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Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    TopUp SERS substrates with integrated internal standard
    (Basel : MDPI, 2018) Patze, Sophie; Hübner, Uwe; Weber, Karina; Cialla-May, Dana; Popp, Jürgen
    Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is known as a molecular-specific and highly sensitive method. In order to enable the routine application of SERS, powerful SERS substrates are of great importance. Within this manuscript, a TopUp SERS substrate is introduced which is fabricated by a top-down process based on microstructuring as well as a bottom-up generation of silver nanostructures. The Raman signal of the support material acts as an internal standard in order to improve the quantification capabilities. The analyte molecule coverage of sulfamethoxazole on the surface of the nanostructures is characterized by the SERS signal evolution fitted by a Langmuir–Freundlich isotherm.
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    Magnetically induced transparency of a quantum metamaterial composed of twin flux qubits
    (Berlin : Nature Publishing, 2018) Shulga, Kirill; Il'ichev, Evgeny; Fistul, Mikhail V.; Besedin, I.S.; Butz, Susanne; Astafiev, Oleg; Hübner, Uwe; Ustinov, Alexey V.
    Quantum theory is expected to govern the electromagnetic properties of a quantum metamaterial, an artificially fabricated medium composed of many quantum objects acting as artificial atoms. Propagation of electromagnetic waves through such a medium is accompanied by excitations of intrinsic quantum transitions within individual meta-atoms and modes corresponding to the interactions between them. Here we demonstrate an experiment in which an array of double-loop type superconducting flux qubits is embedded into a microwave transmission line. We observe that in a broad frequency range the transmission coefficient through the metamaterial periodically depends on externally applied magnetic field. Field-controlled switching of the ground state of the meta-atoms induces a large suppression of the transmission. Moreover, the excitation of meta-atoms in the array leads to a large resonant enhancement of the transmission. We anticipate possible applications of the observed frequency-tunable transparency in superconducting quantum networks.
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    Nanoboomerang-based inverse metasurfaces - a promising path towards ultrathin photonic devices for transmission operation
    (College Park : American Institute of Physics, 2017) Zeisberger, Matthias; Schneidewind, Henrik; Hübner, Uwe; Popp, Jürgen; Schmidt, Markus A.
    Metasurfaces have revolutionized photonics due to their ability to shape phase fronts as requested and to tune beam directionality using nanoscale metallic or dielectric scatterers. Here we reveal inverse metasurfaces showing superior properties compared to their positive counterparts if transmission mode operation is considered. The key advantage of such slot-type metasurfaces is the strong reduction of light in the parallel-polarization state, making the crossed-polarization, being essential for metasurface operation, dominant and highly visible. In the experiment, we show an up to four times improvement in polarization extinction for the individual metasurface element geometry consisting of deep subwavelength nanoboomerangs with feature sizes of the order of 100 nm. As confirmed by simulations, strong plasmonic hybridization yields two spectrally separated plasmonic resonances, ultimately allowing for the desired phase and scattering engineering in transmission. Due to the design flexibility of inverse metasurfaces, a large number of highly integrated ultra-flat photonic elements can be envisioned, examples of which include monolithic lenses for telecommunications and spectroscopy, beam shaper or generator for particle trapping or acceleration or sophisticated polarization control for microscopy.
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    Nanotrimer enhanced optical fiber tips implemented by electron beam lithography
    (Washington D.C. : Optical Society of America, 2018) Wang, Ning; Zeisberger, Matthias; Hübner, Uwe; Schmidt, Markus A.
    Here we present a novel fabrication approach that allows for the implementation of sophisticated planar nanostructures with deep subwavelength dimensions on fiber end faces by electron beam lithography. Specifically, we planarize the end faces of fiber bundles such that they are compatible with planar nanostructuring technology, with the result that fibers can be treated in the same way as typical wafers, opening up the entire field of nanotechnology for fiber optics. To demonstrate our approach, we have implemented densely-packed arrays of gold nanotrimers on the end face of 50 cm long standard single mode fibers, showing asymmetrical resonance lineshapes that arise due to the interplay of diffractive coupling of the individual timer response at infrared wavelengths that overlap with the single mode regime of typical telecommunication fibers. Refractive index sensing experiments suggest sensitivities of about 390 nm/RIU, representing the state-of-the-art for such a device type. Due to its unique capability of making optical fibers compatible with planar nanostructuring technology, we anticipate our approach to be applied in numerous fields including bioanalytics, telecommunications, nonlinear photonics, optical trapping and beam shaping.
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    Observation of Ultrafast Solid-Density Plasma Dynamics Using Femtosecond X-Ray Pulses from a Free-Electron Laser
    (College Park, Md. : APS, 2018) Kluge, Thomas; Rödel, Melanie; Metzkes-Ng, Josefine; Pelka, Alexander; Laso Garcia, Alejandro; Prencipe, Irene; Rehwald, Martin; Nakatsutsumi, Motoaki; McBride, Emma E.; Schönherr, Tommy; Garten, Marco; Hartley, Nicholas J.; Zacharias, Malte; Grenzer, Jörg; Erbe, Artur; Georgiev, Yordan M.; Galtier, Eric; Nam, Inhyuk; Lee, Hae Ja; Glenzer, Siegfried; Bussmann, Michael; Gutt, Christian; Zeil, Karl; Rödel, Christian; Hübner, Uwe; Schramm, Ulrich; Cowan, Thomas E.
    The complex physics of the interaction between short-pulse ultrahigh-intensity lasers and solids is so far difficult to access experimentally, and the development of compact laser-based next-generation secondary radiation sources, e.g., for tumor therapy, laboratory astrophysics, and fusion, is hindered by the lack of diagnostic capabilities to probe the complex electron dynamics and competing instabilities. At present, the fundamental plasma dynamics that occur at the nanometer and femtosecond scales during the laser-solid interaction can only be elucidated by simulations. Here we show experimentally that small-angle x-ray scattering of femtosecond x-ray free-electron laser pulses facilitates new capabilities for direct in situ characterization of intense short-pulse laser-plasma interactions at solid density that allows simultaneous nanometer spatial and femtosecond temporal resolution, directly verifying numerical simulations of the electron density dynamics during the short-pulse high-intensity laser irradiation of a solid density target. For laser-driven grating targets, we measure the solid density plasma expansion and observe the generation of a transient grating structure in front of the preinscribed grating, due to plasma expansion. The density maxima are interleaved, forming a double frequency grating in x-ray free-electron laser projection for a short time, which is a hitherto unknown effect. We expect that our results will pave the way for novel time-resolved studies, guiding the development of future laser-driven particle and photon sources from solid targets.
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    Efficient laser-driven proton acceleration from cylindrical and planar cryogenic hydrogen jets
    (Berlin : Nature Pulishing, 2017) Obst, Lieselotte; Göde, Sebastian; Rehwald, Martin; Brack, Florian-Emanuel; Branco, Joao; Bock, Stefan; Bussmann, Michael; Cowan, Thomas E.; Curry, Chandra B.; Fiuza, Frederico; Gauthier, Maxence; Gebhardt, Rene; Helbig, Uwe; Huebl, Axel; Hübner, Uwe; Irman, Arie; Kazak, Lev; Kim, Jongjin B.; Kluge, Thomas; Kraft, Stephan; Löser, Markus; Metzkes, Josefine; Mishra, Rohini; Rödel, Christian; Schlenvoigt, Hans-Peter; Siebold, Mathias; Tiggesbäumker, Josef; Wolter, Steffen; Ziegler, Tim; Schramm, Ulrich; Glenzer, Siegfried H.; Zeil, Karl
    We report on recent experimental results deploying a continuous cryogenic hydrogen jet as a debris-free, renewable laser-driven source of pure proton beams generated at the 150 TW ultrashort pulse laser Draco. Efficient proton acceleration reaching cut-off energies of up to 20 MeV with particle numbers exceeding 109 particles per MeV per steradian is demonstrated, showing for the first time that the acceleration performance is comparable to solid foil targets with thicknesses in the micrometer range. Two different target geometries are presented and their proton beam deliverance characterized: cylindrical (∅ 5 μm) and planar (20 μm × 2 μm). In both cases typical Target Normal Sheath Acceleration emission patterns with exponential proton energy spectra are detected. Significantly higher proton numbers in laser-forward direction are observed when deploying the planar jet as compared to the cylindrical jet case. This is confirmed by two-dimensional Particle-in-Cell (2D3V PIC) simulations, which demonstrate that the planar jet proves favorable as its geometry leads to more optimized acceleration conditions.
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    Mastering the Wrinkling of Self-supported Graphene
    (Berlin : Nature Pulishing, 2017) Pacakova, Barbara; Verhagen, Timotheus; Bousa, Milan; Hübner, Uwe; Vejpravova, Jana; Kalbac, Martin; Frank, Otakar
    We present an approach that allows for the preparation of well-defined large arrays of graphene wrinkles with predictable geometry. Chemical vapor deposition grown graphene transferred onto hexagonal pillar arrays of SiO2 with sufficiently small interpillar distance forms a complex network of two main types of wrinkle arrangements. The first type is composed of arrays of aligned equidistantly separated parallel wrinkles propagating over large distances, and originates from line interfaces in the graphene, such as thin, long wrinkles and graphene grain boundaries. The second type of wrinkle arrangement is composed of non-aligned short wrinkles, formed in areas without line interfaces. Besides the presented hybrid graphene topography with distinct wrinkle geometries induced by the pre-patterned substrate, the graphene layers are suspended and self-supporting, exhibiting large surface area and negligible doping effects from the substrate. All these properties make this wrinkled graphene a promising candidate for a material with enhanced chemical reactivity useful in nanoelectronic applications.
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    Ultrathin niobium nanofilms on fiber optical tapers--a new route towards low-loss hybrid plasmonic modes
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2015) Wieduwilt, Torsten; Tuniz, Alessandro; Linzen, Sven; Goerke, Sebastian; Dellith, Jan; Hübner, Uwe; Schmidt, Markus A.
    Due to the ongoing improvement in nanostructuring technology, ultrathin metallic nanofilms have recently gained substantial attention in plasmonics, e.g. as building blocks of metasurfaces. Typically, noble metals such as silver or gold are the materials of choice, due to their excellent optical properties, however they also possess some intrinsic disadvantages. Here, we introduce niobium nanofilms (~10 nm thickness) as an alternate plasmonic platform. We demonstrate functionality by depositing a niobium nanofilm on a plasmonic fiber taper and observe a dielectric-loaded niobium surface-plasmon excitation for the first time, with a modal attenuation of only 3–4 dB/mm in aqueous environment and a refractive index sensitivity up to 15 μm/RIU if the analyte index exceeds 1.42. We show that the niobium nanofilm possesses bulk optical properties, is continuous, homogenous and inert against any environmental influence, thus possessing several superior properties compared to noble metal nanofilms. These results demonstrate that ultrathin niobium nanofilms can serve as a new platform for biomedical diagnostics, superconducting photonics, ultrathin metasurfaces or new types of optoelectronic devices.
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    PHONA - photonische Nanomaterialien : Schlussbericht ; Laufzeit des Vorhabens: 01.12.2009-30.11.2014
    (Hannover : Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB), 2014) Hübner, Uwe; Popp, Jürgen
    [no abstract available]