Nanophotonics and Quantum Optics of Hybrid Nanoparticle Systems: Applications and Fundamentals

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanotechnology and Applied Nanosciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2016) | Viewed by 42127

Special Issue Editor

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35801, USA
Interests: plasmonic nanosensors and nano-devices; optics of nanostructure assemblies (quantum dots conjugated with metallic nanoparticles); collective behaviors of plasmonic meta-molecules, biological nanosensors, optics of nanoscale metallic structures and arrays
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hybrid systems consisting of nanomaterials with fundamentally different materials and optical properties are appealing hosts for exploration of new areas of physics, chemistry, and biology. One of the unique features of these systems is their capabilities to combine such properties to create uncharted areas of research and applications. Currently intense research activities are focused towards bio-functionalization of nanomaterials, control of cell behavior through nano-engineered materials, and hybrid systems consisting of biomolecules and inorganic materials such as metallic nanoparticles and semiconductor quantum dots. A considerable amount of effort has already been devoted to explore applications of such systems for biological and chemical sensors, control of emission and lifetime of quantum dots, reversible responsive nanoparticle systems, etc. Recent research has also explored the possibility of formation of chirality in metallic nanoparticle systems via conjugation with chiral molecules or their unique assemblies. The potential of these investigations in terms of creation of novel sciences are endless and their applications can be quite remarkable.

Another appealing feature of hybrid nanomaterials resides in the way one can use quantum coherence combined the fundamental resonances of quantum dots and metallic nanoparticles to create collective resonances unlike excitons or plasmons. In such systems one can generate Rabi oscillations under the conditions that the quantum dots by themselves cannot, use quantum coherence to regulate energy transfer been nanomaterials, enhance second harmonic generations, or to generate plasmonic electromagnetically induced transparency wherein plasmon absorption of metallic nanoparticles undergoes dramatically changes and even becomes insignificant at a given wavelength range.

Although quantum optics of quantum dot-metallic nanoparticle systems is still in its infancy and many fundamental issues, such as impact of quantum plasmonic effects or treatment of quantum dots and/or metallic nanoparticles decoherence, have remained open questions, the rewards of these investigations are unparalleled and potentially ground breaking. Considering the fact that such systems can be conjugated with biological molecules, hybrid nanomaterials can offer fresh ground for multidisciplinary research with counterintuitive impact and device concepts.

Dr. Seyed Sadeghi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Optics of quantum dots and metallic nanoparticles
  • Hybrid nanomaterials
  • Quantum dot materials
  • Plasmons and metallic nanoparticles arrays
  • Application and synthesis of nanoparticles and hybrid systems
  • Biological assembly of hybrid systems
  • Sensor and device applications

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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2402 KiB  
Article
Spin-Related Micro-Photoluminescence in Fe3+ Doped ZnSe Nanoribbons
by Lipeng Hou, Cheng Chen, Li Zhang, Qiankun Xu, Xinxin Yang, Muhammad Ismail Farooq, Junbo Han, Ruibin Liu, Yongyou Zhang, Lijie Shi and Bingsuo Zou
Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(1), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7010039 - 29 Dec 2016
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6442
Abstract
Spin-related emission properties have important applications in the future information technology; however, they involve microscopic ferromagnetic coupling, antiferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic coupling between transition metal ions and excitons, or d state coupling with phonons is not well understood in these diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS). [...] Read more.
Spin-related emission properties have important applications in the future information technology; however, they involve microscopic ferromagnetic coupling, antiferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic coupling between transition metal ions and excitons, or d state coupling with phonons is not well understood in these diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS). Fe3+ doped ZnSe nanoribbons, as a DMS example, have been successfully prepared by a thermal evaporation method. Their power-dependent micro-photoluminescence (PL) spectra and temperature-dependent PL spectra of a single ZnSe:Fe nanoribbon have been obtained and demonstrated that alio-valence ion doping diminishes the exciton magnetic polaron (EMP) effect by introducing exceeded charges. The d-d transition emission peaks of Fe3+ assigned to the 4T2 (G) → 6A1 (S) transition at 553 nm and 4T1 (G) → 6A1 (S) transition at 630 nm in the ZnSe lattice have been observed. The emission lifetimes and their temperature dependences have been obtained, which reflected different spin–phonon interactions. There exists a sharp decrease of PL lifetime at about 60 K, which hints at a magnetic phase transition. These spin–spin and spin–phonon interaction related PL phenomena are applicable in the future spin-related photonic nanodevices. Full article
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3860 KiB  
Article
Fabrication and Photo-Detecting Performance of 2D ZnO Inverse Opal Films
by Xin Lin and Min Chen
Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(10), 259; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6100259 - 26 Sep 2016
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5299
Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) ZnO inverse opal (IO) films were fabricated by co-assembly of sacrificed polystyrene (PS) microspheres and citric acid/zinc acetate (CA/ZA) aqueous solution at an oil–water interface followed by calcination. Their morphologies could be controlled by the surface property of polymer templates and [...] Read more.
Two-dimensional (2D) ZnO inverse opal (IO) films were fabricated by co-assembly of sacrificed polystyrene (PS) microspheres and citric acid/zinc acetate (CA/ZA) aqueous solution at an oil–water interface followed by calcination. Their morphologies could be controlled by the surface property of polymer templates and CA/ZA molar ratio. Moreover, photo-detecting devices based on such films were constructed, which showed high photocurrent (up to 4.6 μA), excellent spectral selectivity, and reversible response to optical switch. Full article
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Review

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20441 KiB  
Review
Plasmonic and Dielectric Metasurfaces: Design, Fabrication and Applications
by Jian Wang and Jing Du
Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(9), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6090239 - 14 Sep 2016
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 12685
Abstract
Two-dimensional metasurfaces are widely focused on for their ability for flexible light manipulation (phase, amplitude, polarization) over sub-wavelength propagation distances. Most of the metasurfaces can be divided into two categories by the material type of unit structure, i.e., plasmonic metasurfaces and dielectric metasurfaces. [...] Read more.
Two-dimensional metasurfaces are widely focused on for their ability for flexible light manipulation (phase, amplitude, polarization) over sub-wavelength propagation distances. Most of the metasurfaces can be divided into two categories by the material type of unit structure, i.e., plasmonic metasurfaces and dielectric metasurfaces. For plasmonic metasurfaces, they are made on the basis of metallic meta-atoms whose optical responses are driven by the plasmon resonances supported by metallic particles. For dielectric metasurfaces, the unit structure is constructed with high refractive index dielectric resonators, such as silicon, germanium or tellurium, which can support electric and magnetic dipole responses based on Mie resonances. The responses of plasmonic and dielectric metasurfaces are all relevant to the characteristics of unit structure, such as dimensions and materials. One can manipulate the electromagnetic field of light wave scattered by the metasurfaces through designing the dimension parameters of each unit structure in the metasurfaces. In this review article, we give a brief overview of our recent progress in plasmonic and dielectric metasurface-assisted nanophotonic devices and their design, fabrication and applications, including the metasurface-based broadband and the selective generation of orbital angular momentum (OAM) carrying vector beams, N-fold OAM multicasting using a V-shaped antenna array, a metasurface on conventional optical fiber facet for linearly-polarized mode (LP11) generation, graphene split-ring metasurface-assisted terahertz coherent perfect absorption, OAM beam generation using a nanophotonic dielectric metasurface array, as well as Bessel beam generation and OAM multicasting using a dielectric metasurface array. It is believed that metasurface-based nanophotonic devices are one of the devices with the most potential applied in various fields, such as beam steering, spatial light modulator, nanoscale-resolution imaging, sensing, quantum optics devices and even optical communication networks. Full article
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3651 KiB  
Review
Recent Progress on Solution-Processed CdTe Nanocrystals Solar Cells
by Hao Xue, Rongfang Wu, Ya Xie, Qiongxuan Tan, Donghuan Qin, Hongbin Wu and Wenbo Huang
Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(7), 197; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6070197 - 04 Jul 2016
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 8097
Abstract
Solution-processed CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) photovoltaic devices have many advantages, both in commercial manufacture and daily operation, due to the low-cost fabrication process, which becomes a competitive candidate for next-generation solar cells. All solution-processed CdTe NCs solar cells were first reported in 2005. In [...] Read more.
Solution-processed CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) photovoltaic devices have many advantages, both in commercial manufacture and daily operation, due to the low-cost fabrication process, which becomes a competitive candidate for next-generation solar cells. All solution-processed CdTe NCs solar cells were first reported in 2005. In recent years, they have increased over four-fold in power conversion efficiency. The latest devices achieve AM 1.5 G power conversion efficiency up to 12.0%, values comparable to those of commercial thin film CdTe/CdS solar cells fabricated by the close-space sublimation (CSS) method. Here we review the progress and prospects in this field, focusing on new insights into CdTe NCs synthesized, device fabrication, NC solar cell operation, and how these findings give guidance on optimizing solar cell performance. Full article
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1913 KiB  
Review
A Review of Double-Walled and Triple-Walled Carbon Nanotube Synthesis and Applications
by Kazunori Fujisawa, Hee Jou Kim, Su Hyeon Go, Hiroyuki Muramatsu, Takuya Hayashi, Morinobu Endo, Thomas Ch. Hirschmann, Mildred S. Dresselhaus, Yoong Ahm Kim and Paulo T. Araujo
Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(4), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6040109 - 16 Apr 2016
Cited by 44 | Viewed by 9041
Abstract
Double- and triple-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs and TWNTs) consist of coaxially-nested two and three single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). They act as the geometrical bridge between SWNTs and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), providing an ideal model for studying the coupling interactions between different shells [...] Read more.
Double- and triple-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs and TWNTs) consist of coaxially-nested two and three single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). They act as the geometrical bridge between SWNTs and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), providing an ideal model for studying the coupling interactions between different shells in MWNTs. Within this context, this article comprehensively reviews various synthetic routes of DWNTs’ and TWNTs’ production, such as arc discharge, catalytic chemical vapor deposition and thermal annealing of pea pods (i.e., SWNTs encapsulating fullerenes). Their structural features, as well as promising applications and future perspectives are also discussed. Full article
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