Hybrid phase-locked loop with fast locking time and low spur in a 0.18-μm CMOS process

We propose a novel hybrid phase-locked loop （PLL） architecture for overcoming the trade-off between fast locking time and low spur. To reduce the settling time and meanwhile suppress the reference spurs, we employ a wide-band single-path PLL and a narrow-band dual-path PLL in a transient state and a steady state, respectively, by changing the loop bandwidth according to the gain of voltage controlled oscillator （VCO） and the resister of the loop filter. The hybrid PLL is implemented in a 0.18-μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor （CMOS） process with a total die area of 1.4×0.46 mm2. The measured results exhibit a reference spur level of lower than -73 dB with a reference frequency of 10 MHz and a settling time of 20 μs with 40 MHz frequency jump at 2 GHz. The total power consumption of the hybrid PLL is less than 27 mW with a supply voltage of 1.8 V.

Metamaterial absorbers realized in an X-band rectangular waveguide

In this paper, we demonstrate six types of metamaterial absorbers （MMAs） by measuring their absorptivities in an X-band （8 12 GHz） rectangular waveguide. Some of the MMAs have been demonstrated previously by using the free space measurement method, and the others are proposed firstly in this paper. The measured results show that all of the six MMAs exhibit high absorptivities above 98%, which have similar absorbing characteristics to those measured in the free space. The numerically obtained surface current densities for each MMA show that the absorbing mechanism is the same as that under the free space conditions. Such a demonstration method is superior to the conventional free space measurement method due to the small-scale test samples required, the simple measure device, and its low cost. Most importantly, the proposed method opens a way to enable MMAs to be used in microwave applications such as matched terminations.

Matryoshka-caged gold nanorods： Synthesis, plasmonic properties, and catalytic activity

Matryoshka-caged gold nanorods （mCGNRs） were successfully synthesized by alternating between a seed-mediated silver-coating method and galvanic replacement reactions （GRRs）. As the number of matryoshka layers of the mCGNRs increased, the plasmon resonance peak broadened and was red-shifted, and the catalytic activity towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol （4-NTP） increased. When mCGNRs with 6 layers were used as nanocatalysts in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol, the reaction rate coefficient was 5.2- and 3.7-times higher than that of the gold-nanorod- and caged-gold-nanorod-catalyzed reductions of 4-nitrophenol, respectively. In addition, the surface-plasmon-resonance-based absorption of light enhanced the catalytic performance of the mCGNRs. With the support of a polyurethane foam, the mCGNRs synthesized in this study can be applied as recydable heterogeneous catalysts for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

Experimental demonstration of an electrically tunable broadband coherent perfect absorber based on a graphene–electrolyte–graphene sandwich structure

We propose and experimentally demonstrate the operation of an electrically tunable, broadband coherent perfect absorption(CPA) at microwave frequencies by harnessing the CPA features of a graphene–electrolyte–graphene sandwich structure(GSS). Using both a simplified lumped circuit model and full-wave numerical simulation, it is found that the microwave coherent absorptivity of the GSS can be tuned dynamically from nearly 50% to 100% by changing the Fermi level of the graphene. Strikingly, our simplified lumped circuit model agrees very well with the full-wave numerical model, offering valuable insight into the CPA operation of the device. The angle dependency of coherent absorption in the GSS is further investigated, making suggestions for achieving CPA at wide angles up to 80°. To show the validity and accuracy of our theory and numerical simulations, a GSS prototype is fabricated and measured in a C-band waveguide system. The reasonably good agreement between the experimental and the simulated results confirms that the tunable coherent absorption in GSS can be electrically controlled by changing the Fermi level of the graphene.

Cylindrical vector beam-excited frequency-tunable second harmonic generation in a plasmonic octamer

We report a method to tune the second harmonic generation(SHG) frequency of a metallic octamer by employing cylindrical vector beams as the excitation. Our method exploits the ability to spatially match the polarization state of excitations with the fundamental target plasmonic modes, enabling flexible control of the SHG resonant frequency.It is found that SHG of the octamer is enhanced over a broad band(400 nm) by changing the excitation from the linearly polarized Gaussian beam to radially and azimuthally polarized beams. More strikingly, when subjected to an azimuthally polarized beam, the SHG intensity of the octamer becomes 30 times stronger than that for the linearly polarized beam even in the presence of Fano resonance.

Augmenting photoluminescence of monolayer MoS_(2) using high order modes in a metal dimer-on-film nanocavity

Plasmonic particle-on-film nanocavities,supporting gap modes with ultra-small volume,provide a great solution to boost light–matter interactions at the nanoscale.In this work,we report on the photoluminescence(PL)enhancement of monolayer MoS_(2) using high order modes of an Au nanosphere dimer-on-film nanocavity(DoFN).The high order plasmon modes,consisting of two bonding quadrupoles in the dimer and their images in the Au film,are revealed by combining the polarization-resolved scattering spectra with the numerical simulations.Further integrating the monolayer MoS_(2) into the DoFN,these high order modes are used to enhance PL intensity through simultaneously boosting the absorption and emission processes,producing a 1350-fold enhancement factor.It opens an avenue to enhance the light–matter interaction with high order plasmon modes and may find applications in future optoelectronics and nanophotonics devices.