Local and anisotropic excitation of surface plasmon polaritons by semiconductor nanowires

Abstract

Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of Record (includes final page, issue and volume numbers)Please check the document version of this publication:• A submitted manuscript is the author's version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Abstract:We demonstrate a novel functionality of semiconductor nanowires as local sources for surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Photoexcited semiconductor nanowires decay non-radiatively exciting SPPs when they are on top of a metallic surface. We have investigated the anisotropic excitation of SPPs by nanowires by placing individual InP nanowires inside gold bullseye gratings. The gratings serve to couple SPPs to free space radiation that is detected with a scanning confocal microscope. The circular geometry of the grating allows to conclude that SPPs are preferentially generated in the direction along the nanowire axis.

Strong dichroic emission in the pseudo one dimensional material ZrS3

“…Interestingly, ZrS 3 's optical spectral response appears comparable to truly 1D materials (nanotubes and nanowires), yet polarization anisotropy is always smaller. 26,27 Overall results are understood by our model based on electromagnetic theory which accounts for the deviation from truly 1D behavior by accounting for chain-chain interactions in a pseudo-1D ZrS 3 system, and thus presents a unique material system with optical properties that fall between the 2D and 1D limit.…”

An outline of the synthesis and properties of silicon nanowires

“…The reported efficiencies of Si NW-based solar cells are at present quite low, ranging from 0.1% [124] to 3.4% [128] for p-i-n structures to 9.31% for n-type Si NWs on p-Si substrates [122]. However, there seems to be scope for improvement through the use of heterojunction and hybrid structures [118] and methods to enhance light absorption [130]. For example, infiltrating voids between the NWs with higher index media, e.g.…”

Hybrid Semiconductor Nanowire–Metallic Yagi-Uda Antennas

“…As discussed in Methods, to simulate the radiation pattern of the devices a single electrical dipole is placed in the middle of the nanowire, oriented along its long axis. 35,36 Consequently, a very localized excitation of the emission is considered for the simulations. However, in experiments the nanowire is excited by a diffraction-limited focused laser spot.…”

“…The difference between the experimental and theoretical F/B values can be attributed to the background intensity in the far-field radiation pattern originating from the excitation of the nanowire. As discussed in Methods, to simulate the radiation pattern of the devices a single electrical dipole is placed in the middle of the nanowire, oriented along its long axis. , Consequently, a very localized excitation of the emission is considered for the simulations. However, in experiments the nanowire is excited by a diffraction-limited focused laser spot.…”