Zebo Zheng

Nanoscale Insights into the Hydrogenation Process of Layered α-MoO3

The hydrogenation process of the layered α-MoO3 crystal was investigated on a nanoscale. At low hydrogen concentration, the hydrogenation can lead to formation of HxMoO3 without breaking the MoO3 atomic flat surface. For hydrogenation with high hydrogen concentration, hydrogen atoms accumulated along the <101> direction on the MoO3, which induced the formation of oxygen vacancy line defects. The injected hydrogen atoms acted as electron donors to increase electrical conductivity of the MoO3. Near-field optical measurements indicated that both of the HxMoO3 and oxygen vacancies were responsible for the coloration of the hydrogenated MoO3, with the latter contributing dominantly. On the other hand, diffusion of hydrogen atoms from the surface into the body of the MoO3 will encounter a surface diffusion energy barrier, which was for the first time measured to be around 80 meV. The energy barrier also sets an upper limit for the amount of hydrogen atoms that can be bound locally inside the MoO3 via hydrogenation. We believe that our findings has provided a clear picture of the hydrogenation mechanisms in layered transition-metal oxides, which will be helpful for control of their optoelectronic properties via hydrogenation.

Highly Confined and Tunable Hyperbolic Phonon Polaritons in Van Der Waals Semiconducting Transition Metal Oxides

2D van der Waals (vdW) layered polar crystals sustaining phonon polaritons (PhPs) have opened up new avenues for fundamental research and optoelectronic applications in the mid-infrared to terahertz ranges. To date, 2D vdW crystals with PhPs are only experimentally demonstrated in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) slabs. For optoelectronic and active photonic applications, semiconductors with tunable charges, finite conductivity, and moderate bandgaps are preferred. Here, PhPs are demonstrated with low loss and ultrahigh electromagnetic field confinements in semiconducting vdW α-MoO3 . The α-MoO3 supports strong hyperbolic PhPs in the mid-infrared range, with a damping rate as low as 0.08. The electromagnetic confinements can reach ≈λ0 /120, which can be tailored by altering the thicknesses of the α-MoO3 2D flakes. Furthermore, spatial control over the PhPs is achieved with a metal-ion-intercalation strategy. The results demonstrate α-MoO3 as a new platform for studying hyperbolic PhPs with tunability, which enable switchable mid-infrared nanophotonic devices.

Tailoring of electromagnetic field localizations by two-dimensional graphene nanostructures

Graphene has great potential for enhancing light−matter interactions in a two-dimensional regime due to surface plasmons with low loss and strong light confinement. Further utilization of graphene in nanophotonics relies on the precise control of light localization properties. Here, we demonstrate the tailoring of electromagnetic field localizations in the mid-infrared region by precisely shaping the graphene into nanostructures with different geometries. We generalize the phenomenological cavity model and employ nanoimaging techniques to quantitatively calculate and experimentally visualize the two-dimensional electromagnetic field distributions within the nanostructures, which indicate that the electromagnetic field can be shaped into specific patterns depending on the shapes and sizes of the nanostructures. Furthermore, we show that the light localization performance can be further improved by reducing the sizes of the nanostructures, where a lateral confinement of λ0/180 of the incidence light can be achieved. The electromagnetic field localizations within a nanostructure with a specific geometry can also be modulated by chemical doping. Our strategies can, in principle, be generalized to other two-dimensional materials, therefore providing new degrees of freedom for designing nanophotonic components capable of tailoring two-dimensional light confinement over a broad wavelength range.

Molybdenum Nanoscrews: A Novel Non-coinage-Metal Substrate for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

For the first time, Mo nanoscrew was cultivated as a novel non-coinage-metal substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). It was found that the nanoscrew is composed of many small screw threads stacking along its length direction with small separations. Under external light excitation, strong electromagnetic coupling was initiated within the gaps, and many hot-spots formed on the surface of the nanoscrew, which was confirmed by high-resolution scanning near-field optical microscope measurements and numerical simulations using finite element method. These hot-spots are responsible for the observed SERS activity of the nanoscrews. Raman mapping characterizations further revealed the excellent reproducibility of the SERS activity. Our findings may pave the way for design of low-cost and stable SERS substrates.Graphical AbstractMo nanoscrews are for the first time cultivated as a novel type of SERS substrate. The SERS activity is originated from the electromagnetic field enhancements on the individual Mo nanoscrew, which is corroborated by single-particle optical characterizations

Tetragonal Single-Crystalline Boron Nanowires with Strong Anisotropic Light Scattering Behaviors and Photocurrent Response in Visible-Light Regime

Boron is a narrow-bandgap (1.56 eV) semiconductor with high melting-point, low-density, large Youngs modulus and very high refractive index (3.03) close to silicon. Therefore, boron nanostructures is expected to possess strong visible-light scattering properties. However, photonic and optoelectronic properties of the boron nanostructures are seldom studied until now. In this paper, we have successfully prepared single-crystalline boron nanowire (BNW) arrays with high-density on Si substrate. All the BNWs are found to possess strong light-scattering behaviors in the visible regime. Most of all, the scattered light is found to polarize along the longitudinal direction of the nanowire. They also have excellent second-harmonic generation (SHG) properties under ultrafast laser irradiation. Further optoelectronic measurements show that an individual BNW device exhibits notable photocurrent responses in the visible-light range at ambient conditions, which can be attributed to the strong coupling effect between individual BNW and the visible light. The maximum photoresponsivity of an individual BNW can reach up to 12.12 A W-1 at a voltage of 10 V, and the response time is only 18 ms. Therefore, it unveils that the BNWs have a promising future in visible-light communications and detections.