• Energy Research

The near-field interaction between fluorescent emitters and graphene exhibits rich physics associated with local dipole-induced electromagnetic fields that are strongly enhanced due to the unique properties of graphene. Here, we measure emitter lifetimes as a function of emitter-graphene distance d, and find agreement with a universal scaling law, governed by the fine-structure constant. The observed energy transfer- rate is in agreement with a 1/d^4 dependence that is characteristic of 2D lossy media. The emitter decay rate is enhanced 90 times (transfer efficiency of ~99%) with respect to the decay in vacuum at distances d ~ 5 nm. This high energy-transfer rate is mainly due to the two-dimensionality and gapless character of the monoatomic carbon layer. Graphene is thus shown to be an extraordinary energy sink, holding great potential for photodetection, energy harvesting, and nanophotonics. 17 pages, 4 figures

We introduce a theory to describe the interaction of swift electrons with strong evanescent light fields. This allows us to explain recent experimental results of multiple energy losses and gains for electrons passing near illuminated nanostructures. A complex evolution of the electron state over attosecond time scales is unveiled, giving rise to non-Poissonian distributions of multiphoton features in the electron spectra. Prospects for application to nanoscale-resolved transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy are discussed.

Random Al and Ag nanoparticle distributions are studied on varying substrates, where we exploit the nanosphere self-aggregation method (NSA) for fabrication. Relying on the measured particle size distributions of these samples, we develop a theoretical model that can be applied to arbitrary random nanostructure layers as is demonstrated for several distinct NSA samples. As a proof of concept, the optical properties of the exact same particles distributions, made from the quasi random modeling input with electron beam lithography (EBL), are investigated from both theory and experiment. Our numerical procedure is based on rigorous solutions of Maxwell's equations and yields optical spectra of fully interacting randomly positioned nanoparticle arrays. These results constitute a new methodology for improving the optical performance of layers of nanoparticles with direct application to enhanced photovoltaics. 9 pages, 4 figures

The ability to control light over very small distances is a problem of fundamental importance for a vast range of applications in communications, nanophotonics, and quantum information technologies. For this purpose, several methods have been proposed and demonstrated to confine and guide light, for example in dielectric and surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waveguides. Here, we study the interaction between different kinds of planar waveguides, which produces dramatic changes in the dispersion relation of the waveguide pair and even leads to mode suppression at small separations. This interaction also produces a transfer of power between the waveguides, which depends on the gap and propagation distances, thus providing a mechanism for optical signal transfer. We analytically study the properties of this interaction and the power transfer in different structures of interest including plasmonic and particle-array waveguides, for which we propose an experimental realization of these ideas.

The influence of the relative position of Ag metallic nanoparticles (Ag MNPs) embedded in a 100 nm SiOx Antireflection Coating (ARC) for specular polished c-Si substrates is studied. It is demonstrated that this Plasmonic ARC (PARC) can achieve lower average reflectivities than the optimised SiOx ARC. This has been done for different sizes of Ag nanoparticles. An alternative for PECVD to encapsulate Ag MNPs with SiOx is presented, avoiding the risk of metallic contamination in the reactor chamber as well as its effect on the size and shape of the self-aggregated Ag MNP. It is demonstrated, however, that this PARC is not suitable for silicon solar cells as a substitute for traditional ARC because it presents a high loss related with Fano destructive interference.