Johann Toudert

Quantitative modelling of the surface plasmon resonances of metal nanoclusters sandwiched between dielectric layers: the influence of nanocluster size, shape and organization.

The effects of size, shape and organization on the surface plasmon resonances of Ag nanoclusters sandwiched between Si(3)N(4) layers are studied by transmission electron microscopy and anisotropic spectroscopic ellipsometry. We present an easy-to-handle model that quantitatively links the nanostructure and optical response of the films, which are considered as dielectric/metal:dielectric/dielectric trilayers, with the central nanocomposite layer being an effective medium whose optical properties are described by an anisotropic dielectric tensor. The components of this tensor are calculated using a generalization of the Yamaguchi theory taking into account the real organization, size and shape distributions of ellipsoidal nanoclusters, whose electronic properties are assumed to reflect shape-dependent finite size effects. Using this model, it is shown that the optical response of the films in the visible range is dominated by the excitation of the surface plasmon resonance of the clusters along their in-plane long axis, while no surface plasmon resonance resulting from an excitation along their in-plane short axis can be observed due to damping effects. Moreover, the spectral position of this resonance appears to be mainly affected by the average shape of the clusters, and weakly by their size, their shape distribution and the electromagnetic interaction between them.

Selective Dichroic Patterning by Nanosecond Laser Treatment of Ag Nanostripes

Authors thank the Projects FUNCOAT CONSOLIDER-INGENIO CDS2008 – 0023, MAT2007 – 65764, MAT2010-18447, MAT2010-21228, CEN2007 – 2014, P09-TEP-5283, Domingo Martinez Foundation, and Juan de la Cierva Grant No JCI-2009 – 05098 for J.T.

Morphology and surface-plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles sandwiched between Si3N4 and BN layers

Nanocermet trilayered thin films consisting of silver nanoclusters sandwiched between two dielectric layers (the buffer and the cap) have been synthesized by ion-beam sputtering with an alternate deposition of the metal and the dielectric species. The influence of the amount of silver, the nature of the buffer and the cap (BN or Si3N4), and a time delay before the cap deposition on clusters morphology and repartition have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. It has been observed that the clusters display truncated ellipsoidal shapes in which the height to diameter ratio H∕D decreases as the amount of deposited silver increases. For a given amount of silver, this ratio is lower in the case of a Si3N4 cap, whatever the nature of the buffer. Two explanations are proposed to account for this “cap effect” on clusters morphology: the first one is based on a calculation of the H∕D minimizing the surface free energy of the clusters embedded between the buffer and the cap; the second one holds on...

Polaritonic-to-Plasmonic Transition in Optically Resonant Bismuth Nanospheres for High-Contrast Switchable Ultraviolet Meta-Filters

In the quest to unveil alternative plasmonic elements overcoming noble metals for selected applications in photonics, we investigate, by numerical simulations, the near ultraviolet (UV)-to-near infrared optical response of solid and liquid Bi nanospheres embedded in a dielectric matrix. We also determine the resulting transmission contrast upon reversible solid-liquid phase transition to evaluate their potential for switchable optical filtering. The optical response of the solid (liquid) Bi nanospheres is ruled by localized polaritonic (plasmonic) resonances tunable by controlling the diameter. For a selected diameter between 20 and 50 nm, both solid and liquid nanospheres present a dipolar resonance, inducing a strong peak extinction in the near UV, however, at different photon energies. This enables a high transmission contrast at selected near UV photon energies. It is estimated that a 2-D assembly of 30-nm solid Bi nanospheres with a surface coverage of 32% will almost totally render extinct (transmission of 2%) a near UV 3.45-eV (359 nm) light beam, whereas upon phase transition, the resulting liquid Bi nanospheres will show a transmission of 30%. This paper is appealing for the fabrication of locally reconfigurable optical metamaterials for integrated switchable near-UV optics.

Optical and structural properties of Ag-Si 3 N 4 nanocermets prepared by means of ion-beam sputtering in alternate and codeposition modes

Ion-beam sputtering deposition has been used in two ways, as granular multilayers and as cosputtered film, to elaborate Ag-Si3N4 nanocermets. Multilayer deposition creates slightly oblate clusters, and cosputtering produces two cluster families: elongated clusters within the Si3N4 matrix and larger ones at the film surface. The transmittance spectra of these nanocermets are characterized by a surface plasmon resonance. In the reported research the position of this resonance is related to the morphological properties of silver nanoclusters, which are studied by transmission-electron microscopy, grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering, and atomic-force microscopy.

Potential of bismuth nanoparticles embedded in a glass matrix for spectral-selective thermo-optical devices

The optical transmission at a fixed visible wavelength of Bi nanoparticles embedded in a dielectric is known to show a sharp hysteretic evolution as a function of the temperature due to the reversible melting-solidification of the nanoparticles. In this work, we explore the temperature-dependent optical response of Bi nanoparticles embedded in a doped germanate glass (GeO2-Al2O3-Na2O) in a broad range from the visible to the near infrared. The transmission contrast induced by melting of the nanoparticles is shown to be strongly wavelength-dependent and evolves from positive to negative as the wavelength increases. This behaviour is well modelled using effective medium calculations, assuming that the nanoparticles size, shape, and distribution are unmodified upon melting, while their dielectric function turns from that of solid Bi to that of liquid Bi thus modifying markedly their optical response. These results open a route to the spectral tailoring of the thermo-optical response of Bi nanoparticles-based...

Using ion beams to tune the nanostructure and optical response of co-deposited Ag : BN thin films

The present study is devoted to co-deposited Ag : BN nanocermet thin films and is focused on the influence of ion irradiation conditions on their structural and linear optical properties. Ion irradiation was performed in situ during the growth of the nanocermets using a 50 eV assistance beam (nitrogen/argon or nitrogen-ion assistance) and ex situ on as-grown films using a 120 keV argon-ion beam (post-irradiation). Grazing incidence small-angle x-ray scattering measurements show that (i) as-grown N-assisted films contain prolate spheroidal clusters (height-to-diameter ratio H/ D ≈ 1.8), (ii) N/Ar-ion assistance leads to the formation of more elongated clusters ( H/ D ≈ 2.1) and (iii) post-irradiation leads to a decrease of H/ Dto a value close to 1. These results are discussed on the basis of atomic diffusion processes involved during the growth of the nanocermets and during the post-irradiation. The optical transmittance spectra of these films measured at normal incidence display one absorption band, due to the excitation of the (1,1) plasmon mode of the clusters. In the case of the as-grown films, an additional band appears at oblique incidence for P-polarized light, as a consequence of the excitation of the (1,0) plasmon mode of the clusters. Our results show that the spectral position of the absorption bands (which can be tuned in the 400–600 nm range) depends on the H/ Dratio of the clusters, in good agreement with calculations of optical transmittance considering the nanocomposite layer as a uniaxial anisotropic medium whose dielectric tensor is described by an anisotropic Maxwell–Garnett model.

Linear and third-order nonlinear optical responses of multilayered Ag:Si3N4 nanocomposites

The linear and third-order nonlinear responses of tailored Si3N4/Ag/Si3N4 trilayers and (Si3N4/Ag)n/Si3N4 multilayers grown by alternating ion-beam sputtering have been studied by combining complementary characterization techniques such as transmission electron microscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry and degenerate four-wave mixing. The linear optical response dominated by the surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles has been measured over the whole visible range while the third-order nonlinear susceptibility has been probed at the surface plasmon resonance wavelength. Due to the weak in-plane interaction between Ag nanoparticles, the linear and nonlinear optical responses of the Si3N4/Ag/Si3N4 trilayers are mainly influenced by the size and shape of the nanoparticles. A maximum value of 1.1 x 10(-7) esu has been found at 635 nm for the effective third-order nonlinear susceptibility of the trilayer with the highest amount of silver. The linear optical response of the (Si3N4/Ag)n/Si3N4 multilayers is shown to be dominated by the surface plasmon resonance of isolated layers of weakly interacting nanoparticles at wavelengths shorter than 600 nm whereas a contribution due to vertical interactions has been shown for higher wavelengths. Below the vertical percolation threshold, their nonlinear optical response at the surface plasmon resonance wavelength is similar to the one of an isolated assembly of nanoparticles, and the effective third-order nonlinear susceptibility is slightly increased by decreasing the thickness of the Si3N4 spacer.

Temperature and atmosphere tunability of the nanoplasmonic resonance of a volumetric eutectic-based Bi₂O₃-Ag metamaterial.

Nanoplasmonic materials are intensively studied due to the advantages they bring in various applied fields such as photonics, optoelectronics, photovoltaics and medicine. However, their large-scale fabrication and tunability are still a challenge. One of the promising ways of combining these two is to use the self-organization mechanism and after-growth engineering as annealing for tuning the properties. This paper reports the development of a bulk nanoplasmonic, Bi2O3-Ag eutectic-based metamaterial with a tunable plasmonic resonance between orange and green wavelengths. The material, obtained by a simple growth technique, exhibits a silver nanoparticle-related localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in the visible wavelength range. We demonstrate the tunability of the LSPR (spectral position, width and intensity) as a function of the annealing temperature, time and the atmosphere. The critical role of the annealing atmosphere is underlined, annealing in vacuum being the most effective option for a broad control of the LSPR. The various potential mechanisms responsible for tuning the localized surface plasmon resonance upon annealing are discussed in relation to the nanostructures of the obtained materials.

a-Si nanolayer induced enhancement of the 1.53μm photoluminescence in Er3+ doped a-Al2O3 thin films

A structured film formed by an active Er3+-doped amorphous Al2O3 layer located between two amorphous silicon nanolayers (NLs) in as-grown conditions shows an enhancement of the photoluminescence (PL) intensity and lifetime at 1.53μm of one order of magnitude when compared to a similar Er3+-doped film without silicon NLs. The film can be pumped even under nonresonant excitation conditions as a result of a long range energy transfer from the a-Si NLs to the Er3+ ions. In addition, the PL shows a single exponential decay with a lifetime value as high as 2.4ms. The lifetime enhancement is associated with an improvement of the emission efficiency of the Er3+ ions.