be used more efficiently to dissociate the IEBSs, which greatly improves the photoresponse of optoelectronic devices based on the proposed monolayer graphene/RbAg4I5 composite nanostructure.

High-Performance, Ultra-Broadband, Ultraviolet to Terahertz Photodetectors Based on Suspended Carbon Nanotube Films.

Ultra-broad spectral detection is critical for several technological applications in imaging, sensing, spectroscopy, and communication. Carbon nanotube (CNT) films are a promising material for ultra-broadband photodetectors because their absorption spectra cover the entire ultraviolet to the terahertz range. However, because of the high binding energy of excitons, photodetectors based on CNT films always require a strong electric field, asymmetric electrical contacts, or hybrid structures with other materials. Here, we report an ultra-broadband bolometric photodetector based on a suspended CNT film. With an abundant distribution of tube diameters and an appropriate morphology (spider web-like), the CNT films display a strong absorption spectrum from the ultraviolet up to the terahertz region. Under illumination, heat generated from the electron-photon interaction dominates the photoresponse of our devices. For small changes in temperature, the photocurrent shows a convincing linear dependence with the absorbed light's power across 3 orders of magnitude. When the channel length is reduced to 100 µm, the device demonstrates a high performance with an ultraviolet responsivity of up to 0.58 A/W with a bias voltage of 0.2 V and a short response time of ∼150 µs in vacuum, which is better than that of many other photodetectors based on CNTs. Moreover, this performance could be further enhanced by optimization.

Rapid, controllable growth of silver nanostructured surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates for red blood cell detection.

Silver nanostructured films suitable for use as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates are prepared in just 2 hours by the solid-state ionics method. By changing the intensity of the external direct current, we can readily control the surface morphology and growth rate of the silver nanostructured films. A detailed investigation of the surface enhancement of the silver nanostructured films using Rhodamine 6G (R6G) as a molecular probe revealed that the enhancement factor of the films was up to 10(11). We used the silver nanostructured films as substrates in SERS detection of human red blood cells (RBCs). The SERS spectra of RBCs on the silver nanostructured film could be clearly detected at a laser power of just 0.05 mW. Comparison of the SERS spectra of RBCs obtained from younger and older donors showed that the SERS spectra depended on donor age. A greater proportion of the haemoglobin in the RBCs of older donors was in the deoxygenated state than that of the younger donors. This implies that haemoglobin of older people has lower oxygen-carrying capacity than that of younger people. Overall, the fabricated silver substrates show promise in biomedical SERS spectral detection.