Shuren Hu

Plasmonic Hot Electron Induced Photocurrent Response at MoS2-Metal Junctions

We investigate the wavelength- and polarization-dependence of photocurrent signals generated at few-layer MoS2-metal junctions through spatially resolved photocurrent measurements. When incident photon energy is above the direct bandgap of few-layer MoS2, the maximum photocurrent response occurs for the light polarization direction parallel to the metal electrode edge, which can be attributed to photovoltaic effects. In contrast, if incident photon energy is below the direct bandgap of MoS2, the photocurrent response is maximized when the incident light is polarized in the direction perpendicular to the electrode edge, indicating different photocurrent generation mechanisms. Further studies show that this polarized photocurrent response can be interpreted in terms of the polarized absorption of light by the plasmonic metal electrode, its conversion into hot electron-hole pairs, and subsequent injection into MoS2. These fundamental studies shed light on the knowledge of photocurrent generation mechanisms in metal-semiconductor junctions, opening the door for engineering future two-dimensional materials based optoelectronics through surface plasmon resonances.

Porous silicon ring resonator for compact, high sensitivity biosensing applications.

A ring resonator is patterned on a porous silicon slab waveguide to produce a compact, high quality factor biosensor with a large internal surface area available for enhanced recognition of biological and chemical molecules. The porous nature of the ring resonator allows molecules to directly interact with the guided mode. Quality factors near 10,000 were measured for porous silicon ring resonators with a radius of 25 μm. A bulk detection sensitivity of 380 nm/RIU was measured upon exposure to salt water solutions. Specific detection of nucleic acid molecules was demonstrated with a surface detection sensitivity of 4 pm/nM.

Visualizing Light Scattering in Silicon Waveguides with Black Phosphorus Photodetectors

A black phosphorus photodetector is utilized to investigate the light-scattering patterns of a silicon waveguide through wavelength- and polarization-dependent scanning photocurrent measurements. The photocurrent signals exhibit similar patterns to the light-intensity distribution of the waveguide calculated by finite-difference time-domain simulations, suggesting that photoexcited electron-hole pairs in the silicon waveguide can be injected into phosphorene to induce its photoresponse.

Slow light Mach-Zehnder interferometer as label-free biosensor with scalable sensitivity

The design, fabrication, and characterization of a label-free Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) optical biosensor that incorporates a highly dispersive one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal in one arm are presented. The sensitivity of this slow light MZI-based sensor scales with the length of the slow light photonic crystal region. The numerically simulated sensitivity of a MZI sensor with a 16 μm long slow light region is 115,000 rad/RIU-cm, which is sevenfold higher than traditional MZI biosensors with millimeter-length sensing regions. An experimental bulk refractive index detection sensitivity of 84,000 rad/RIU-cm is realized and nucleic acid detection is also demonstrated.

Photonic crystal microring resonator for label-free biosensing

A label-free optical biosensor based on a one-dimensional photonic crystal microring resonator with enhanced light-matter interaction is demonstrated. More than a 2-fold improvement in volumetric and surface sensing sensitivity is achieved compared to conventional microring sensors. The experimental bulk detection sensitivity is ~248nm/RIU and label-free detection of DNA and proteins is reported at the nanomolar scale. With a minimum feature size greater than 100nm, the photonic crystal microring resonator biosensor can be fabricated with the same standard lithographic techniques used to mass fabricate conventional microring resonators.

Suspended Micro-Ring Resonator for Enhanced Biomolecule Detection Sensitivity

Silicon micro-ring biosensors demonstrate great potential for high sensitivity and multiplexed lab-on-chip systems. In this work, we characterize the sensing performance of suspended TM-mode silicon micro-ring resonators, 5 μm in radius, and demonstrate an enhanced sensitivity to molecular binding on the ring after suspension. In the TM-mode, the overall field intensity exists primarily outside of the waveguide core, with high electric field intensities present near the top and bottom surfaces. In traditional micro-ring resonators, only the top surface of the ring is available for surface analyte attachment, while the electric field intensity near the bottom surface dissipates by leaking into the underlying silicon dioxide substrate. In our approach, we suspend the TM-micro ring resonators in order to increase the surface area for binding events and increase the light-matter interaction with analytes. The suspended rings demonstrate excellent mechanical stability to multiple rinsing, soaking and nitrogen drying steps during the sensing procedure. We show that the resonance shift achieved by the suspended micro-rings after attachment of small chemical molecules and DNA is at least twice that of micro-rings supported by the silicon dioxide substrate.

Porous silicon devices and applications (Conference Presentation)

Three-dimensional nanoporous silicon (PSi), with inherently large surface areas, tunable pore sizes, film thicknesses, and effective refractive indices, has been utilized as a platform for the detection of biomolecules and high-dose radiation. A brief overview of the fabrication and characterization of the nanoporous framework is presented for novel applications that benefit from such sponge-like, high surface area devices. For many of these applications, it is necessary to ensure that the PSi surfaces are well-passivated and stabilized for subsequent conjugation with linker molecules and for emitters to maintain their emissive properties post-integration with the porous matrix. We present a detailed analysis of the influence that varied levels of interfacial oxide (SiOx) growth has on the optical properties of quantum dots (QDs) immobilized within the PSi thin-films. Reflectance spectroscopy, continuous wave photoluminescence (CWPL) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) studies provide a comprehensive understanding of the complex QD exciton dynamics at the PSi/SiOx-QD interfaces. The gradual conversion of PSi thin-films into fully-oxidized porous silicon oxide (PSiO2) thin-films is shown to significantly suppress non-radiative recombination pathways of photogenerated QD excitons and achieve almost a five-fold increase in QD exciton lifetimes. This conversion of PSi into PSiO2, a wide bandgap nanoporous material, also circumvents loss of QD emission due to absorption by PSi based devices. Future avenues of research into PSi based devices will be presented based on analyzing the optical scattering response of nanoscale PSi annular rings fabricated over PSi Bragg mirrors via dark field microscopy.

Experimental realization of deep-subwavelength confinement in dielectric optical resonators

Dielectric cavities support record low mode volumes by incorporating subwavelength features into photonic crystal unit cells. The ability to highly localize light with strong electric field enhancement is critical for enabling higher-efficiency solar cells, light sources, and modulators. While deep-subwavelength modes can be realized with plasmonic resonators, large losses in these metal structures preclude most practical applications. We developed an alternative approach to achieving subwavelength localization of the electric and displacement fields that is not accompanied by inhibitive losses. We experimentally demonstrate a dielectric bowtie photonic crystal structure that supports mode volumes commensurate with plasmonic elements and quality factors that reveal ultralow losses. Our approach opens the door to the extremely strong light-matter interaction regime with, simultaneously incorporating both an ultralow mode volume and an ultrahigh quality factor, that had remained elusive in optical resonators.

Enhancing the sensitivity of slow light MZI biosensors through multi-hole defects

We demonstrate enhanced detection sensitivity of a slow light Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) sensor by incorporating multi-hole defects (MHDs). Slow light MZI biosensors with a one-dimensional photonic crystal in one arm have been previously shown to improve the performance of traditional MZI sensors based on the increased lightmatter interaction that takes place in the photonic crystal region of the structure. Introducing MHDs in the photonic crystal region increases the available surface area for molecular attachment and further increases the enhanced lightmatter interaction capability of slow light MZIs. The MHDs allow analyte to interact with a greater fraction of the guided wave in the MZI. For a slow light MHD MZI sensor with a 16 μm long sensing arm, a bulk sensitivity of 151,000 rad/RIU-cm is demonstrated experimentally, which is approximately two-fold higher than our previously reported slow light MZI sensors and thirteen-fold higher than traditional MZI biosensors with millimeter length sensing regions. For the label-free detection of nucleic acids, the slow light MZI with MHDs also exhibits a two-fold sensitivity improvement in experiment compared to the slow light MZI without MHDs. Because the detection sensitivity of slow light MHD MZIs scales with the length of the sensing arm, the tradeoff between detection limit and device size can be appropriately mitigated for different applications. All experimental results presented in this work are in good agreement with finite difference-time domain-calculations. Overall, the slow light MZI biosensors with MHDs are a promising platform for highly sensitive and multiplexed lab-on-chip systems.