Strong coupling and catenary field enhancement in the hybrid plasmonic metamaterial cavity and TMDC monolayers

Strong coupling between resonantly matched surface plasmons of metals and excitons of quantum emitters results in the formation of new plasmon-exciton hybridized energy states.In plasmon-exciton strong coupling,plasmonic nanocavities play a significant role due to their ability to confine light in an ultrasmall volume.Additionally,two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDCs) have a significant exciton binding energy and remain stable at ambient conditions,making them an excellent alternative for investigating light-matter interactions.As a result,strong plasmon-exciton coupling has been reported by introducing a single metallic cavity.However,single nanoparticles have lower spatial confinement of electromagnetic fields and limited tunability to match the excitonic resonance.Here,we introduce the concept of catenary-shaped optical fields induced by plasmonic metamaterial cavities to scale the strength of plasmon-exciton coupling.The demonstrated plasmon modes of metallic metamaterial cavities offer high confinement and tunability and can match with the excitons of TMDCs to exhibit a strong coupling regime by tuning either the size of the cavity gap or thickness.The calculated Rabi splitting of Au-MoSe_2 and Au-WSe_2 heterostructures strongly depends on the catenary-like field enhancement induced by the Au cavity,resulting in room-temperature Rabi splitting ranging between 77.86 and 320 me V.These plasmonic metamaterial cavities can pave the way for manipulating excitons in TMDCs and operating active nanophotonic devices at ambient temperature.

A historical overview of nano-optics:From near-field optics to plasmonics

Nano-optics is an emergent research field in physics that appeared in the 1980s,which deals with light–matter optical interactions at the nanometer scale.In early studies of nano-optics,the main concern focus is to obtain higher optical resolution over the diffraction limit.The researches of near-field imaging and spectroscopy based on scanning near-field optical microscopy(SNOM)are developed.The exploration of improving SNOM probe for near-field detection leads to the emergence of surface plasmons.In the sense of resolution and wider application,there has been a significant transition from seeking higher resolution microscopy to plasmonic near-field modulations in the nano-optics community during the nano-optic development.Nowadays,studies of nano-optics prefer the investigation of plasmonics in different material systems.In this article,the history of the development of near-field optics is briefly reviewed.The difficulties of conventional SNOM to achieve higher resolution are discussed.As an alternative solution,surface plasmons have shown the advantages of higher resolution,wider application,and flexible nano-optical modulation for new devices.The typical studies in different periods are introduced and characteristics of nano-optics in each stage are analyzed.In this way,the evolution progress from near-field optics to plasmonics of nano-optics research is presented.The future development of nano-optics is discussed then.

New insights into plasmonic hot-electron dynamics

Recent advances in understanding the hot-electron dynamics in plasmonic nanostructures have significantly impacted a variety of plasmonically powered physical,chemical,and even biological processes.New insights into their quantum properties and complex relaxation mechanisms enable the efficient generation.

Ultrafast near-infrared pyroelectric detector based on inhomogeneous plasmonic metasurface

Pyroelectric(PE)detection technologies have attracted extensive attention due to the cooling-free,bias-free,and broadband properties.However,the PE signals are generated by the continuous energy conversion processes from light,heat,to electricity,normally leading to very slow response speeds.Herein,we design and fabricate a PE detector which shows extremely fast response in near-infrared(NIR)band by combining with the inhomogeneous plasmonic metasurface.The plasmonic effect dramatically accelerates the light-heat conversion process,unprecedentedly improving the NIR response speed by 2−4 orders of magnitude to 22μs,faster than any reported infrared(IR)PE detector.We also innovatively introduce the concept of time resolution into the field of PE detection,which represents the detector’s ability to distinguish multiple fast-moving targets.Furthermore,the spatially inhomogeneous design overcomes the traditional narrowband constraint of plasmonic systems and thus ensures a wideband response from visible to NIR.This study provides a promising approach to develop next-generation IR PE detectors with ultrafast and broadband responses.

Tunable artificial plasmonic nanolaser with wide spectrum emission operating at room temperature

With the rapid development of information and communication technology,a key objective in the field of optoelectronic integrated devices is to reduce the nano-laser size and energy consumption.Photonics nanolasers are unable to exceed the diffraction limit and typically exhibit low modulation rates of several GHz.In contrast,plasmonic nanolaser utilizes highly confined surface plasmon polariton(SPP)mode that can exceed diffraction limit and their strong Purcell effect can accelerate the modulation rates to several THz.Herein,we propose a parametrically tunable artificial plasmonic nanolasers based on metal–insulator–semiconductor–insulator–metal(MISIM)structure,which demonstrates its ability to compress the mode field volume toλ/14.As the pump power increases,the proposed artificial plasmonic nanolaser exhibits 20-nm-wide output spectrum.Additionally,we investigate the effects of various cavity parameters on the nanolaser’s output threshold,offering potentials for realizing low-threshold artificial plasmonic nanolasers.Moreover,we observe a blue shift in the center wavelength of the nanolaser output with thinner gain layer thickness,predominantly attributed to the increased exciton–photon coupling strength.Our work brings inspiration to several areas,including spaser-based interconnects,nano-LEDs,spontaneous emission control,miniaturization of photon condensates,eigenmode engineering of plasmonic nanolasers,and optimal design driven by artificial intelligence(AI).

Plasmon Induced Heat Funneling from Au to Cu in the Bimetallic Au@Cu Core-Shell Nanoparticles

The bimetallic nanostructures that mix a plasmonic metal with a transition metal in the form of the core-shell nanoparticles are promising to promote catalytic performance.But it is still unclear how the heat(hot electrons and phonons)transfers on the interface between two metals.We have designed and synthesized Au@Cu bimetallic nanoparticles with Au as core and Cu as shell.By using transient absorption spectroscopy,we find that there are two plasmon induced heat funneling processes from Au core to Cu shell.One is the electron temperature equilibrium(electron heat transfer)with equilibration time of~560 fs.The other is the lattice temperature equilibrium(lattice heat transfer)with equilibration time of~13 ps.This plasmon induced heat funneling may be universal in similar bimetallic nanostructures,so our finding could contribute to further understanding the catalytic mechanism of bimetallic plasmonic photothermal catalysis.

The impact of plasmonic Ag−Au bimetallic nanoparticles on photocurrent enhancement in GaN-based photodetectors

Recently,there has been considerable interest in high-efficiency ultraviolet(UV)photodetectors for their potential practical uses.In this study,a high-quality UV photodetector was fabricated using a combination of Ag and Au NPs with GaN film.The GaN film was deposited using sputtering technique,whereas Ag and Au films were grown using thermal evaporation technique.Ag-Au bimetallic nanoparticles were formed by treating them at the various annealing temperature to improve the interaction between light and the photoactive layers of the photodetectors.The optimal annealing temperature to achieve the best performance of a photodetector is 650℃.This led to a photoresponsivity of 98.5 A/W and the ON/OFF ratio of 705 at low bias voltage of 1 V.This work establishes the foundation for the advancement of high-performance UV photodetectors.

Microscopic mechanism of plasmon-mediated photocatalytic H_(2) splitting on Ag-Au alloy chain

Alloy nanostructures supporting localized surface plasmon resonances has been widely used as efficient photocatalysts,but the microscopic mechanism of alloy compositions enhancing the catalytic efficiency is still unclear.By using time-dependent density functional theory(TDDFT),we analyze the real-time reaction processes of plasmon-mediated H_(2) splitting on linear Ag-Au alloy chains when exposed to femtosecond laser pulses.It is found that H_(2) splitting rate depends on the position and proportion of Au atoms in alloy chains,which indicates that specially designed Ag-Au alloy is more likely to induce the reaction than pure Ag chain.Especially,more electrons directly transfer from the alloy chain to the anti-bonding state of H_(2),thereby accelerating the H_(2) splitting reaction.These results establish a theoretical foundation for comprehending the microscopic mechanism of plasmon-induced chemical reaction on the alloy nanostructures.

Spin-controlled generation of a complete polarization set with randomly-interleaved plasmonic metasurfaces

Optical metasurfaces,comprising subwavelength quasi-planar nanostructures,constitute a universal platform for manipulating the amplitude,phase,and polarization of light,thus paving a way for the next generation of highly integrated multifunctional optical devices.In this work,we introduce a reflective metasurface for the generation of a complete(angularly resolved)polarization set by randomly interleaving anisotropic plasmonic meta-atoms acting as nanoscale wave plates.In the proof-of-concept demonstration,we achieve multidirectional beam-steering into different polarization channels forming a complete set of polarization states,which can also be dynamically altered by switching the spin of incident light.The developed design concept represents a significant advancement in achieving flat polarization optics with advanced functionalities.

Nitrogen-doped microporous graphite-enhanced copper plasmonic effect for solar evaporation

Water scarcity is a global challenge,and solar evaporation technology offers a promising and eco-friendly solution for freshwater production.Photothermal conversion materials(PCMs)are crucial for solar evaporation.Improving photothermal conversion efficiency and reducing water evaporation enthalpy are the two key strategies for the designing of PCMs.The desired PCMs that combine both of these properties remain a challenging task,even with the latest advancements in the field.Herein,we developed copper nanoparticles(NPs)with different conjugated nitrogen-doped microporous carbon coatings(Cu@C–N)as PCMs.The microporous carbon enveloping layer provides a highly efficient pathway for water transport and a nanoconfined environment that protects Cu NPs and facilitates the evaporation of water clusters,reducing the enthalpy of water evaporation.Meanwhile,the conjugated nitrogen nodes form strong metal-organic coordination bonds with the surface of copper NPs,acting as an energy bridge to achieve rapid energy transfer and provide high solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency.The Cu@C–N exhibited up to 89.4%solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency and an evaporation rate of 1.94 kgm^(−2) h^(−1) under one sun irradiation,outperforming conventional PCMs,including carbon-based materials and semiconductor materials.These findings offer an efficient design scheme for high-performance PCMs essential for solar evaporators to address global water scarcity.

Plasmon-induced nonlinear response on gold nanoclusters

The plasmon-induced nonlinear response has attracted great attention in micro-nano optics and optoelectronics applications,yet the underlying microscopic mechanism remains elusive.In this study,the nonlinear response of gold nanoclusters when exposed to a femtosecond laser pulse was investigated using time-dependent density functional theory.It was observed that the third-order tunneling current was augmented in plasmonic dimers,owing to a greater number of electrons in the dimer being excited from occupied to unoccupied states.These findings provide profound theoretical insights and enable the realization of accurate regulation and control of nonlinear effects induced by plasmons at the atomic level.

An externally perceivable smart leaky-wave antenna based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons

Smart antennas have received great attention for their potentials to enable communication and perception functions at the same time.However,realizing the function synthesis remains an open challenge,and most existing system solutions are limited to narrow operating bands and high complexity and cost.Here,we propose an externally perceivable leakywave antenna(LWA)based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons(SSPPs),which can realize adaptive real-time switching between the“radiating”and“non-radiating”states and beam tracking at different frequencies.With the assistance of computer vision,the smart SSPP-LWA is able to detect the external target user or jammer,and intelligently track the target by self-adjusting the operating frequency.The proposed scheme helps to reduce the power consumption through dynamically controlling the radiating state of the antenna,and improve spectrum utilization and avoid spectrum conflicts through intelligently deciding the radiating frequency.On the other hand,it is also helpful for the physical layer communication security through switching the antenna working state according to the presence of the target and target beam tracking in real time.In addition,the proposed smart antenna can be generalized to other metamaterial systems and could be a candidate for synaesthesia integration in future smart antenna systems.

Advances in surface plasmon resonance for analyzing active components in traditional Chinese medicine

The surface plasmon resonance(SPR)biosensor technology is a novel optical analysis method for studying intermolecular interactions.Owing to in-depth research on traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)in recent years,comprehensive and specific identification of components and target interactions has become key yet difficult tasks.SPR has gradually been used to analyze the active components of TCM owing to its high sensitivity,strong exclusivity,large flux,and real-time monitoring capabilities.This review sought to briefly introduce the active components of TCM and the principle of SPR,and provide historical and new insights into the application of SPR in the analysis of the active components of TCM.

Photocatalytic seawater splitting by 2D heterostructure of ZnIn_(2)S_(4)/WO_(3) decorated with plasmonic Au for hydrogen evolution under visible light

Photocatalytic H_(2) evolution from seawater splitting presents a promising approach to tackle the fossil energy crisis and mitigate carbon emission due to the abundant source of seawater and sunlight on the earth.However,the development of efficient photocatalysts for seawater splitting remains a formidable challenge.Herein,a 2D/2D ZnIn_(2)S_(4)/WO_(3)(ZIS/WO_(3))heterojunction nanostructure is fabricated to efficiently separate the photoinduced carriers by steering electron transfer from the conduction band minimum of WO_(3) to the valence band maximum of ZIS via constructing internal electric field.Subsequently,plasmonic Au nanoparticles(NPs)as a novel photosensitizer and a reduction cocatalyst are anchored on ZIS/WO_(3) surface to further enhance the optical absorption of ZIS/WO_(3) heterojunction and accelerate the catalytic conversion.The obtained Au/ZIS/WO_(3) photocatalyst exhibits an outstanding H_(2) evolution rate of 2610.6 or 3566.3μmol g^(-1)h~(-1)from seawater splitting under visible or full-spectrum light irradiation,respectively.These rates represent an impressive increase of approximately 7.3-and 6,6-fold compared to those of ZIS under the illumination of the same light source.The unique 2D/2D structure,internal electric field,and plasmonic metal modification together boost the photocatalytic H_(2) evolution rate of Au/ZIS/WO_(3),making it even comparable to H_(2) evolution from pure water splitting.The present work sheds light on the development of efficient photocatalysts for seawater splitting.

Reconfigurable exceptional point-based sensing with 0.001λsensitivity using spoof localized surface plasmons

Recent breakthroughs in the field of non-Hermitian physics present unprecedented opportunities,from fundamental theories to cutting-edge applications such as multimode lasers,unconventional wave transport,and high-performance sensors.The exceptional point,a spectral singularity widely existing in non-Hermitian systems,provides an indispensable route to enhance the sensitivity of optical detection.However,the exceptional point of the forementioned systems is set once the system is built or fabricated,and machining errors make it hard to reach such a state precisely.To this end,we develop a highly tunable and reconfigurable exceptional point system,i.e.,a single spoof plasmonic resonator suspended above a substrate and coupled with two freestanding Rayleigh scatterers.Our design offers great flexibility to control exceptional point states,enabling us to dynamically reconfigure the exceptional point formed by various multipolar modes across a broadband frequency range.Specifically,we experimentally implement five distinct exceptional points by precisely manipulating the positions of two movable Rayleigh scatterers.In addition,the enhanced perturbation strength offers remarkable sensitivity enhancement for detecting deep-subwavelength particles with the minimum dimension down to 0.001λ(withλto be the free-space wavelength).

AuAg plasmonic nanoalloys with asymmetric charge distribution on CeO_(2) nanorods for selective photocatalytic CO_(2)-to-CH4 conversion

Converting CO_(2) under mild conditions by employing semiconductor photocatalysts is promising to address global environmental issues.However,the current CO_(2) conversion efficiency is limited by the difficulty activating the thermodynamically stable CO_(2) molecules.Constructing plasmonic nanoalloy-based photocatalytic systems with significant localized surface plasmon resonance(LSPR)is full of po-tential but remains a vast challenge.In this work,AuAg plasmonic nanoalloys were incorporated on CeO_(2) nanorods(designated as AuAg–CeO_(2))to achieve selective photoreduction of CO_(2).The result displays that Ag can serve as a superior electron modifier to promote the electron enrichment of Au,thus producing asymmetric charge distributions to boost the selective conversion of CO_(2).Furthermore,the improved LSPR effect on AuAg–CeO_(2) induces the generation of high-energy hot electrons under irradiation,enhancing the reactivity of electrons for CO_(2) photo-reduction.Due to the aforementioned effects,AuAg–CeO_(2) exhibits a high CO_(2)-to-CH4 performance of 92.6μmol g-1 through a 3-h test and a high CH4 selectivity of 94.5%,up to 2.6,8.7,and 17.1 times higher than the activity of Au–CeO_(2),pure CeO_(2),and Ag–CeO_(2),respectively.This work can provide a new perspective for con-structing high-performance catalysts for photocatalytic CO_(2) reduction.

Surface plasmon resonance-induced visible-light photocatalytic performance of silver/silver molybdate composites

Novel silver/silver molybdate（Ag/Ag2MoO4） composites with surface plasmon resonance（SPR）-enhanced photocatalytic performance were successfully fabricated via a facile one-pot hydrothermal route with the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate（SDS） in this study.The as prepared silver/silver molybdate（Ag/Ag2MoO4） composites were systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction（XRD）,scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance absorption spectroscopy（DRS） in order to investigate their crystal structure,morphology and optical property as well.The photocatalytic activities of the composites were subsequently evaluated by their ability to degrade rhodamine B（RhB） under visible-light irradiation.Varies of controlled experiments were then carefully operated to gain a deep insight into the assembling of Ag/Ag2MoO4composites.It was found that preparation conditions such as pH,reaction time,and the amount of surfactant played important roles in the formation of composites with octahedral microstructures.And the composite obtained at 160 ℃ using 0.5 g of sodium dodecyl sulfate exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance under visible-light irradiation.Capture experiments were also conducted to clarify the function of different active species generated on the surface of Ag/Ag2MoO4during the photocatalytic process,in which both holes and ·OH radicals were found to play crucial role in photocatalytic removal of RhB under visible light irradiation.A possible photocatalytic mechanism of Ag/Ag2MoO4 was finally proposed on the basis of all the results to explain the higher photocatalytic activity of the octahedral Ag/Ag2MoO4 composites.It was inferred that the photoinduced ＂hot＂ electrons can quickly transfer from the Ag NPs to the conduction band of Ag2MoO4 and react with oxygen and H2O to generate a large quality of active radicals such as ·OH and ·O2^- because of the SPR effects.Besides,this SPR effects of Ag nanoparticles deposited on the surface of Ag2MoO4 can not only dramatically amplify its light absorption,especially in the visible region,but also promote the separation of photoexcited electron-hole pairs and effectively decrease electron-hole recombination.

Tailoring Light–Matter Interactions in Overcoupled Resonator for Biomolecule Recognition and Detection

Plasmonic nanoantennas provide unique opportunities for precise control of light–matter coupling in surface-enhanced infrared absorption(SEIRA)spectroscopy,but most of the resonant systems realized so far suffer from the obstacles of low sensitivity,narrow bandwidth,and asymmetric Fano resonance perturbations.Here,we demonstrated an overcoupled resonator with a high plasmon-molecule coupling coefficient(μ)(OC-Hμresonator)by precisely controlling the radiation loss channel,the resonator-oscillator coupling channel,and the frequency detuning channel.We observed a strong dependence of the sensing performance on the coupling state,and demonstrated that OC-Hμresonator has excellent sensing properties of ultra-sensitive(7.25%nm^(−1)),ultra-broadband(3–10μm),and immune asymmetric Fano lineshapes.These characteristics represent a breakthrough in SEIRA technology and lay the foundation for specific recognition of biomolecules,trace detection,and protein secondary structure analysis using a single array(array size is 100×100μm^(2)).In addition,with the assistance of machine learning,mixture classification,concentration prediction and spectral reconstruction were achieved with the highest accuracy of 100%.Finally,we demonstrated the potential of OC-Hμresonator for SARS-CoV-2 detection.These findings will promote the wider application of SEIRA technology,while providing new ideas for other enhanced spectroscopy technologies,quantum photonics and studying light–matter interactions.

A low-threshold nanolaser based on hybrid plasmonic waveguides at the deep subwavelength scale

A novel nanolaser structure based on a hybrid plasmonic waveguide is proposed and investigated. The coupling between the metal nanowire and the high-index semiconductor nanowire with optical gain leads to a strong field enhancement in the air gap region and low propagation loss, which enables the realization of lasing at the deep subwavelength scale.By optimizing the geometric parameters of the structure, a minimal lasing threshold is achieved while maintaining the capacity of ultra-deep subwavelength mode confinement. Compared with the previous coupled nanowire pair based hybrid plasmonic structure, a lower threshold can be obtained with the same geometric parameters. The proposed nanolaser can be integrated into a miniature chip as a nanoscale light source and has the potential to be widely used in optical communication and optical sensing technology.

Metamaterials and plasmonics: From nanoparticles to nanoantenna arrays, metasurfaces, and metamaterials

The rise of plasmonic metamaterials in recent years has unveiled the possibility of revolutionizing the entire field of optics and photonics, challenging well-established technological limitations and paving the way to innovations at an unprecedented level To capitalize the disruptive potential of this rising field of science and technology, it is important to be able to combine the richness of optical phenomena enabled by nanoplasmonics in order to realize metamaterial components, devices, and systems of increasing complexity. Here, we review a few recent research directions in the field of plasmonic metamaterials, which may foster further advancements in this research area. We will discuss the anomalous scattering features enabled by plasmonic nanoparticles and nanoclusters, and show how they may represent the fundamental building blocks of complex nanophotonic architectures. Building on these concepts, advanced components can be designed and operated, such as optical nanoantennas and nanoantenna arrays, which, in turn, may be at the basis of metasurface devices and complex systems. Following this path, from basic phenomena to advanced functionalities, the field of plasmonic metamaterials offers the promise of an important scientific and technological impact, with applications spanning from medical diagnostics to clean energy and information processing.