Home > Press > USTC develops ultrahigh-performance plasmonic metal-oxide materials
Abstract:
In a study published in Advanced Materials, the researchers from Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, the University of Science and Technology of China of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, using an electron-proton co-doping strategy, invented a new metal-like semiconductor material with excellent plasmonic resonance performance. This material achieves a metal-like ultrahigh free-carrier concentration that leads to strong and tunable plasmonic field.
Plasmonic materials are widely used in the fields including microscopy, sensing, optical computing and photovoltaics. Most common plasmonic materials are gold and silver. Some other materials also show metal-like optical properties but just perform poor in limited wavelength ranges.
In recent years, much effort has been made in finding high-performance plasmonic materials excluding noble metals. Metal-oxide semiconductor materials have rich and tunable properties such as light, electricity, heat, and magnetism. Hydrogenation treatment can effectively modify their electronic structure to reach rich and tunable plasmon effects. It is a challenge to significantly increase the intrinsically low concentration of free carriers in metal-oxide materials.
The researchers in this study developed a electron-proton co-doping strategy with theoretical calculations. They hydrogenated the semiconductor material MoO3 via a simplified metal-acid treatment at mild conditions, realizing the controllable insulator-to-metal phase transition, which significantly increase the concentration of free carriers in the metal-oxide material.
The free electron concentration in the hydrogenated MoO3 material is equivalent to that of the precious metal. This property makes the plasmon resonance response of the material moving from the near infrared area to the visible light area. The plasmon resonance response of the material has both strong gain and adjustability.
Using ultrafast spectroscopy characterizations and first-principle simulations, the researchers unraveled the quasi-metallic energy band structure in the hydrogen-doped HxMoO3 with its dynamical features of plasmonic responses.
To verify their modification, they performed the surface-enhanced Raman spectra (SERS) of rhodamine 6G molecules on the material. The result showed that the SERS enhancement factor reached as high as 1.1 × 107 with a detection limit at concentration as low as 1 × 10-9 mol/L.
This study developed a general strategy to increase the concentration of free carriers in a non-metal semiconductor material system, which not only realized a quasi-metallic phase material with strong and tunable plasmon effect at low cost, but also significantly broadened the variable range of the physical and chemical properties of semiconductor materials. It provides a unique idea and guidance for designing novel metal oxide functional materials.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Jane FAN Qiong
86-551-636-07280
Copyright © University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related Links |
Related News Press |
News and information
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Imaging
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
The USTC realizes In situ electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy using single nanodiamond sensors November 3rd, 2023
Observation of left and right at nanoscale with optical force October 6th, 2023
Plasmonics
A new dimension in magnetism and superconductivity launched November 5th, 2021
Patterning silicon at the one nanometer scale: Scientists engineer materials’ electrical and optical properties with plasmon engineering August 13th, 2021
TPU scientists offer new plasmon energy-based method to remove CO2 from atmosphere March 19th, 2021
Possible Futures
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
With VECSELs towards the quantum internet Fraunhofer: IAF achieves record output power with VECSEL for quantum frequency converters April 5th, 2024
Optical computing/Photonic computing
With VECSELs towards the quantum internet Fraunhofer: IAF achieves record output power with VECSEL for quantum frequency converters April 5th, 2024
Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024
Optically trapped quantum droplets of light can bind together to form macroscopic complexes March 8th, 2024
HKUST researchers develop new integration technique for efficient coupling of III-V and silicon February 16th, 2024
Discoveries
Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024
New micromaterial releases nanoparticles that selectively destroy cancer cells April 5th, 2024
Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024
Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Focused ion beam technology: A single tool for a wide range of applications January 12th, 2024
Announcements
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Tools
Ferroelectrically modulate the Fermi level of graphene oxide to enhance SERS response November 3rd, 2023
The USTC realizes In situ electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy using single nanodiamond sensors November 3rd, 2023
Energy
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide November 17th, 2023
Inverted perovskite solar cell breaks 25% efficiency record: Researchers improve cell efficiency using a combination of molecules to address different November 17th, 2023
The efficient perovskite cells with a structured anti-reflective layer – another step towards commercialization on a wider scale October 6th, 2023
Photonics/Optics/Lasers
With VECSELs towards the quantum internet Fraunhofer: IAF achieves record output power with VECSEL for quantum frequency converters April 5th, 2024
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Optically trapped quantum droplets of light can bind together to form macroscopic complexes March 8th, 2024
HKUST researchers develop new integration technique for efficient coupling of III-V and silicon February 16th, 2024
Solar/Photovoltaic
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide November 17th, 2023
Inverted perovskite solar cell breaks 25% efficiency record: Researchers improve cell efficiency using a combination of molecules to address different November 17th, 2023
Charged “molecular beasts” the basis for new compounds: Researchers at Leipzig University use “aggressive” fragments of molecular ions for chemical synthesis November 3rd, 2023
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
Premium Products | ||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||