Infrared spectroscopy is the technique of choice for chemical identification of biomolecules through their vibrational fingerprints. However, infrared light interacts poorly with nanometric-size molecules. We exploit the unique electro-optical properties of graphene to demonstrate a high-sensitivity tunable plasmonic biosensor for chemically specific label-free detection of protein monolayers. The plasmon resonance of nanostructured graphene is dynamically tuned to selectively probe the protein at different frequencies and extract its complex refractive index. Additionally, the extreme spatial light confinement in graphene—up to two orders of magnitude higher than in metals—produces an unprecedentedly high overlap with nanometric biomolecules, enabling superior sensitivity in the detection of their refractive index and vibrational fingerprints. The combination of tunable spectral selectivity and enhanced sensitivity of graphene opens exciting prospects for biosensing.
Plasmons are quantized collective oscillations of electrons and have been observed in metals and doped semiconductors. The plasmons of ordinary, massive electrons have been the basic ingredients of research in plasmonics and in optical metamaterials for a long time. However, plasmons of massless Dirac electrons have only recently been observed in graphene, a purely two-dimensional electron system. Their properties are promising for novel tunable plasmonic metamaterials in the terahertz and mid-infrared frequency range. Dirac fermions also occur in the two-dimensional electron gas that forms at the surface of topological insulators as a result of the strong spin-orbit interaction existing in the insulating bulk phase. One may therefore look for their collective excitations using infrared spectroscopy. Here we report the first experimental evidence of plasmonic excitations in a topological insulator (Bi2Se3). The material was prepared in thin micro-ribbon arrays of different widths W and periods 2W to select suitable values of the plasmon wavevector k. The linewidth of the plasmon was found to remain nearly constant at temperatures between 6 K and 300 K, as expected when exciting topological carriers. Moreover, by changing W and measuring the plasmon frequency in the terahertz range versus k we show, without using any fitting parameter, that the dispersion curve agrees quantitatively with that predicted for Dirac plasmons.
A multitude of biological processes are enabled by complex interactions between lipid membranes and proteins. To understand such dynamic processes, it is crucial to differentiate the constituent biomolecular species and track their individual time evolution without invasive labels. Here, we present a label-free mid-infrared biosensor capable of distinguishing multiple analytes in heterogeneous biological samples with high sensitivity. Our technology leverages a multi-resonant metasurface to simultaneously enhance the different vibrational fingerprints of multiple biomolecules. By providing up to 1000-fold near-field intensity enhancement over both amide and methylene bands, our sensor resolves the interactions of lipid membranes with different polypeptides in real time. Significantly, we demonstrate that our label-free chemically specific sensor can analyze peptide-induced neurotransmitter cargo release from synaptic vesicle mimics. Our sensor opens up exciting possibilities for gaining new insights into biological processes such as signaling or transport in basic research as well as provides a valuable toolkit for bioanalytical and pharmaceutical applications.
In this work, we present an infrared plasmonic biosensor for chemical-specific detection and monitoring of biomimetic lipid membranes in a label-free and real-time fashion. Lipid membranes constitute the primary biological interface mediating cell signaling and interaction with drugs and pathogens. By exploiting the plasmonic field enhancement in the vicinity of engineered and surface-modified nanoantennas, the proposed biosensor is able to capture the vibrational fingerprints of lipid molecules and monitor in real time the formation kinetics of planar biomimetic membranes in aqueous environments. Furthermore, we show that this plasmonic biosensor features high-field enhancement extending over tens of nanometers away from the surface, matching the size of typical bioassays while preserving high sensitivity.
Graphene is emerging as a promising material for photonic applications owing to its unique optoelectronic properties. Graphene supports tunable, long-lived and extremely confined plasmons that have great potential for applications such as biosensing and optical communications. However, in order to excite plasmonic resonances in graphene, this material requires a high doping level, which is challenging to achieve without degrading carrier mobility and stability. Here, we demonstrate that the infrared plasmonic response of a graphene multilayer stack is analogous to that of a highly doped single layer of graphene, preserving mobility and supporting plasmonic resonances with higher oscillator strength than previously explored single-layer devices. Particularly, we find that the optically equivalent carrier density in multilayer graphene is larger than the sum of those in the individual layers. Furthermore, electrostatic biasing in multilayer graphene is enhanced with respect to single layer due to the redistribution of carriers over different layers, thus extending the spectral tuning range of the plasmonic structure. The superior effective doping and improved tunability of multilayer graphene stacks should enable a plethora of future infrared plasmonic devices with high optical performance and wide tunability.
morphologies. [6][7][8][9] Plasmon hybridization, [ 10,11 ] Fano resonances, [ 12,13 ] and electromagnetically induced transparency [ 14 ] are among the feats that have been realized and broadly used to understand and design plasmonic devices. The range of applications of plasmon excitations is vast and includes optical sensing, [15][16][17][18] quantum electrodynamics, [ 19,20 ] nonlinear optics, [ 21,22 ] photovoltaic technologies, [ 23 ] and medical diagnosis and treatment. [ 24,25 ] Extensive experimental efforts are currently underway to fi nd materials with improved plasmonic performance, in particular in the mid-infrared and terahertz parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Examples of such materials are low-Tc [ 26 ] and high-Tc superconductors, [ 14 ] conductive oxides, [ 27 ] and graphene. [28][29][30][31][32][33][34] The latter exhibits a peculiar electronic structure, which enables unprecedented levels of electrooptical tunability via chemical or electrostatic doping: [35][36][37] electrons in graphene behave as massless Dirac fermions characterized by a linear energy/ momentum dispersion relation and a vanishing density of states at the Fermi energy, so that a few additional charge carriers produce a large shift in the chemical potential. Dirac charge carriers are also found in 3D topological insulator (TI) materials-i.e., quantum systems characterized by an insulating electronic gap in the bulk, whose opening is due to strong spin-orbit interaction, and gapless surface states atThe great potential of Dirac electrons for plasmonics and photonics has been readily recognized after their discovery in graphene, followed by applications to smart optical devices. Dirac carriers are also found in topological insulators (TIs)-quantum systems having an insulating gap in the bulk and intrinsic Dirac metallic states at the surface. Here, the plasmonic response of ring structures patterned in Bi 2 Se 3 TI fi lms is investigated through terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. The rings are observed to exhibit a bonding and an antibonding plasmon modes, which we tune in frequency by varying their diameter. An analytical theory based on the THz conductance of unpatterned fi lms is developed, which accurately describes the strong plasmon-phonon hybridization and Fano interference experimentally observed as the bonding plasmon is swiped across the prominent 2 THz phonon exhibited by this material. This
The magnetically driven metal-insulator transition (MIT) was predicted by Slater in the fifties. Here a long-range antiferromagnetic (AF) order can open up a gap at the Brillouin electronic band boundary regardless of the Coulomb repulsion magnitude. However, while many low-dimensional organic conductors display evidence for an AF driven MIT, in three-dimensional (3D) systems the Slater MIT still remains elusive. We employ terahertz and infrared spectroscopy to investigate the MIT in the NaOsO3 3D antiferromagnet. From the optical conductivity analysis we find evidence for a continuous opening of the energy gap, whose temperature dependence can be well described in terms of a second order phase transition. The comparison between the experimental Drude spectral weight and the one calculated through Local Density Approximation (LDA) shows that electronic correlations play a limited role in the MIT. All the experimental evidence demonstrates that NaOsO3 is the first known 3D Slater insulator.
Material selection considerations for coaxial, ferrimagnetic-based nonlinear transmission lines J. Appl. Phys. 113, 064904 (2013) Graphene on boron nitride microwave transistors driven by graphene nanoribbon back-gates Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 033505 (2013) Millimeter scale electrostatic mirror with sub-wavelength holes for terahertz wave scanning Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 031111 (2013) Leaky and bound modes in terahertz metasurfaces made of transmission-line metamaterials J. Appl. Phys. 113, 033105 (2013) Additional information on Rev. Sci. Instrum. The linac driven coherent THz radiation source at the SPARC-LAB test facility is able to deliver broadband THz pulses with femtosecond shaping. In addition, high peak power, narrow spectral bandwidth THz radiation can be also generated, taking advantage of advanced electron beam manipulation techniques, able to generate an adjustable train of electron bunches with a sub-picosecond length and with sub-picosecond spacing. The paper reports on the manipulation, characterization, and transport of the electron beam in the bending line transporting the beam down to the THz station, where different coherent transition radiation spectra have been measured and studied with the aim to optimize the THz radiation performances.
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