Single Nanocube Research Articles

Enhanced coherent interaction between monolayer WS2 and film-coupled nanocube open cavity with suppressed incoherent damping pathway

Future quantum information devices will most likely rely on the realization of coherent light-matter interactions in strong coupling regime and the maintaining of the coherence with minimized incoherent damping pathways. Here, utilizing film-coupled planar nanoparticle supporting unique plasmon-induced magnetic resonance (PIMR), we theoretically study a strong coupling of a single nanocube to a monolayer of two-dimensional atomic crystal. We demonstrate that the nanocube-based planar configuration with magnetic flux passing through the dielectric layer exhibits much higher in-plane field confinement with respect to traditional plasmon electric modes, leading to an efficient coherent coupling to only a few in-plane excitonic dipoles with a record of normal mode splitting over 280 meV. Importantly, a much reduced incoherent coupling strength down to 3 meV is obtained. We reveal that the underlying mechanism lies in two main facts: (i) the small radiative damping rate of the excitonic system giving very limited contribution to the linewidth broadening of the A-exciton resonance, and (ii) the excitation of magnetic resonance provides a net electric dipole moment orientating mainly normal to the film surface, thus greatly suppressing the exchange of photons between the two subsystems via the continuum reservoir. The numerical simulations and theoretical analysis quantitatively evaluate the dependence of both the coherent and incoherent coupling strength on the thickness of the dielectric layer, revealing the fact that coherent/incoherent coupling strength can be simultaneously enhanced/suppressed with the decrease/increase of the film thickness, which can be appropriately designed to achieve the optimal coherent coupling with minimized incoherent coupling strength. Such hybrid nanostructure with simple geometry and ease of fabrication may not only offer as an attractive platform to explore light-matter interaction in the strong coupling regime but also show potential applications in realizing novel quantum and nanophotonic optical devices.

Ultrastrong coupling in single plexcitonic nanocubes

Abstract Light-matter strong coupling is defined when the coupling strength exceeds the losses in the system, whereas ultrastrong coupling is not simply strong coupling with even larger coupling strength. Instead, ultrastrong coupling regime arises when the coupling strength is comparable to the transition frequency in the system. At present, ultrastrong light-matter interactions have been achieved in superconducting circuits, semiconductor polaritons, and organic molecules, where these systems are typically at the micrometer scale. In this work, we investigated ultrastrong coupling in a nanoparticle plexcitonic system, i.e. a single gold nanocube coated with quantum emitters and positioned on a gold film. We observed a normalized coupling rate η ~ 0.12 to the antenna mode in such coated nanocube-on-mirror (c-NCoM) configuration at the multilayer emitter level. In contrast to the gap mode that squeezes all the optical fields into the gap region, the antenna mode in c-NCoM provides multiple exterior hot spots at the upper corners of the nanocube, which can be exploited for qubit entanglement within a single nanocube. The concurrence between adjacent emitters is estimated up to 0.6. This theoretical study establishes a promising route toward building a scalable quantum network using single plexcitonic nanocubes as quantum nodes.

Tunable strong plasmon-exciton coupling between single silver nanocube dimer and J-aggregates

In this paper, single silver nanocube dimer with nanometer-sized gap is designed and numerically simulated. We demonstrate that the electric fields can be highly confined in the gap of nanocube dimer, leading to ultrasmall mode volume of ≈2 × 10-7 μm3. Furthermore, the strong plasmon-exciton coupling in single nanocube dimer coupled with J-aggregate molecules is investigated using coupled oscillator model and we show that the strong plasmon-exciton coupling can be tuned by changing the background refractive index and the concentration of J-aggregate molecules. The tuning of dual strong plasmon-exciton couplings between single rounded silver nanocube dimer and J-aggregate molecules is also investigated, and dual strong couplings can be achieved closely approaching the quantum optics limit benefiting from the ultrasmall mode volume of the proposed system. The proposed systems can be easily prepared and have high experimental feasibility, which has potential applications in integrated nanophotonics such as sensing and all-optical switches.

Mapping vibrational surface and bulk modes in a single nanocube.

Imaging of vibrational excitations in and near nanostructures is essential for developing low-loss infrared nanophotonics, controlling heat transport in thermal nanodevices, inventing new thermoelectric materials and understanding nanoscale energy transport. Spatially resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy has previously been used to image plasmonic behaviour in nanostructures in an electron microscope, but hitherto it has not been possible to map vibrational modes directly in a single nanostructure, limiting our understanding of phonon coupling with photons and plasmons. Here we present spatial mapping of optical and acoustic, bulk and surface vibrational modes in magnesium oxide nanocubes using an atom-wide electron beam. We find that the energy and the symmetry of the surface polariton phonon modes depend on the size of the nanocubes, and that they are localized to the surfaces of the nanocube. We also observe a limiting of bulk phonon scattering in the presence of surface phonon modes. Most phonon spectroscopies are selectively sensitive to either surface or bulk excitations; therefore, by demonstrating the excitation of both bulk and surface vibrational modes using a single probe, our work represents advances in the detection and visualization of spatially confined surface and bulk phonons in nanostructures.

Pt-coated Pd nanocubes as catalysts for alkaline oxygen reduction activity

Pt-coated Pd nanocubes enclosed with (100) planes were successfully synthesized using an epitaxial approach. Their microstructures were determined on the basis of their electron diffraction patterns and line scan energy-dispersive X-ray measurements by spotting on a single nanocube. These bimetallic nanocubes can be used as catalysts for an alkaline oxygen reduction reaction. The results of the rotating ring-disk electrode measurements indicated that these nanocubes displayed a 2.6 times greater specific activity than Pt nanoparticles.

Biodegradation of Iron Oxide Nanocubes: High-Resolution In Situ Monitoring

The long-term fate of nanomaterials in biological environment represents a critical matter, which determines environmental effects and potential risks for human health. Predicting these risks requires understanding of nanoparticle transformations, persistence, and degradation, some issues somehow ignored so far. Safe by design, inorganic nanostructures are being envisioned for therapy, yet fundamental principles of their processing in biological systems, change in physical properties, and in situ degradability have not been thoroughly assessed. Here we report the longitudinal visualization of iron oxide nanocube transformations inflicted by the intracellular-like environment. Structural degradation of individual nanocubes with two different surface coatings (amphiphilic polymer shell and polyethylene glycol ligand molecules) was monitored at the atomic scale with aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Our results suggest that the polymer coating controls surface reactivity and that availability and access of chelating agents to the crystal surface govern the degradation rate. This in situ study of single nanocube degradation was compared to intracellular transformations observed in mice over 14 days after intravenous injection, revealing the role of nanoparticle clustering, intracellular sorting within degradation compartments, and iron transfer and recycling into ferritin storage proteins. Our approach reduces the gap between in situ nanoscale observations in mimicking biological environments and in vivo real tracking of nanoparticle fate.

Magnetic properties of a ferrimagnetic core/shell nanocube Ising model: A Monte Carlo simulation study

Monte Carlo simulation has been used to study the magnetic properties and hysteresis loops of a single nanocube, consisting of a ferromagnetic core of spin- 1 2 surrounded by a ferromagnetic shell of spin-1 with antiferromagnetic interface coupling. We find a number of characteristic phenomena. In particular, the effects of the shell coupling and the interface coupling on both the compensation temperature and the magnetization profiles are investigated. The effects of the interface coupling on the hysteresis loops are also examined.