Hideki T. Miyazaki

Resonant light scattering from individual Ag nanoparticles and particle pairs

Light scattering by individual Ag nanoparticles and structures have been studied spectroscopically. Individual particles were selected and manipulated with a micromanipulator installed inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM). With typical particle dimensions of some 100 nm, the plasma resonances of particles and the coupled modes of particle pairs were observed in the visible region. The polarization dependence of the resonance frequencies strongly reflects the shape anisotropy; the effect that would be averaged out for experiments on ensembles. With a simple approximation to take the glass substrate into account, the results are in good agreement with the analytical calculations by Mie scattering, and with numerical calculations by the finite-difference time-domain method, both of which are performed with the morphological parameters obtained from the SEM observation for the corresponding particle or particle pair.

Photonic band in two-dimensional lattices of micrometer-sized spheres mechanically arranged under a scanning electron microscope

Two-dimensional photonic crystals of dielectric spheres with a 2.1 μm diameter have been fabricated by arranging individual spheres using a micromanipulation technique in a scanning electron microscope. A buildup of photonic bands from whispering gallery modes has been observed as the number of spheres increased, by measuring the transmission spectra for lattices composed of various numbers of spheres. The photonic band dispersion curves were experimentally obtained for a finite system made of 91 spheres from the transmission spectra for oblique incidence in the near-infrared region. They were in good agreement with the results of a numerical calculation for an infinite lattice. Since this mechanical manipulation technique enables us to control the arrangement of individual optical wavelength-sized scatterers, it provides a new way to systematically investigate various photonic band effects.

Controlled thermal emission of polarized infrared waves from arrayed plasmon nanocavities

We have demonstrated thermal emission of linearly polarized and narrow-band midinfrared waves from subwavelength gratings of narrow and deep rectangular cavities engraved on a Au surface. 100-nm-wide and 1000-nm-deep, high-aspect trenches were accurately manufactured by inversion from master molds. Organ pipe resonance of surface plasmons in the cavities exhibits a Lorentzian emission peak centered at 2.5–5.5μm. The maximum emittance reaches 0.90 and the peak width Δλ∕λ is as narrow as 0.13–0.23. This simple emitter is expected to play a key role in the infrared sensing technologies for analyzing our environment.

Micro object handling under SEM by vision-based automatic control

There is a great demand for the highly accurate and reliable arrangement of micro objects smaller than 100 /spl mu/m in order to construct micro devices. Since micro objects tend to adhere to other objects by electrostatic force, it is possible to pick them up easily by contact with a needle tip instead of grasping by tweezers. On the other hand, it is difficult to place them on a substrate. To solve this problem, we have proposed a handling method by controlling the contact face area, i.e. picking up the object by contact with the center of the tool-tip plane, and placing it by contact with the edge and also inclining the tool. However, it is difficult to execute this operation by manual control, because it requires delicate movement by the manipulator, in order not to break the object or flip it away. In this study, we automate this pick-and-place operation by visual and force control. Moreover, to arrange micro objects with high accuracy and reliability, all necessary functions such as calibration, object search, and positioning are integrated, and an automatic handling system is constructed. We successfully demonstrated a completely automatic arrangement of several micro objects of 30 /spl mu/m in diameter under SEM monitoring.

Controlled plasmon resonance in closed metal/insulator/metal nanocavities

The controlled plasmon resonance in nanometer-sized optical cavities with a closed end has been demonstrated. A nanosheet plasmon cavity is a metal/insulator/metal waveguide with a finite length. Its lowest-order transverse-magnetic guided mode is reflected at the ends and exhibits the Fabry-Perot resonance. In this study, one of the ends was closed by an obliquely evaporated Au film, and the so-called organ pipe resonances were observed as reflection dips. Since such closed configurations offer a higher field enhancement and higher detection efficiency of the scattered light, they are promising as fundamental structures for Raman enhancement.

Kinematics of mechanical and adhesional micromanipulation under a scanning electron microscope

In this paper, the kinematics of mechanical and adhesional micromanipulation using a needle-shaped tool under a scanning electron microscope is analyzed. A mode diagram is derived to indicate the possible micro-object behavior for the specified operational conditions. Based on the diagram, a reasonable method for pick and place operation is proposed. The keys to successful analysis are to introduce adhesional and rolling-resistance factors into the kinematic system consisting of a sphere, a needle-shaped tool, and a substrate, and to consider the time dependence of these factors due to the electron-beam (EB) irradiation. Adhesional force and the lower limit of maximum rolling resistance are evaluated quantitatively in theoretical and experimental ways. This analysis shows that it is possible to control the fracture of either the tool-sphere or substrate-sphere interface of the system selectively by the tool-loading angle and that such a selective fracture of the interfaces enables reliable pick or place o...

Thermal emission of two-color polarized infrared waves from integrated plasmon cavities

We have demonstrated that orthogonally polarized two-color infrared waves thermally emitted from gratings integrated onto a single Au chip open a way for simple and efficient chemical analysis. Each component grating is made of high-aspect cavities with a width on the order of 100nm and a depth close to 1μm, and generates linearly polarized and narrow-band midinfrared light by the organ pipe resonance of surface plasmons. Effectiveness of the integrated grating emitters for nondispersive infrared analysis has been shown on the basis of a model experiment for determining the concentration of a specific chemical compound in liquids.

Gate control of spin transport in multilayer graphene

We experimentally studied the gate voltage dependence of spin transport in multilayer graphene (MLG) using the nonlocal spin detection technique. We found that the spin signal is a monotonically decreasing linear function of the resistance of MLG, which is characteristic of the intermediate interfacial transparency between the MLG and the ferromagnetic electrodes (Co). The linear relation indicates a large spin relaxation length significantly exceeding 8μm. This shows the superiority of MLG for the utilization of the graphite-based spintronic devices.

Cavity formation on an optical nanofiber using focused ion beam milling technique.

We present the experimental realization of nanofiber Bragg grating (NFBG) by drilling periodic nano-grooves on a subwavelength-diameter silica fiber using focused ion beam milling technique. Using such NFBG structures we have realized nanofiber cavity systems. The typical finesse of such nanofiber cavity is F ∼ 20 - 120 and the on-resonance transmission is ∼ 30 - 80%. Moreover the structural symmetry of such NFBGs results in polarization-selective modes in the nanofiber cavity. Due to the strong confinement of the field in the guided mode, such a nanofiber cavity can become a promising workbench for cavity QED.

Mechanical assembly of three-dimensional microstructures from fine particles

We demonstrate the feasibility of mechanical assembly of three-dimensional (3D) microstructures from fine particles by a micromanipulator under a scanning electron microscope. First, we experimenta...