Luciana Tavares

Efficient roll-on transfer technique for well-aligned organic nanofibers.

A transfer technique enabling efficient device integration of fragile organic nanostructures is presented. The technique is capable of transferring organic nanofibers to arbitrary substrates, the preservation of nanofiber morphology is demonstrated, and the optical properties are unaffected or even improved by the transfer.

Organic nanofiber-loaded surface plasmon-polariton waveguides

We demonstrate the use of organic nanofibers, composed of self-assembled organic molecules, as a dielectric medium for dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides at near-infrared wavelengths. We successfully exploit a metallic grating coupler to excite the waveguiding mode and characterize dispersion properties of such waveguides using leakage-radiation microscopy.

Organic nanofibers integrated by transfer technique in field-effect transistor devices

The electrical properties of self-assembled organic crystalline nanofibers are studied by integrating these on field-effect transistor platforms using both top and bottom contact configurations. In the staggered geometries, where the nanofibers are sandwiched between the gate and the source-drain electrodes, a better electrical conduction is observed when compared to the coplanar geometry where the nanofibers are placed over the gate and the source-drain electrodes. Qualitatively different output characteristics were observed for top and bottom contact devices reflecting the significantly different contact resistances. Bottom contact devices are dominated by contact effects, while the top contact device characteristics are determined by the nanofiber bulk properties. It is found that the contact resistance is lower for crystalline nanofibers when compared to amorphous thin films. These results shed light on the charge injection and transport properties for such organic nanostructures and thus constitute a significant step forward toward a nanofiber-based light-emitting device.

Surface plasmon polariton propagation in organic nanofiber based plasmonic waveguides.

Plasmonic wave packet propagation is monitored in dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides realized from para-hexaphenylene nanofibers deposited onto a 60 nm thick gold film. Using interferometric time resolved two-photon photoemission electron microscopy we are able to determine phase and group velocity of the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waveguiding mode (0.967c and 0.85c at λ(Laser) = 812nm) as well as the effective propagation length (39 μm) along the fiber-gold interface. We furthermore observe that the propagation properties of the SPP waveguiding mode are governed by the cross section of the waveguide.

Reduced bleaching in organic nanofibers by bilayer polymer/oxide coating

Para-hexaphenylene (p-6P) molecules exhibit a characteristic photoinduced reaction (bleaching) resulting in a decrease in luminescence intensity upon UV light exposure, which could render the technological use of the nanofibers problematic. In order to investigate the photoinduced reaction in nanofibers, optical bleaching experiments have been performed by irradiating both pristine and coated nanofibers with UV light. Oxide coating materials (SiOx and Al2O3) were applied onto p-6P nanofibers. These treatments caused a reduction in the bleaching reaction but in addition, the nanofiber luminescence spectrum was significantly altered. It was observed that some polymer coatings [a statistical copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and 2,2-bis-trifluoromethyl-4,5-difluoro-1,3-dioxole, P(TFE-PDD), and poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA] do not interfere with the luminescence spectrum from the p-6P but are not effective in stopping the bleaching. Bilayer coatings with first a polymer material, which should work as a prot...

Efficient Exciton Diffusion and Resonance-Energy Transfer in Multilayered Organic Epitaxial Nanofibers

Multilayered epitaxial nanofibers are exemplary model systems for the study of exciton dynamics and lasing in organic materials because of their well-defined morphology, high luminescence efficiencies, and color tunability. We use temperature-dependent continuous wave and picosecond photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy to quantify exciton diffusion and resonance-energy transfer (RET) processes in multilayered nanofibers consisting of alternating layers of para-hexaphenyl (p6P) and α-sexithiophene (6T) serving as exciton donor and acceptor material, respectively. The high probability for RET processes is confirmed by quantum chemical calculations. The activation energy for exciton diffusion in p6P is determined to be as low as 19 meV, proving p6P epitaxial layers also as a very suitable donor material system. The small activation energy for exciton diffusion of the p6P donor material, the inferred high p6P-to-6T resonance-energy-transfer efficiency, and the observed weak PL temperature dependence of the 6T acceptor material together result in an exceptionally high optical emission performance of this all-organic material system, thus making it well suited, for example, for organic light-emitting devices.