Metallic nanoscale photonics and enhanced electromagnetic fields
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
The use of light is e central feature of modern the world end has provided many of the new technologies that emerged in the lest century, for example the way information is moved around the Internet or the screen on a mobile phone. Research is now turning to the development new light-based technologies, with a lot of emphasis on extreme miniaturisation. One problem ere the sizes involved. For example to look et single piece of DNA the sizes involved ere smaller then the waves that make up light itself! Solutions to this problem can make use of the recent advances in nanotechnology. One of these areas involves nothing more then e metal surface with e pattern on it end yet as we will see has the potential to produce new types of photonic devices and technologies. This is the topic area of the present proposal.We should first return to the metal pattern end look more closely et the details. The features on the patterns, and the gaps between each feature, ere smaller then the waves that make up the light end to distinguish this situation we refer to the patterns as being nanopatterns. If we shine light of e certain colour onto the nanopattern a different type of wave can be set up on the surface of the patterned metal. We can use these surface waves to transfer the energy from the original light end keep it on the surface for e while. If there ere tiny holes in the metal, these surface waves can help squeeze light through holes end out the other side. This is (and was) a very unexpected result since the sizes of holes ere much smaller then the original light waves! Even without holes, the surface waves can store energy in a very small region, again much smaller then the original light waves.The main aims of the work ere to study the properties of these surface waves, and attempt to answer questions such as whet patterns ere the best? Whet happens when we bring another material close to the metal surface? Can we use the energy in the surface waves to move tiny bits of material (for example some DNA or e single strand of special light emitting polymer material) and can we keep the energy in the surface wave but direct it to other parts of the surface? The answers to these questions can radically change the way scientists end engineers think about new applications using or generating light.The area is relatively new but many researchers in the UK end worldwide has already shown some exciting results. For example recent studies in America have looked et the effects on DNA close to metallic patterns. Placing the DNA on e plain microscope slide, they shone light on e sample of DNA end then tried watching for the fluorescence from the DNA but found there wasn't any they could measure. (By fluorescence we mean the DNA is shining light beck et us but usually at a different colour.) When they placed the same DNA material close nanopattemed metal they began to see the fluorescence. The reason for this sudden change of fortune is of course the nanopattern, and the arrangement of the bumps.These methods can be extremely useful in a wide range of applications, from making very smell (nano) lasers end other components from polymer materials to areas, as described above, which involve the testing of biological samples to identify e particular gene sequences in the DNA. In fact one grand aim is to have ell this testing apparatus on a single chip, the so-celled Lab-on-a-chip. All the elements of the Lab could make use of the nanopatteming of metals end surface waves, with each element having its own particular pattern. Other major benefits ere the size reduction, which not only means the future systems ere highly portable (about the size of e credit card) but should be very cheep to produce.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Paul Nicholas Stavrinou (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Belton C
(2008)
New light from hybrid inorganic-organic emitters
in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
Blakesley J
(2007)
Organic semiconductor devices for X-ray imaging
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Campoy-Quiles M
(2008)
Morphology evolution via self-organization and lateral and vertical diffusion in polymer:fullerene solar cell blends.
in Nature materials
Guilhabert B
(2008)
Patterning and integration of polyfluorene polymers on micro-pixellated UV AlInGaN light-emitting diodes
in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
Heliotis G
(2006)
Low-threshold lasers based on a high-mobility semiconducting polymer
in Applied Physics Letters
Kanibolotsky AL
(2011)
Well-defined and monodisperse linear and star-shaped quaterfluorene-DPP molecules: the significance of conjugation and dimensionality.
in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Lumb M
(2009)
Dispersionless saturable absorber mirrors with large modulation depths and low saturation fluences
in Applied Physics B
Description | The award demonstrated the coupling or transfer of energy from organic materials to surface plasmons. |
Exploitation Route | The work formed the basis of a large basic programme submission (successful) where I was a co-I. The programme was called "Active Plasmonics" |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Chemicals,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Energy,Security and Diplomacy |
Description | The research was a very early example of what later became known as the field of plasmonics. |
First Year Of Impact | 2006 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Electronics,Energy,Security and Diplomacy |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Description | Imperial College London |
Amount | £5,176,637 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/H000917/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2010 |
End | 10/2016 |
Description | Imperial College London |
Amount | £4,882,686 (GBP) |
Funding ID | The Leverhulme Trust - The Embedding of Disciplines |
Organisation | Imperial College London |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start |