Search results for "plasmonic"
showing 10 items of 116 documents
Plasmonic nanostructures for light trapping in photovoltaic
Metallic nanoparticles (NPs), sustaining localized surface plasmon resonances, are currently of great interest for enhancing light trapping in thin film solar cells. To be directly applicable in the photovoltaic industry, the NPs fabrication needs to be simple, reliable, low-cost and scalable. As such, self-assembly processes are most commonly used, and Ag is the preferred material, due to its high radiative efficiency and low imaginary permittivity. After exploring the correlation between structural and optical properties of Ag NPs fabricated by solid- state dewetting process on various substrates, we identified the fabrication conditions in which desirable NPs are obtained, but we also e…
Quantum theory of light in linear media : applications to quantum optics and quantum plasmonics
2020
We develop a method of quantization of the electromagnetic field interacting with passive media on one hand, and active (plasmonic) media on the other hand. This method relies on the construction of a Hamiltonian structure compatible with the Maxwell equations, and then on a principle of correspondence and the definition of a Fock space of quantum states. We use the results of the quantum theory to study the propagation of photons in dielectric environments and the emission of single plasmons.
Single Unlabeled Protein Detection on Individual Plasmonic Nanoparticles
2012
The ultimate detection limit in analytic chemistry and biology is the single molecule. Commonly, fluorescent dye labels or enzymatic amplification are employed. This requires additional labeling of the analyte, which modifies the species under investigation and therefore influences biological processes. Here, we utilize single gold nanoparticles to detect single unlabeled proteins with extremely high temporal resolution. This allows for monitoring the dynamic evolution of a single protein binding event on a millisecond time scale. The technique even resolves equilibrium coverage fluctuations, opening a window into Brownian dynamics of unlabeled macromolecules. Therefore, our method enables …
Spectral and temporal distribution of biomolecules by Dynamic SERS
2014
In this thesis, the definition of SERS as a biosensor has been tested and a new approach developed for. Also, in terms of quantification, it has been shown that SERS can be an efficient tool. Concerning the selectivity, the spectral quality was improved. A low limit of detection associated to the statistical and dynamic approach allows a very good sensitivity (under the nanomolar). This approach also enables a high reproducibility in time of the sensor. Thus, as low as SERS does not well answer to the sensor capabilities in a classical approach, in our case the coupling between a non-functionalized GNPs substrate coupled with a microfluidic chip, all mounted on a confocal microscope for tem…
Broadband photocurrent enhancement in a-Si:H solar cells with plasmonic back reflectors
2014
The authors acknowledge Francesco Ruffino for the AFM measurements. This work was funded by the EU FP7 Marie Curie Action FP7-PEOPLE-2010-ITN through the PROPHET project (Grant No. 264687), the bilateral CNR/AVCR project "Photoresponse of nanostructures for advanced photovoltaic applications", the MIUR project Energetic (Grant no. PON02_00355_3391233) and by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT-MEC) through the Strategic Project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013-14 and the research project PTDC/CTM-ENE/2514/2012. Plasmonic light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells is a promising route to achieve high efficiency with reduced volumes of semiconductor material. In this paper, we study the enhance…
Empowering Photovoltaics with Smart Light Management Technologies
2021
The daily Sun supplies the continents of the Earth with four times more energy than humanity consumes in a year. This enormous potential of solar energy to generate clean energy is therefore driving great efforts to replace conventional and unsustainable fossil fuel consumption that damages our climate and our environment. Solar photovoltaic (PV) is emerging as the fastest growing renewable energy technology in the world, yet its share to the electricity production currently is less than 3%. While coal and gas remain key to electricity production, the climate crisis demands a fast transition to a carbon-neutral energy system. In the year 2019, the PV industry produced solar panels with a ca…
Theoretical Evaluation of [V IV (α-C 3 S 5 ) 3 ] 2– as Nuclear-Spin-Sensitive Single-Molecule Spin Transistor
2017
In a straightforward application of molecular nanospintronics to quantum computing, single-molecule spin transistors can be used to measure nuclear spin qubits. Conductance jumps accompany electronic spin flips at the so-called anticrossings between energy levels, which take place only at specific magnetic fields determined by the nuclear spin state. To date, the only molecular hardware employed for this technique has been the terbium(III) bis(phthalocyaninato) complex. Here we explore theoretically whether a similar behavior is expected for a highly stable molecular spin qubit, the vanadium tris-dithiolate complex [VIV(α-C3S5)3]2–. We consider such a molecule between two gold electrodes an…
Protein-membrane interaction probed by single plasmonic nanoparticles.
2008
We present a nanosized and addressable sensor platform based on membrane coated plasmonic particles and show unequivocally the covering with lipid bilayers as well as the subsequent detection of streptavidin binding to biotinylated lipids. The binding is detected on membrane covered gold nanorods by monitoring the spectral shift by fast single particle spectroscopy (fastSPS) on many particles in parallel. Our approach allows for local analysis of protein interaction with biological membranes as a function of the lateral composition of phase separated membranes.
Quantum Nanoplasmonic : from dressed atom picture to superradiance
2019
Controlling quantum emitters (atoms, molecules, quantum dots, etc.), light, and its interactions is a key issue for implementing devices for information optical processing at the quantum level. For example, controlling dynamics of emitters coupled to a high-Q cavity can be achieved through cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED). Plasmonic structures hybrid system are of growing interest in the quantum control at the nanoscale because of their capability to confine light beyond the diffraction limit. However, its application appears notoriously limited in practical situations due to the intrinsic presence of numerous and lossy modes, which complicates the description and the interpretation of…
Plasmonic nanostructures through DNA-assisted lithography
2018
DALI combines DNA origami with conventional top-down fabrication for creating designer high-resolution plasmonic nanostructures.