No Arabic abstract
To develop highly sensitive, stable and repeatable surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates is crucial for analytical detection, which is a challenge for traditional metallic structures. Herein, by taking advantage of the high surface activity of 1T transition metal telluride, we have fabricated high-density gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that are spontaneously in-situ prepared on the 1T MoTe2 atomic layers via a facile method, forming a plasmonic-2D material hybrid SERS substrate. This AuNP formation is unique to the 1T phase, which is repressed in 2H MoTe2 with less surface activity. The hybrid structure generates coupling effects of electromagnetic and chemical enhancements, as well as excellent molecule adsorption, leading to the ultrasensitive (4*10^-17 M) and reproducible detection. Additionally, the immense fluorescence and photobleaching phenomena are mostly avoided. Flexible SERS tapes have been demonstrated in practical applications. Our approach facilitates the ultrasensitive SERS detection by a facile method, as well as the better mechanistic understanding of SERS beyond plasmonic effects.
Spectroscopic analysis of large biomolecules is critical in a number of applications, including medical diagnostics and label-free biosensing. Recently, it has been shown that Raman spectroscopy of proteins can be used to diagnose some diseases, including a few types of cancer. These experiments have however been performed using traditional Raman spectroscopy and the development of the Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) assays suitable for large biomolecules could lead to a substantial decrease in the amount of specimen necessary for these experiments. We present a new method to achieve high local field enhancement in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy through the simultaneous adjustment of the lattice plasmons and localized surface plasmon polaritons, in a periodic bilayer nanoantenna array resulting in a high enhancement factor over the sensing area, with relatively high uniformity. The proposed plasmonic nanostructure is comprised of two interacting nanoantenna layers, providing a sharp band-edge lattice plasmon mode and a wide-band localized surface plasmon for the separate enhancement of the pump and emitted Raman signals. We demonstrate the application of the proposed nanostructure for the spectral analysis of large biomolecules by binding a protein (streptavidin) selectively on the hot-spots between the two stacked layers, using a low concentration solution (100 nM) and we successfully acquire its SERS spectrum.
We report modifications to the optical properties of fluorophores in the vicinity of noble metal nanotips. The fluorescence from small clusters of quantum dots has been imaged using an apertureless scanning near-field optical microscope. When a sharp gold tip is brought close to the sample surface, a strong distance-dependent enhancement of the quantum dot fluorescence is observed, leading to a simultaneous increase in optical resolution. These results are consistent with simulations of the electric field and fluorescence enhancement near plasmonic nanostructures. Highly ordered periodic arrays of silver nanotips have been fabricated by nanosphere lithography. Using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, we have created high resolution spatial maps of the lifetime components of vicinal fluorophores; these show an order of magnitude increase in decay rate from a localized volume around the nanotips, resulting in a commensurate enhancement in the fluorescence emission intensity. Spatial maps of the Raman scattering signal from molecules on the nanotips shows an enhancement of more than 5 orders of magnitude.
Periodic arrays of air nanoholes in thin metal films that support surface plasmon resonances can provide an alternative approach for boosting the light-matter interactions at the nanoscale. Indeed, nanohole arrays have garnered great interest in recent years for their use in biosensing, light emission enhancement and spectroscopy. However, the large-scale use of nanohole arrays in emerging technology requires new low-cost fabrication techniques. Here, we demonstrate a simple technique to fabricate nanohole arrays and examine their photonic applications. In contrast to the complicated and most commonly used electron beam lithography technique, hexagonal arrays of nanoholes are fabricated by using a simple combination of shadowing nanosphere lithography technique and electron beam deposition. These arrays are shown to offer enhancements in the lasing emission of an organic dye liquid gain medium with a quality factor above 150. Additionally, a 7-fold increase in Purcell factor is observed for CdSe quantum dot-integrated nanohole arrays.
Hybrid plasmonic photonic structures combine the plasmonic response with the photonic band gap, holding promise for utilization as optical switches and sensors. Here, we demonstrate the active modulation of the optical response in such structures with two different external stimuli, e.g. laser pulses and bacteria. First, we report the fabrication of a miniaturized (5 x 5 mm) indium tin oxide (ITO) grating employing femtosecond laser micromachining, and we show the possibility to modulate the photonic band gap in the visible via ultrafast photoexcitation in the infrared part of the spectrum. Note that the demonstrated time response in the picosecond range of the spectral modulation have an industrial relevance. Moreover, we manufacture one-dimensional photonic crystals consisting of a solution-processed dielectric Bragg stack exposing a top-layer of bio-active silver. We assign the bacterial responsivity of the system to polarization charges at the Ag/bacterium interface, giving rise to an overall blue shift of the photonic band gap.
Hybrid plasmonic nanoemitters based on the combination of quantum dot emitters (QD) and plasmonic nanoantennas open up new perspectives in the control of light. However, precise positioning of any active medium at the nanoscale constitutes a challenge. Here, we report on the optimal overlap of antennas near-field and active medium whose spatial distribution is controlled via a plasmon-triggered 2-photon polymerization of a photosensitive formulation containing QDs. Au nanoparticles of various geometries are considered. The response of these hybrid nano-emitters is shown to be highly sensitive to the light polarization. Different light emission states are evidenced by photoluminescence measurements. These states correspond to polarization-sensitive nanoscale overlap between the exciting local field and the active medium distribution. The decrease of the QD concentration within the monomer formulation allows trapping of a single quantum dot in the vicinity of the Au particle. The latter objects show polarization-dependent switching in the single-photon regime.