Nabil Bassim

Plasmonic nanopillar arrays for large-area, high-enhancement surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensors.

Efforts to create reproducible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based chemical and biological sensors has been hindered by difficulties in fabricating large-area SERS-active substrates with a uniform, reproducible SERS response that still provides sufficient enhancement for easy detection. Here we report on periodic arrays of Au-capped, vertically aligned silicon nanopillars that are embedded in a Au plane upon a Si substrate. We illustrate that these arrays are ideal for use as SERS sensor templates, in that they provide large, uniform and reproducible average enhancement factors up to ∼1.2 × 10(8) over the structure surface area. We discuss the impact of the overall geometry of the structures upon the SERS response at 532, 633, and 785 nm incident laser wavelengths. Calculations of the electromagnetic field distributions and intensities within such structures were performed and both the wavelength dependence of the predicted SERS response and the field distribution within the nanopillar structure are discussed and support the experimental results we report.

Low-Loss, Extreme Subdiffraction Photon Confinement via Silicon Carbide Localized Surface Phonon Polariton Resonators

Plasmonics provides great promise for nanophotonic applications. However, the high optical losses inherent in metal-based plasmonic systems have limited progress. Thus, it is critical to identify alternative low-loss materials. One alternative is polar dielectrics that support surface phonon polariton (SPhP) modes, where the confinement of infrared light is aided by optical phonons. Using fabricated 6H-silicon carbide nanopillar antenna arrays, we report on the observation of subdiffraction, localized SPhP resonances. They exhibit a dipolar resonance transverse to the nanopillar axis and a monopolar resonance associated with the longitudinal axis dependent upon the SiC substrate. Both exhibit exceptionally narrow linewidths (7-24 cm(-1)), with quality factors of 40-135, which exceed the theoretical limit of plasmonic systems, with extreme subwavelength confinement of (λ(res)3/V(eff))1/3 = 50-200. Under certain conditions, the modes are Raman-active, enabling their study in the visible spectral range. These observations promise to reinvigorate research in SPhP phenomena and their use for nanophotonic applications.

Evidence for interstellar origin of seven dust particles collected by the Stardust spacecraft

Can you spot a speck of space dust? NASAs Stardust spacecraft has been collecting cosmic dust: Aerogel tiles and aluminum foil sat for nearly 200 days in the interstellar dust stream before returning to Earth. Citizen scientists identified most of the 71 tracks where particles were caught in the aerogel, and scanning electron microscopy revealed 25 craterlike features where particles punched through the foil. By performing trajectory and composition analysis, Westphal et al. report that seven of the particles may have an interstellar origin. These dust particles have surprisingly diverse mineral content and structure as compared with models of interstellar dust based on previous astronomical observations. Science, this issue p. 786 Analysis of seven particles captured by aerogel and foil reveals diverse characteristics not conforming to a single model. Seven particles captured by the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector and returned to Earth for laboratory analysis have features consistent with an origin in the contemporary interstellar dust stream. More than 50 spacecraft debris particles were also identified. The interstellar dust candidates are readily distinguished from debris impacts on the basis of elemental composition and/or impact trajectory. The seven candidate interstellar particles are diverse in elemental composition, crystal structure, and size. The presence of crystalline grains and multiple iron-bearing phases, including sulfide, in some particles indicates that individual interstellar particles diverge from any one representative model of interstellar dust inferred from astronomical observations and theory.

Minimizing damage during FIB sample preparation of soft materials

Although focused ion beam (FIB) microscopy has been used successfully for milling patterns and creating ultra‐thin electron and soft X‐ray transparent sections of polymers and other soft materials, little has been documented regarding FIB‐induced damage of these materials beyond qualitative evaluations of microstructure. In this study, we sought to identify steps in the FIB preparation process that can cause changes in chemical composition and bonding in soft materials. The impact of various parameters in the FIB‐scanning electron microscope (SEM) sample preparation process, such as final milling voltage, temperature, ion beam overlap and mechanical stability of soft samples, was evaluated using two test‐case materials systems: polyacrylamide, a low melting‐point polymer, and Wyodak lignite coal, a refractory organic material. We evaluated changes in carbon bonding in the samples using X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) at the carbon K edge and compared these samples with thin sections that had been prepared mechanically using ultramicrotomy. Minor chemical changes were induced in the coal samples during FIB‐SEM preparation, and little effect was observed by changing ion‐beam parameters. However, polyacrylamide was particularly sensitive to irradiation by the electron beam, which drastically altered the chemistry of the sample, with the primary damage occurring as an increase in the amount of aromatic carbon bonding (C=C). Changes in temperature, final milling voltage and beam overlap led to small improvements in the quality of the specimens. We outline a series of best practices for preparing electron and soft X‐ray transparent samples, with respect to preserving chemical structure and mechanical stability of soft materials using the FIB.

Lowered dislocation densities in uniform GaN layers grown on step-free (0001) 4H-SiC mesa surfaces

We report that very low threading dislocation densities (8×107∕cm2) were achieved in uniform GaN layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on (0001) 4H-SiC mesa surfaces 50μm×50μm in area that were completely free of steps. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that all observable GaN film threading dislocations were of edge type. TEM analysis of the defect structure of the nucleation layer (aluminum nitride, AlN) revealed a lack of c-component dislocations, and the clean annihilation of lateral, a-type dislocations within the first 200 nm of growth, with no lateral dislocations developing threading arms. These results indicate that the elimination of steps on the initial (0001) 4H-SiC growth surface may play an important role in the removal of mixed and c-type dislocations in subsequently grown AlN and GaN heteroepitaxial layers.

High-reflectance III-nitride distributed Bragg reflectors grown on Si substrates

Distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) composed of an AlN/AlGaN superlattice were grown of Si (111) substrates. The first high-reflectance III-nitride DBR on Si was achieved by growing the DBR directly on the Si substrate to enhance the overall reflectance due to the high index of refraction contrast at the Si/AlN interface. For a 9x DBR, the measured peak reflectance of 96.8% actually exceeded the theoretical value of 96.1%. The AlN/AlGaN superlattice served the added purpose of compensating the large tensile strain developed during the growth of a crack-free 500 nm GaN / 7x DBR / Si structure. This achievement opens the possibility to manufacture high-quality III-nitride optoelectronic devices without optical absorption in the opaque Si substrate.

The Role of Propagating and Localized Surface Plasmons for SERS Enhancement in Periodic Nanostructures

Periodic arrays of plasmonic nanopillars have been shown to provide large, uniform surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancements. We show that these enhancements are the result of the combined impact of localized and propagating surface plasmon modes within the plasmonic architecture. Here, arrays of periodically arranged silicon nanopillars of varying sizes and interpillar gaps were fabricated to enable the exploration of the SERS response from two different structures; one featuring only localized surface plasmon (LSP) modes and the other featuring LSP and propagating (PSP) modes. It is shown that the LSP modes determine the optimal architecture, and thereby determine the optimum diameter for the structures at a given incident. However, the increase in the SERS enhancement factor for a system in which LSP and PSP cooperatively interact was measured to be over an order of magnitude higher and the peak in the diameter dependence was significantly broadened, thus, such structures not only provide larger enhancement factors but are also more forgiving of lithographic variations.

Divalent–Anion Salt Effects in Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Depositions

We systematically investigate the effects of divalent anions on the assembly of polyelectrolyte multilayers by fabricating polystyrene sulfonate (PSS)/polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) multilayer films from aqueous solutions containing SO(4)(2-), HPO(4)(2-), or organic dicarboxylate dianions. The chosen concentrations of these anions (i.e., ≤0.05 M) allow us to isolate their effects on the assembly process from those of the polyelectrolyte solubility or solution ionic strength (maintained constant at μ = 1.00 M by added NaCl). Compared to a control film prepared from solutions containing only Cl(-) anions, stratified multilayers deposited in the presence of dianions exhibit increased UV absorbance, thickness, and roughness. From the dependence of film properties on the solution concentration of SO(4)(2-) and number of polyelectrolyte layers deposited, we derive a generic model for the PSS/PAH multilayer formation that involves adsorption of PAH aggregates formed in solution via electrostatic interactions of PAH with bridging dianions. Experiments using HPO(4)(2-) and organic dicarboxylate species of varying structure indicate that the separation, rigidity, and angle between the discrete negatively charged sites in the dianion govern the formation of the PAH aggregates, and therefore also the properties of the multilayer film. A universal linear relationship between film UV absorbance and thickness is observed among all dianion types or concentrations, consistent with the model.

Simulation on the effect of non-uniform strain from the passivation layer on AlGaN/GaN HEMT

Abstract High electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) based on the III-nitride material system have attracted interest for high-frequency electronic components operating at high-power levels. Nitride based HEMTs can achieve power, bandwidth and efficiency levels that exceed the performance of Si, GaAs or SiC based devices. At present, a major limitation of nitride HEMTs is their failure to achieve reliability on par with Si-LDMOS or GaAs pHEMT devices. The development of SiN x passivation layers have largely mitigated the gate lag effect, however, this passivation layer introduces an additional strain that forms a non-uniform polarization induced charge. Furthermore, this excess strain can locally relax the film eliminating the piezoelectric induced charge in addition to forming defects that act as electron traps.

Improved ultraviolet emission from reduced defect gallium nitride homojunctions grown on step-free 4H-SiC mesas

We previously reported 100-fold reductions in III-N heterofilm threading dislocation density achieved via growth on top of (0001) 4H-SiC mesas completely free of atomic scale steps. This letter compares the electroluminescent (EL) output of GaN pn junctions grown on top of 4H-SiC mesas with and without such steps. An average of 49% enhancement of the ultraviolet luminescence (380nm) was observed in step-free mesas over comparable “stepped” counterparts. Despite the intense EL from the step-free devices, significant leakage was observed through the periphery of the device, possibly due to the lack of GaN junction isolation processing.