Single-molecule study for a graphene-based nano-position sensor

Abstract

In this study we lay the groundwork for a graphene-based fundamental ruler at the nanoscale. It relies on the efficient energy-transfer mechanism between single quantum emitters and low-doped graphene monolayers. Our experiments, conducted with dibenzoterrylene (DBT) molecules, allow going beyond ensemble analysis due to the emitter photo-stability and brightness. A quantitative characterization of the fluorescence decayrate modification is presented and compared to a simple model, showing agreement with the − d 4 dependence, a genuine manifestation of a dipole interacting with a 2D material. With DBT molecules, we can estimate a potential uncertainty in position measurements as low as 5 nm in the range below 30 nm.

Tunable and long-range energy transfer efficiency through a graphene nanodisk

“…For both orientations, as we increase the radius of the graphene nanodisk, more resonances emerge; this is due to the fact that radial eigenmodes with a higher order n can now contribute in Eqs. (6) and (8). The values of the resonance frequencies are found by setting the external excitation to zero in Eq.…”

“…The spontaneous emission rate is given by the field induced by the dipole source, which can be found from Eqs. (6) and (8). From these expressions, the induced field can be written as G ind (r ,r ,ω) = resonance×geometrical dependence.…”

“…In particular, graphene plasmonics has emerged as a field of intense experimental [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and theoretical investigation [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] over the last decade. Graphene has important advantages compared with conventional plasmonic materials, such as noble metals, where large material losses cannot be easily avoided [15].…”

“…Using this semianalytical method we can examine the dependence of the SE and ET rates and the ET efficiency on the separations between the quantum emitters and the graphene nanodisk, which is of significant importance when considering experiments such as in Refs. [8,11] where the graphene layer doping and distance dependence are considered for quantum emitters at telecommunication wavelengths. Our findings show that the interaction length between a pair of quantum emitters in the presence of a graphene nanodisk is enhanced up to one order of magnitude compared to the free-space value, and a comparison with an infinite graphene monolayer is also provided.…”

Optical-nanofiber-based interface for single molecules

“…In recent years, single molecules in solids [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] and other solid state quantum emitters such as color centers in diamond [8][9][10][11] and quantum dots [12][13][14][15][16] have gained increasing interest as building blocks for quantum networks [17,18], quantum metrology [19][20][21] and nanosensors [22][23][24]. For all these applications a strong lightmatter interaction is essential.…”