Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Valerio Levati, Davide Girardi, Nicola Pellizzi, Matteo Panzeri, Matteo Vitali, Daniela Petti, Edoardo Albisetti
Summary: Nanomaterials derive their properties from specific nanostructures, and traditional nanofabrication techniques are often used for device fabrication. This perspective discusses an alternative approach where advanced nanofabrication techniques are used to directly nanostructure condensed matter systems after growth, inducing controlled changes in properties. The advantages, limitations, applications, and future perspectives of this approach are highlighted.
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Yohan Lee, Julian Karst, Monika Ubl, Mario Hentschel, Harald Giessen
Summary: The development of metasurface-based optical components has been driven by the increasing demand for miniaturization of point-of-device. In this study, we demonstrate an electrically-driven ultracompact beam controller in the infrared spectral range. The device utilizes diffraction gratings made of the conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS, which undergoes metal-to-insulator transition upon electrical biasing. By combining different superlattice periods in electrically isolated areas, our device achieves diffraction beams at specific angles with voltage control. This platform has potential applications in sensing, imaging, and communication.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Andrea Schirato, Giulia Crotti, Mychel Goncalves Silva, Danielle Cristina Teles-Ferreira, Cristian Manzoni, Remo Proietti Zaccaria, Paolo Laporta, Ana Maria de Paula, Giulio Cerullo, Giuseppe Della Valle
Summary: The transient optical response of plasmonic nanostructures is important for studying light harvesting, photocatalytic processes, nonlinear nanophotonics, and all-optical modulation. However, under a nonperturbative excitation regime, the correspondence between the temporal evolution of the dynamic optical signal and the photoexcited hot electrons is not valid.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gleb I. Tselikov, Georgy A. Ermolaev, Anton A. Popov, Gleb V. Tikhonowski, Daria A. Panova, Alexey S. Taradin, Andrey A. Vyshnevyy, Alexander V. Syuy, Sergey M. Klimentov, Sergey M. Novikov, Andrey B. Evlyukhin, Andrei V. Kabashin, Aleksey V. Arsenin, Kostya S. Novoselov, Valentyn S. Volkov
Summary: Recent developments in resonant dielectric nanostructures have opened up attractive opportunities for focusing and manipulating light at the nanoscale, leading to the emerging field of all-dielectric nanophotonics. In this study, we fabricated water-dispersed spherical nanoparticles (NPs) of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) using femtosecond laser-ablative fabrication. These NPs inherit the optical and electronic properties of TMDC crystals, enabling a strong concentration of electromagnetic field and enhanced photoabsorption and photothermal conversion. Compared to conventional dielectric nanoresonators, these TMDC NPs exhibit superior photothermal response, making them promising for next-generation nanophotonic and nanotheranostic platforms.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yera Ye Ussembayev, Natalia K. Zawacka, Filip Strubbe, Zeger Hens, Kristiaan Neyts
Summary: This study demonstrates how the thickness of the photoluminescent layer affects the direction of emitted light. The research shows that for sufficiently thin films (monolayer of SNPs), the emitted light is fully outcoupled, while for thicker films, an important contribution propagates along the film as a planar waveguide.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Adriaan L. Frencken, Michael Dobinson, Zohreh Sharifi, Elham Hosseini Toodeshki, Reuven Gordon, Frank C. J. M. van Veggel
Summary: We successfully trapped and anchored NaYF4 nanoparticles and NaYF4 nanoparticles doped with a single Er3+ ion using optical trapping and chemical anchoring. The anchoring method involved coating the nanoparticles with thiol-functionalized phospholipids, where the thiol groups were protected with a chemical group photoremovable at 340 nm. The nanoparticles were optically trapped in a gold double-nanohole aperture using a 980 nm laser, and the thiol groups were deprotected and attached to the gold surface using a focused 340 nm light beam, permanently anchoring the particles.
ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Felix G. Kaps, Susanne C. Kehr, Lukas M. Eng
Summary: This paper theoretically and experimentally explores the influence of linear polarization control on near-field coupling, demonstrating that resonantly excited samples respond with a strong near-field signal to different linear polarization angles. By varying the illumination polarization angle, the scattered near-field signatures at different wavelengths can be quantitatively compared.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Monosij Mondal, Maicol A. Ochoa, Maxim Sukharev, Abraham Nitzan
Summary: The interaction between excited states of a molecule and excited states of a metal nanostructure leads to hybrid states with modified optical properties. The condition for strong coupling between plasmons and molecules can be easily satisfied if the only contributions to the spectral width are associated with the radiative and nonradiative relaxation of a single molecular vibronic transition. However, the observation of Rabi splitting becomes more challenging when the molecule-metal surface distance is varied due to the spectral shift associated with the same molecule-plasmon interaction.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Optics
Timo Paschen, Constantin Nauk, Philip Dienstbier, Peter Hommelhoff
Summary: The study explores the rescattering of photoemitted electrons at aluminium needle tips and identifies distinct features associated with strong-field rescattering. Utilizing this rescattering process, the research investigates the geometry-dependent enhanced optical near-field at the apex of the aluminium tip, which is supported by theoretical investigations and numerical simulations. The near-field enhancement at aluminium tips is found to have a strong dependence on tip opening angle and radius of curvature.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Matthew A. Norcia, Claudia Politi, Lauritz Klaus, Elena Poli, Maximilian Sohmen, Manfred J. Mark, Russell N. Bisset, Luis Santos, Francesca Ferlaino
Summary: Supersolid states combine properties of solids and superfluids, initially envisioned in solid helium but observed in ultracold atomic gases. The extension of supersolid properties into two dimensions using dysprosium atoms opens up the possibility of studying rich excitation properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
N. Sirica, P. P. Orth, M. S. Scheurer, Y. M. Dai, M-C Lee, P. Padmanabhan, L. T. Mix, S. W. Teitelbaum, M. Trigo, L. X. Zhao, G. F. Chen, B. Xu, R. Yang, B. Shen, C. Hu, C-C Lee, H. Lin, T. A. Cochran, S. A. Trugman, J-X Zhu, M. Z. Hasan, N. Ni, X. G. Qiu, A. J. Taylor, D. A. Yarotski, R. P. Prasankumar
Summary: Symmetry plays a central role in conventional and topological phases of matter, making the ability to optically drive symmetry changes a critical step in developing future technologies. Topological materials, like topological semimetals, are particularly sensitive to changes in time-reversal and crystalline symmetries, affecting both bulk and surface electronic states. The study demonstrates ultrafast symmetry breaking using optically driven photocurrents.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Mikelis Marnauza, Marcus Tornberg, Erik K. Martensson, Daniel Jacobsson, Kimberly A. Dick
Summary: This article presents the first experimental investigation into how nanowire diameter affects the growth dynamics by growing Au-seeded GaAs nanowires in an environmental transmission electron microscope. The data show that the incubation time is stable across the investigated diameter range, except for a sharp increase for the smallest diameter. The step-flow time is observed to steadily increase across the diameter range.
NANOSCALE HORIZONS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Artem G. Rybkin, Artem V. Tarasov, Anna A. Rybkina, Dmitry Yu. Usachov, Anatoly E. Petukhov, Alexander V. Eryzhenkov, Dmitrii A. Pudikov, Alevtina A. Gogina, Ilya I. Klimovskikh, Giovanni Di Santo, Luca Petaccia, Andrei Varykhalov, Alexander M. Shikin
Summary: This study investigates the magnetization of graphene by coupling it to a ferromagnetic Co film through a Au monolayer. The existence of dislocation loops under graphene induces ferrimagnetic ordering of moments in the two C sublattices. The findings support the interplay between Rashba and exchange couplings through spin-ARPES measurements and DFT calculations, revealing the potential of the synthesized system for realizing a circular dichroism Hall effect.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Optics
Jiawei Wang, Sreeramulu Valligatla, Yin Yin, Lukas Schwarz, Mariana Medina-Sanchez, Stefan Baunack, Ching Hua Lee, Ronny Thomale, Shilong Li, Vladimir M. Fomin, Libo Ma, Oliver G. Schmidt
Summary: The Mobius strip offers a platform for investigating the topological behavior of spinning particles, such as electrons, polaritons, and photons. Despite theoretical investigations, the optical Berry phase in a Mobius-strip cavity has not been experimentally observed until now. In this study, the researchers successfully observed the Berry phase generated in optical Mobius-strip microcavities by generating elliptical polarization of the resonating light.
News Item
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Paulo Onuchic, Steven Boeynaems
Summary: A modular platform has been developed for generating designer condensates with adjustable material properties for selective partitioning. These programmable assemblies can control bacterial plasmid expression and inheritance, and have wide applications including in eukaryote systems.
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jiahua Duan, Francisco Javier Alfaro-Mozaz, Javier Taboada-Gutierrez, Irene Dolado, Gonzalo Alvarez-Perez, Elena Titova, Andrei Bylinkin, Ana Isabel F. Tresguerres-Mata, Javier Martin-Sanchez, Song Liu, James H. Edgar, Denis A. Bandurin, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Rainer Hillenbrand, Alexey Y. Nikitin, Pablo Alonso-Gonzalez
Summary: Optical nanoantennas are capable of squeezing light at the nanoscale and enhancing light-matter interactions, making them important for photonic devices and spectroscopy. This study demonstrates active and passive tuning of ultranarrow resonances in polar crystals-based nanoantennas over a wide spectral range. The results provide insights into the effects of different materials' surface environments on tuning efficiency.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Optics
Xinzhong Chen, Ziheng Yao, Zhiyuan Sun, Stefan G. Stanciu, D. N. Basov, Rainer Hillenbrand, Mengkun Liu
Summary: The modeling of near-field interaction in scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (s-SNOM) is rapidly advancing, but a versatile and accurate modeling framework for various complex situations is still lacking. In this work, a time-efficient numerical scheme in the quasi-electrostatic limit is proposed to capture the tip-sample interaction in the near field. The method considers an extended tip geometry, providing an advantage compared to the previously reported methods. Through investigating anisotropy, experimental parameters, and spatial resolution, the method contributes to the understanding of the contrast mechanism in s-SNOM imaging and spectroscopy and provides a valuable platform for future quantitative analysis of experimental observations.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Nestor Bareza, Bruno Paulillo, Tetiana M. Slipchenko, Marta Autore, Irene Dolado, Song Liu, James H. Edgar, Saul Velez, Luis Martin-Moreno, Rainer Hillenbrand, Valerio Pruneri
Summary: Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) hosts long-lived phonon polaritons, making it a promising material for mid-infrared sensing and spectroscopy. In this study, a mid-IR CO2 gas sensor based on phonon polariton modes in hBN nanoresonators functionalized with a CO2-adsorbing layer was demonstrated. The results showed that the PhP resonance shifted to lower frequency, weakened, and broadened with increasing CO2 concentrations.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Davide Spirito, Maria Barra-Burillo, Francesco Calavalle, Costanza Lucia Manganelli, Marco Gobbi, Rainer Hillenbrand, Felix Casanova, Luis E. Hueso, Beatriz Martin-Garcia
Summary: Strain was applied to a 2D organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite to study its temperature-dependent microphotoluminescence. The results showed that strain can modulate the emission spectrum and band structure, with both tensile and compressive strain observed on the flake surface.
Article
Polymer Science
Matteo Sanviti, Lars Mester, Rainer Hillenbrand, Angel Alegria, DanielE. Martinez-Tong
Summary: In this study, nanostructured conducting PEDOT:PSS thin films were prepared using solvent vapor annealing (SVA) with tetrahydrofuran (THF) as the low boiling point solvent. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used to observe the development of distinct nanostructures with solvent exposure time. The physical properties of the nanostructures were evaluated through nanomechanical, nanoelectrical, and nanoinfrared (nano-FTIR) measurements. It was demonstrated that exposure to THF can effectively and selectively modify the surface nanostructure of PEDOT:PSS and thus its final properties. The nanoscale studies also provided evidence of molecular rearrangements during nanostructure fabrication, which is crucial for expanding the potential applications of this polymer in thermoelectric and optoelectronic devices.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shu Chen, Andrei Bylinkin, Zhengtianye Wang, Martin Schnell, Greeshma Chandan, Peining Li, Alexey Y. Nikitin, Stephanie Law, Rainer Hillenbrand
Summary: This study successfully captures and analyzes the properties and dispersion of plasmon polaritons in thin Bi2Se3 layers using THz near-field imaging technique. The results show that the momentum and decay time of polaritons significantly increase compared to photons, but the propagation length is short. The study further reveals the coupling process between THz radiation and Dirac and Massive carriers on the surface of topological insulators and carriers and photons in the bulk.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gonzalo Alvarez-Perez, Jiahua Duan, Javier Taboada-Gutierrez, Qingdong Ou, Elizaveta Nikulina, Song Liu, James H. Edgar, Qiaoliang Bao, Vincenzo Giannini, Rainer Hillenbrand, Javier Martin-Sanchez, Alexey Yu Nikitin, Pablo Alonso-Gonzalez
Summary: This article introduces a negative reflection optical phenomenon and directly visualizes polaritons at the nano scale. The research findings show that negative reflection can tune the wavelength and direction of polaritons, providing a new approach for realizing nanophotonics in low-loss natural media.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Qing Zhang, Qingdong Ou, Guangyuan Si, Guangwei Hu, Shaohua Dong, Yang Chen, Jincheng Ni, Chen Zhao, Michael S. Fuhrer, Yuanjie Yang, Andrea Alu, Rainer Hillenbrand, Cheng-Wei Qiu
Summary: Recent research has shown that highly asymmetric and unidirectional phonon polaritons can be excited by directly patterning high-symmetry crystal structures. Structural engineering in high-symmetry vdW materials allows versatile and robust control over the propagation of phonon polaritons, opening up new possibilities for controlling infrared polaritons.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jose M. Pereira, Daniel Tezze, Iris Niehues, Yaiza Asensio, Haozhe Yang, Lars Mester, Shu Chen, Felix Casanova, Alexander M. Bittner, Maider Ormaza, Frederik Schiller, Beatriz Martin-Garcia, Rainer Hillenbrand, Luis E. Hueso, Marco Gobbi
Summary: The emergence of superconductivity and a charge density wave phase in air-stable organic cation intercalated MoS2 crystals is reported. The properties of the correlated electronic phases are shown to depend dramatically on the intercalated cation, demonstrating the potential of organic ion intercalation to finely tune the properties of 2D materials. Organic-ion intercalated MoS2 is established as a platform to study the emergence and modulation of correlated electronic phases.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Irene Dolado, Carlos Maciel-Escudero, Elizaveta Nikulina, Evgenii Modin, Francesco Calavalle, Shu Chen, Andrei Bylinkin, Francisco Javier Alfaro-Mozaz, Jiahan Li, James H. Edgar, Felix Casanova, Saul Velez, Luis E. Hueso, Ruben Esteban, Javier Aizpurua, Rainer Hillenbrand
Summary: In this study, nanoscale mapping of vibrational strong coupling between organic molecules and nanoresonators is achieved by remote near-field spectroscopy. The results demonstrate the localized hybrid polariton modes and coupling strengths on a single nanoresonator level, providing insights into the nanoscale vibrational strong coupling phenomenon.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alexey Y. Nikitin, Rainer Hillenbrand, Andrei Bylinkin, Francesco Calavalle, Maria Barra-Burillo, Roman V. Kirtaev, Elizaveta Nikulina, Evgeny Modin, Eli Janzen, James H. Edgar, Felix Casanova, Luis E. Hueso, Valentyn S. Volkov, Paolo Vavassori, Igor Aharonovich, Pablo Alonso-Gonzalez
Summary: Strong coupling between light and matter excitations in both mid-IR and visible frequency bands is achieved by introducing polaritonic nanoresonators, which can manipulate material properties and have potential applications in optoelectronics, nanophotonics, and quantum information.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
S. Chen, P. L. Leng, A. Konecna, E. Modin, M. Gutierrez-Amigo, E. Vicentini, B. Martin-Garcia, M. Barra-Burillo, I. Niehues, C. Maciel Escudero, X. Y. Xie, L. E. Hueso, E. Artacho, J. Aizpurua, I. Errea, M. G. Vergniory, A. Chuvilin, F. X. Xiu, R. Hillenbrand
Summary: By employing terahertz nanoscopy, it has been possible to image highly confined, in-plane anisotropic acoustic terahertz plasmon polaritons in monoclinic Ag2Te platelets placed above a Au layer, verifying a linear dispersion and elliptical isofrequency contour in momentum space.
Article
Optics
Iris Niehues, Lars Mester, Edoardo Vicentini, Daniel Wigger, Martin Schnell, Rainer Hillenbrand
Summary: Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) enables nanoscale optical mapping of various material properties through interferometric recording of light scattered at a scanning probe tip. It reveals the local reflectivity and absorption of dielectric samples, such as biological materials or polymers, through near-field amplitude and phase signals of the scattered field. However, in certain conditions with weakly or non-absorbing material on a highly reflective substrate, a slight negative phase contrast can hinder the identification of weak infrared absorption materials. This effect is documented, and simple correction methods are demonstrated to remove the negative phase contrast and enable the identification of weak absorption contrasts.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Lars Mester, Alexander A. Govyadinov, Rainer Hillenbrand
Summary: Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and Fourier transform infrared nanospectroscopy (nano-FTIR) are essential tools for nanocharacterization of composite materials. Indirect tip illumination via far-field reflection and scattering at the sample can produce signals not present at the tip position, requiring recognition and elimination of such artifacts for correct interpretation of images and spectra. This can be achieved through a simple signal normalization step to strengthen the analytical capabilities of s-SNOM and nano-FTIR spectroscopy.
