Won-Hwa Park

Charge Transfer Enhancement in the SERS of a Single Molecule

We measured the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of individual gold nanoparticle-4-aminobenzenethiol (ABT)-gold film junctions to investigate the charge-transfer (CT) enhancement of the SERS signals. Despite the mild electromagnetic field enhancement (∼10(5)) and high surface density of the ABT-molecules (∼240 molecules/hotspot) at the junctions, we observed the clear spectral and temporal signatures of CT-enhanced single-molecule SERS (SM-SERS). The result reveals that only a small fraction of the molecules at the junction has a significant CT-enhancement of 10(1)∼10(3), whereas the rest of the molecules are nearly CT-inactive. Furthermore, the result also proves that overall (charge-transfer and electromagnetic) enhancement of 10(6)∼10(8) is sufficient to observe the SM-SERS of an electronically off-resonant molecule, which disproves the widespread belief that a minimum enhancement of ∼10(14) is required for SM-SERS.

Fabrication of Si1−xGex alloy nanowire field-effect transistors

The authors present the demonstration of nanowire field-effect transistors incorporating group IV alloy nanowires, Si1−xGex. Single-crystalline Si1−xGex alloy nanowires were grown by a Au catalyst-assisted chemical vapor synthesis using SiH4 and GeH4 precursors, and the alloy composition was reproducibly controlled in the whole composition range by controlling the kinetics of catalytic decomposition of precursors. Complementary in situ doping of Si1−xGex nanowires was achieved by PH3 and B2H6 incorporation during the synthesis for n- and p-type field-effect transistors. The availability of both n- and p-type Si1−xGex nanowire circuit components suggests implications for group IV semiconductor nanowire electronics and optoelectronics.

Axially graded heteroepitaxy and Raman spectroscopic characterizations of Si1−xGex nanowires

We report the axially graded heteroepitaxy of Si1−xGex nanowires, by the kinetic controls of the Au-catalytic decomposition of precursors during chemical vapor syntheses. Transmission electron microscope studies demonstrate that the relative composition of Si and Ge is continuously graded along the uniformly thick nanowires, sharing the same crystal structures with the continuously varying lattices. We also employed a confocal Raman scattering imaging technique, and showed that the local variations in Raman phonon bands, specific to Si and Ge alloying (νSi–Si, νSi–Ge, and νGe–Ge), can be spatially and spectrally resolved along the individual nanowires, within the spatial resolution of ∼500nm.

Experimental identification of the out-of-plane phonon mode of a few layered graphene from individual Au nanoparticle-Au film junctions

We can experimentally identify the layer-layer breathing mode and the other out-of-plane transverse acoustic phonon modes of a few layered graphene via employing z-polarized incident field formed at Au nanoparticle-Au film junctions. The observed out-of-plane mode phonon at ∼150 cm−1 and other transverse acoustic phonon type defect modes from 300 cm−1 to 700 cm−1 can be readily explored. Not only for the normally used optical method using focused plane wave but also direct applying the z-directional electromagnetic field on graphene will be expected for more detailed out-of-plane phonon characterization of graphene.

Characterization of local charge distribution of polyethylene terephthalate film and influence as a graphene substrate

We examine local electrostatic force distribution of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film surface before and after transferring graphene in order to compare the influence of local electrostatic interaction between graphene and PET film in terms of the sheet resistance value of deposited graphene. By using the electrical modulation of amplitude in a tapping mode AFM tip, we can obtain the distinguished electrostatic force amplitude mapping of graphene. We determine that different electrostatic attractive interactions between Au-coated tip and bare PET are present and the observed difference can affect the graphene formation and electrical performance, which correlates with the sheet resistance difference.

Observation of a scrolled graphene nanoribbons with gap-plasmonic system

We report an observation of a scrolled graphene nanoribbon (sGNR) produced via a chemical vapor deposition. The sandwiched sGNR between Au nanoparticle and Au thin film system can be identified by the remarkable enhancement of G peak accompanied with a subsequent splitting (G+ and G−) with strong Radial Breading Like Mode enhancement. Because the weak adhesion force between graphene monolayer and target Au substrate during transfer maybe result in a sparse distribution of sGNR with a z-directional curvature-induced G peak splitting. Reproducibility and mass production with a nanometer scale circuit devices may be anticipated from this work.