Cooperative Enhancement of Second-Harmonic Generation from a Single CdS Nanobelt-Hybrid Plasmonic Structure.

Semiconductor nanostructures (e.g., nanowires and nanobelts) hold great promise as subwavelength coherent light sources, nonlinear optical frequency converters, and all-optical signal processors for optoelectronic applications. However, at such small scales, optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) is generally inefficient. Herein, we report on a straightforward strategy using a thin Au layer to enhance the SHG from a single CdS nanobelt by 3 orders of magnitude. Through detailed experimental and theoretical analysis, we validate that the augmented SHG originates from the mutual intensification of the local fields induced by the plasmonic nanocavity and by the reflections within the CdS Fabry-Pérot resonant cavity in this hybrid semiconductor-metal system. Polarization-dependent SHG measurements can be employed to determine and distinguish the contributions of SH signals from the CdS nanobelt and gold film, respectively. When the thickness of gold film becomes comparable to the skin depth, SHG from the gold film can be clearly observed. Our work demonstrates a facile approach for tuning the nonlinear optical properties of mesoscopic, nanostructured, and layered semiconductor materials.

Elucidating the localized plasmonic enhancement effects from a single Ag nanowire in organic solar cells.

The origins of performance enhancement in hybrid plasmonic organic photovoltaic devices are often embroiled in a complex interaction of light scattering, localized surface plasmon resonances, exciton-plasmon energy transfer and even nonplasmonic effects. To clearly deconvolve the plasmonic contributions from a single nanostructure, we herein investigate the influence of a single silver nanowire (NW) on the charge carriers in bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells using spatially resolved optical spectroscopy, and correlate to electrical device characterization. Polarization-dependent photocurrent enhancements with a maximum of ∼ 36% over the reference are observed when the transverse mode of the plasmonic excitations in the Ag NW is activated. The ensuing higher absorbance and light scattering induced by the electronic motion perpendicular to the NW long axis lead to increased exciton and polaron densities instead of direct surface plasmon-exciton energy transfer. Finite-difference time-domain simulations also validate these findings. Importantly, our study at the single nanostructure level explores the fundamental limits of plasmonic enhancement achievable in organic solar cells with a single plasmonic nanostructure.

Wavelength tunable single nanowire lasers based on surface plasmon polariton enhanced Burstein-Moss effect.

Wavelength tunable semiconductor nanowire (NW) lasers are promising for multifunctional applications ranging from optical communication to spectroscopy analysis. Here, we present a demonstration of utilizing the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) enhanced Burstein-Moss (BM) effect to tune the lasing wavelength of a single semiconductor NW. The photonic lasing mode of the CdS NW (with length ~10 µm and diameter ~220 nm) significantly blue shifts from 504 to 483 nm at room temperature when the NW is in close proximity to the Au film. Systematic steady state power dependent photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL studies validate that the BM effect in the hybrid CdS NW devices is greatly enhanced as a consequence of the strong coupling between the SPP and CdS excitons. With decreasing dielectric layer thickness h from 100 to 5 nm, the enhancement of the BM effect becomes stronger, leading to a larger blue shift of the lasing wavelength. Measurements of enhanced exciton emission intensities and recombination rates in the presence of Au film further support the strong interaction between SPP and excitons, which is consistent with the simulation results.