Tuning d-Orbital Electronic Structure via Au-Intercalated Two-Dimensional Fe3GeTe2 to Increase Surface Plasmon Activity.

While extensive research has been dedicated to plasmon tuning within non-noble metals, prior investigations primarily concentrated on markedly augmenting the inherently low concentration of free carriers in materials with minimal consideration given to the influence of electron orbitals on surface plasmons. Here, we achieve successful intercalation of Au atoms into the layered structure of Fe3GeTe2 (FGT), thereby exerting control over the orbital electronic states or structure of FGT. This intervention not only amplifies the charge density and electron mobility but also mitigates the loss associated with interband transitions, resulting in increased two-dimensional FGT surface plasmon activity. As a consequence, Au-intercalated FGT detects crystal violet molecules as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate, and the detection lines are 3 orders of magnitude higher than before Au intercalation. Our work provides insight for further studies on plasmon effects and the relation between surface plasmon resonance behavior and electronic structures.

A mixed-dimensional quasi-1D BiSeI nanowire-2D GaSe nanosheet p-n heterojunction for fast response optoelectronic devices.

Due to the unique combination configuration and the formation of a built-in electric field, mixed-dimensional heterojunctions present fruitful possibilities for improving the optoelectronic performances of low-dimensional optoelectronic devices. However, the response times of most photodetectors built from mixed-dimensional heterojunctions are within the millisecond range, limiting their applications in fast response optoelectronic devices. Herein, a mixed-dimensional BiSeI/GaSe van der Waals heterostructure is designed, which exhibits visible light detection ability and competitive photoresponsivity of 750 A W-1 and specific detectivity of 2.25 × 1012 Jones under 520 nm laser excitation. Excitingly, the device displays a very fast response time, e.g., the rise time and decay time under 520 nm laser excitation are 65 µs and 190 µs, respectively. Our findings provide a prospective approach to mixed-dimensional heterojunction photodetection devices with rapid switching capabilities.

Efficient detection of internal infestation in wheat based on biophotonics.

In the process of grain storage, there are many losses of grain quantity and quality for the sake of insects. As a result, it is necessary to find a rapid and economical method for detecting insects in the grain. The paper innovatively proposes a model of detecting internal infestation in wheat by combining pattern recognition and BioPhoton Analytical Technology (BPAT). In this model, the spontaneous ultraweak photons emitted from normal and insect-contaminated wheat are firstly measured respectively. Then, position, distribution and morphological characteristics can be extracted from the measuring data to construct wheat feature vector. Backpropagation (BP) neural network based on genetic algorithm is employed to take decision on whether wheat kernel has contaminated by insects. The experimental results show that the proposed model can differentiate the normal wheat from the insect-contaminated one at an average accuracy of 95%. The model can also offer a novel thought for detecting internal infestation in the wheat.