Observation of Plasmon Propagation, Redirection, and Fan-Out in Silver Nanowires

Sanders, Aric W.; Routenberg, David A.; Wiley, Benjamin J.; Xia, Younan; Dufresne, Eric R.; Reed, Mark A.

doi:10.1021/nl052471v

Cited by 386 publications

(419 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…The Ag NW guides 10 SPs to the Ag/Ge junction, where they are converted to electron-hole (e-h) pairs [11][12][13] and detected as current through the Ge NW. The Ag NWs are highly crystalline and defect-free 8,14,15 , allowing SPs to propagate over distances of several microns without scattering into free-space photons. The Ge NWs are lightly p-doped, covered with a thin native oxide layer, and sensitive to visible light 16 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Near-field electrical detection of optical plasmons and single-plasmon sources

Falk¹,

Koppens²,

et al. 2009

Nature Phys

311

272

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* These authors contribute equally to this work.Photonic circuits can be much faster than their electronic counterparts, but they are difficult to miniaturize below the optical wavelength scale. Nanoscale photonic circuits based on surface plasmon polaritons (SPs) are a promising solution to this problem because they can localize light below the diffraction limit 1-8 . However, there is a general tradeoff between the localization of an SP and the efficiency with which it can be detected with conventional far-field optics. Here we describe a new all-electrical SP detection technique based on the near-field coupling between guided plasmons and a nanowire field-effect transistor. We use our detectors to electrically detect the plasmon emission from an individual colloidal quantum dot coupled to an SP waveguide. The detectors are both nanoscale and highly efficient (0.1 electrons/plasmon), and a plasmonic gating effect can be used to amplify the signal even higher (up to 50 electrons/plasmon). These results enable new on-chip optical sensing applications and fulfill a key requirement for "dark" optoplasmonic nanocircuits in which SPs can be generated, manipulated, and detected without involving far-field radiation.2 SPs are charge-density waves that propagate along metal-dielectric interfaces. They can be concentrated and guided by current carrying wires, suggesting an integrated approach to optical and electrical signal processing. Our near-field plasmon detection scheme consists of an Ag nanowire (NW) crossing a Ge NW field-effect transistor (Fig. 1, Methods). The Ag NW guides 10 SPs to the Ag/Ge junction, where they are converted to electron-hole (e-h) pairs 11-13 and detected as current through the Ge NW. The Ag NWs are highly crystalline and defect-free 8,14,15 , allowing SPs to propagate over distances of several microns without scattering into free-space photons. The Ge NWs are lightly p-doped, covered with a thin native oxide layer, and sensitive to visible light 16 .Electrical plasmon detection is demonstrated by scanning a focused laser beam across an Ag/Ge crossbar device and recording the current (I) through the Ge NW as a function of the diffraction-limited laser spot position. These data, recorded at V b = V gate = 0, show that current flows through the Ge NW only when the laser beam is focused on four distinct spots on the device (Fig. 1b). First, current is detected when the laser is focused near the Ag/Ge junction, due to the direct photoresponse of the Ge NW 16 . The photocurrent induced on the left (I left ) and right (I right ) sides of the junction have opposite signs (discussed below). Moreover, current through the Ge NW (I plas ) is recorded when the laser is focused at either end of the Ag NW.This I plas signal is the key signature for electrical SP detection. Propagating SPs can be launched in the Ag NW only when the excitation laser is incident on the Ag NW ends 15 . Away from the ends, free space photon-to-SP conversion is strongly suppressed by the wave vector mismatch between the two ...

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“…Propagating SPs can be launched in the Ag NW only when the excitation laser is incident on the Ag NW ends 15 . Away from the ends, free space photon-to-SP conversion is strongly suppressed by the wave vector mismatch between the two modes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Near-field electrical detection of optical plasmons and single-plasmon sources

Falk¹,

Koppens²,

et al. 2009

Nature Phys

311

272

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“…The fact that localized plasmons of metallic nanoparticles much smaller than the wavelength of light can be excited by direct optical illumination has led to their incorporation in solar cells, [1,2,3] metamaterials, [4] photothermal cancer therapy, [5] and subwavelength waveguiding. [6,7] Optoelectronic device developments have also benefited from the use of surface plasmons on extended structures like metallic films. [8,9] Due to the momentum mismatch between photons and plasmons, surface plasmons cannot be directly excited on smooth metallic films.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanostructure-Mediated Launching and Detection of 2D Surface Plasmons

Day

2010

ACS Nano

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“…However, in realistic applications, the silver nanowire is always necessary to be located on or near a substrate. For example, the nanowire on a substrate makes it convenient for manipulating assisted by the scanning near field optical microscope probe [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. To the best of our knowledge, the influence on the plasmon mode from the substrate is still kept un-studied.…”

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confidence: 99%

Plasmon modes of silver nanowire on a silica substrate

Zou

Sun

Xiao

et al. 2010

Applied Physics Letters

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Plasmon mode in a silver nanowire is theoretically studied when the nanowire is placed on or near a silica substrate. It is found that the substrate has much influence on the plasmon mode. For the nanowire on the substrate, the plasmon (hybrid) mode possesses not only a long propagation length but also an ultrasmall mode area. From the experimental point of view, this cavity-free structure holds a great potential to study a strong coherent interaction between the plasmon mode and single quantum system (for example, quantum dots) embedded in the substrate. PACS numbers:The silver nanowire is a potential solution to key components in future ultra-compact electronic and photonic circuit [1][2][3] since it can confine the light in nanoscale beyond the diffraction limit. The strong confinement of light in a small area produces strong electric field intensity and dramatically changes the density of state nearby the metal surface. Therefore, the silver nanowire has been suggested to realize strong light-matter interaction, where the nanowire plays as the role of a resonator in cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED). When an optical emitter, e.g., a quantum dot (QD), is placed around the silver nanowire, its spontaneous emission can be significantly modified [4], known as the Purcell effect. As a result, single optical emitter coupling with plasmon modes of nanowire holds a great potential for broad-band cavity QED [4], single photon source [5], and sub-wavelength single photon transistor [6,7] for quantum information science.Theoretically, the plasmon mode in silver nanowire was studied as an ideal axis-symmetric mode [4], or still treated without the external influence even it was placed on a substrate [8][9][10][11][12]. However, in realistic applications, the silver nanowire is always necessary to be located on or near a substrate. For example, the nanowire on a substrate makes it convenient for manipulating assisted by the scanning near field optical microscope probe [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. To the best of our knowledge, the influence on the plasmon mode from the substrate is still kept un-studied. Actually, the plasmon mode is very sensitive to the surrounding environment. In this Letter, we theoretically study the plasmon mode propagating along the silver nanowire near a substrate with a gap g ≥ 0. In this silver-air-substrate structure, most of the mode energy is confined around the interface between the substrate and silver nanowire. It is very different from the nanowire simply embedded in air. The benefit of the nanowire on a substrate is that the large portion of energy in the substrate reduces the mode area by a factor of 5, without significant degradation of the propagation loss.An infinite long silver nanowire with a diameter of d is near an infinite dielectric substrate with a gap of g. The cross section is shown Fig. 1(a). The surface plasmon mode propagates harmonically along the nanowire, and the electric field varies as exp(iβz − iωt), where the propagation constant β = 2πn ef f /λ is a comp...

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Observation of Plasmon Propagation, Redirection, and Fan-Out in Silver Nanowires

Cited by 386 publications

References 27 publications

Near-field electrical detection of optical plasmons and single-plasmon sources

Near-field electrical detection of optical plasmons and single-plasmon sources

Nanostructure-Mediated Launching and Detection of 2D Surface Plasmons

Plasmon modes of silver nanowire on a silica substrate

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