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    Imperceptible Supercapacitors with High Area-Specific Capacitance
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Ge, Jin; Zhu, Minshen; Eisner, Eric; Yin, Yin; Dong, Haiyun; Karnaushenko, Dmitriy D.; Karnaushenko, Daniil; Zhu, Feng; Ma, Libo; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Imperceptible electronics will make next-generation healthcare and biomedical systems thinner, lighter, and more flexible. While other components are thoroughly investigated, imperceptible energy storage devices lag behind because the decrease of thickness impairs the area-specific energy density. Imperceptible supercapacitors with high area-specific capacitance based on reduced graphene oxide/polyaniline (RGO/PANI) composite electrodes and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/H2SO4 gel electrolyte are reported. Two strategies to realize a supercapacitor with a total device thickness of 5 µm—including substrate, electrode, and electrolyte—and an area-specific capacitance of 36 mF cm−2 simultaneously are implemented. First, the void volume of the RGO/PANI electrodes through mechanical compression is reduced, which decreases the thickness by 83% while retaining 89% of the capacitance. Second, the PVA-to-H2SO4 mass ratio is decreased to 1:4.5, which improves the ion conductivity by 5000% compared to the commonly used PVA/H2SO4 gel. Both advantages enable a 2 µm-thick gel electrolyte for planar interdigital supercapacitors. The impressive electromechanical stability of the imperceptible supercapacitors by wrinkling the substrate to produce folds with radii of 6 µm or less is demonstrated. The supercapacitors will be meaningful energy storage modules for future self-powered imperceptible electronics.
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    Targeted Sub-Attomole Cancer Biomarker Detection Based on Phase Singularity 2D Nanomaterial-Enhanced Plasmonic Biosensor
    (Berlin ; Heidelberg [u.a.] : Springer, 2021) Wang, Yuye; Zeng, Shuwen; Crunteanu, Aurelian; Xie, Zhenming; Humbert, Georges; Ma, Libo; Wei, Yuanyuan; Brunel, Aude; Bessette, Barbara; Orlianges, Jean-Christophe; Lalloué, Fabrice; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Yu, Nanfang; Ho, Ho-Pui
    Detection of small cancer biomarkers with low molecular weight and a low concentration range has always been challenging yet urgent in many clinical applications such as diagnosing early-stage cancer, monitoring treatment and detecting relapse. Here, a highly enhanced plasmonic biosensor that can overcome this challenge is developed using atomically thin two-dimensional phase change nanomaterial. By precisely engineering the configuration with atomically thin materials, the phase singularity has been successfully achieved with a significantly enhanced lateral position shift effect. Based on our knowledge, it is the first experimental demonstration of a lateral position signal change > 340 μm at a sensing interface from all optical techniques. With this enhanced plasmonic effect, the detection limit has been experimentally demonstrated to be 10–15 mol L−1 for TNF-α cancer marker, which has been found in various human diseases including inflammatory diseases and different kinds of cancer. The as-reported novel integration of atomically thin Ge2Sb2Te5 with plasmonic substrate, which results in a phase singularity and thus a giant lateral position shift, enables the detection of cancer markers with low molecular weight at femtomolar level. These results will definitely hold promising potential in biomedical application and clinical diagnostics.
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    Steering Directional Light Emission and Mode Chirality through Postshaping of Cavity Geometry
    (Hoboke, NJ : Wiley, 2020) Wang, Jiawei; Tang, Min; Yang, Yue-De; Yin, Yin; Chen, Yan; Saggau, Christian Niclaas; Zhu, Minshen; Yuan, Xiaobo; Karnaushenko, Dmitriy; Huang, Yong-Zhen; Ma, Libo; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Dielectric optical microcavities have been explored as an excellent platform to manipulate the light flow and investigate non‐Hermitian physics in open optical systems. For whispering gallery mode optical microcavities, modifying the rotational symmetry is highly desirable for intriguing phenomena such as degenerated chiral modes and directional light emission. However, for the state‐of‐the‐art approaches, namely deforming the cavity geometry by precision lithography or introducing local scatterers near the cavity boundary via micromanipulation, there is a lack of flexibility in fine‐adjusting of chiral symmetry and far‐field emission direction. Here, precise engineering of cavity boundary using electron‐beam‐induced deposition is reported based on rolled‐up nanomembrane‐enabled spiral‐shaped microcavities. The deformation of outer boundary results in delicate tailoring of asymmetric backscattering between the outer and inner rolling edges, and hence deterministically strong mode chirality. Besides, the crescent‐shaped high‐index nanocap leads to modified light tunneling channels and inflected far‐field emission angle. It is envisioned that such a localized deposition‐assisted technique for adjusting the structural deformation of 3D optical microcavities will be highly useful for understanding rich insights in non‐Hermitian photonics and unfolding exotic properties on lasing, sensing, and cavity quantum electrodynamics.
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    Nanomaterial-decorated micromotors for enhanced photoacoustic imaging
    (Berlin ; Heidelberg : Springer, 2023) Aziz, Azaam; Nauber, Richard; Sánchez Iglesias, Ana; Tang, Min; Ma, Libo; Liz-Marzán, Luis M.; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Medina-Sánchez, Mariana
    Micro-and nanorobots have the potential to perform non-invasive drug delivery, sensing, and surgery in living organisms, with the aid of diverse medical imaging techniques. To perform such actions, microrobots require high spatiotemporal resolution tracking with real-time closed-loop feedback. To that end, photoacoustic imaging has appeared as a promising technique for imaging microrobots in deep tissue with higher molecular specificity and contrast. Here, we present different strategies to track magnetically-driven micromotors with improved contrast and specificity using dedicated contrast agents (Au nanorods and nanostars). Furthermore, we discuss the possibility of improving the light absorption properties of the employed nanomaterials considering possible light scattering and coupling to the underlying metal-oxide layers on the micromotor’s surface. For that, 2D COMSOL simulation and experimental results were correlated, confirming that an increased spacing between the Au-nanostructures and the increase of thickness of the underlying oxide layer lead to enhanced light absorption and preservation of the characteristic absorption peak. These characteristics are important when visualizing the micromotors in a complex in vivo environment, to distinguish them from the light absorption properties of the surrounding natural chromophores.
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    Fast-Response Micro-Phototransistor Based on MoS2/Organic Molecule Heterojunction
    (Basel : MDPI, 2023) Andleeb, Shaista; Wang, Xiaoyu; Dong, Haiyun; Valligatla, Sreeramulu; Saggau, Christian Niclaas; Ma, Libo; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Zhu, Feng
    Over the past years, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been the most extensively studied two-dimensional (2D) semiconductormaterial. With unique electrical and optical properties, 2DMoS2 is considered to be a promising candidate for future nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, charge trapping leads to a persistent photoconductance (PPC), hindering its use for optoelectronic applications. To overcome these drawbacks and improve the optoelectronic performance, organic semiconductors (OSCs) are selected to passivate surface defects, tune the optical characteristics, and modify the doping polarity of 2D MoS2. Here, we demonstrate a fast photoresponse in multilayer (ML) MoS2 by addressing a heterojunction interface with vanadylphthalocyanine (VOPc) molecules. The MoS2/VOPc van der Waals interaction that has been established encourages the PPC effect in MoS2 by rapidly segregating photo-generated holes, which move away from the traps of MoS2 toward the VOPc molecules. The MoS2/VOPc phototransistor exhibits a fast photo response of less than 15 ms for decay and rise, which is enhanced by 3ordersof magnitude in comparison to that of a pristine MoS2-based phototransistor (seconds to tens of seconds). This work offers a means to realize high-performance transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD)-based photodetection with a fast response speed.
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    Symmetry‐Induced Selective Excitation of Topological States in Su–Schrieffer–Heeger Waveguide Arrays
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2023) Tang, Min; Wang, Jiawei; Valligatla, Sreeramulu; Saggau, Christian N.; Dong, Haiyun; Saei Ghareh Naz, Ehsan; Klembt, Sebastian; Lee, Ching Hua; Thomale, Ronny; van den Brink, Jeroen; Fulga, Ion Cosma; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Ma, Libo
    The investigation of topological state transition in carefully designed photonic lattices is of high interest for fundamental research, as well as for applied studies such as manipulating light flow in on-chip photonic systems. Herein, the topological phase transition between symmetric topological zero modes (TZM) and antisymmetric TZMs in Su–Schrieffer–Heeger mirror symmetric waveguides is reported. The transition of TZMs is realized by adjusting the coupling ratio between neighboring waveguide pairs, which is enabled by selective modulation of the refractive index in the waveguide gaps. Bidirectional topological transitions between symmetric and antisymmetric TZMs can be achieved with proposed switching strategy. Selective excitation of topological edge mode is demonstrated owing to the symmetry characteristics of the TZMs. The flexible manipulation of topological states is promising for on-chip light flow control and may spark further investigations on symmetric/antisymmetric TZM transitions in other photonic topological frameworks.
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    Selective Out‐of‐Plane Optical Coupling between Vertical and Planar Microrings in a 3D Configuration
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2020) Valligatla, Sreeramulu; Wang, Jiawei; Madani, Abbas; Naz, Ehsan Saei Ghareh; Hao, Qi; Saggau, Christian Niclaas; Yin, Yin; Ma, Libo; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    3D photonic integrated circuits are expected to play a key role in future optoelectronics with efficient signal transfer between photonic layers. Here, the optical coupling of tubular microcavities, supporting resonances in a vertical plane, with planar microrings, accommodating in‐plane resonances, is explored. In such a 3D coupled composite system with largely mismatched cavity sizes, periodic mode splitting and resonant mode shifts are observed due to mode‐selective interactions. The axial direction of the microtube cavity provides additional design freedom for selective mode coupling, which is achieved by carefully adjusting the axial displacement between the microtube and the microring. The spectral anticrossing behavior is caused by strong coupling in this composite optical system and is excellently reproduced by numerical modeling. Interfacing tubular microcavities with planar microrings is a promising approach toward interlayer light transfer with added optical functionality in 3D photonic systems.
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    Experimental observation of Berry phases in optical Möbius-strip microcavities
    (London [u.a.] : Nature Publ. Group, 2022) Wang, Jiawei; Valligatla, Sreeramulu; Yin, Yin; Schwarz, Lukas; Medina-Sánchez, Mariana; Baunack, Stefan; Lee, Ching Hua; Thomale, Ronny; Li, Shilong; Fomin, Vladimir M.; Ma, Libo; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    The Möbius strip, a fascinating loop structure with one-sided topology, provides a rich playground for manipulating the non-trivial topological behaviour of spinning particles, such as electrons, polaritons and photons, in both real and parameter spaces. For photons resonating in a Möbius-strip cavity, the occurrence of an extra phase—known as the Berry phase—with purely topological origin is expected due to its non-trivial evolution in parameter space. However, despite numerous theoretical investigations, characterizing the optical Berry phase in a Möbius-strip cavity has remained elusive. Here we report the experimental observation of the Berry phase generated in optical Möbius-strip microcavities. In contrast to theoretical predictions in optical, electronic and magnetic Möbius-topology systems where only Berry phase π occurs, we demonstrate that a variable Berry phase smaller than π can be acquired by generating elliptical polarization of resonating light. Möbius-strip microcavities as integrable and Berry-phase-programmable optical systems are of great interest in topological physics and emerging classical or quantum photonic applications.
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    Single “Swiss-roll” microelectrode elucidates the critical role of iron substitution in conversion-type oxides
    (Washington, DC [u.a.] : Assoc., 2022) Liu, Lixiang; Huang, Shaozhuan; Shi, Wujun; Sun, Xiaolei; Pang, Jinbo; Lu, Qiongqiong; Yang, Ye; Xi, Lixia; Deng, Liang; Oswald, Steffen; Yin, Yin; Liu, Lifeng; Ma, Libo; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Shi, Yumeng; Zhang, Lin
    Advancing the lithium-ion battery technology requires the understanding of electrochemical processes in electrode materials with high resolution, accuracy, and sensitivity. However, most techniques today are limited by their inability to separate the complex signals from slurry-coated composite electrodes. Here, we use a three-dimensional “Swiss-roll” microtubular electrode that is incorporated into a micrometer-sized lithium battery. This on-chip platform combines various in situ characterization techniques and precisely probes the intrinsic electrochemical properties of each active material due to the removal of unnecessary binders and additives. As an example, it helps elucidate the critical role of Fe substitution in a conversion-type NiO electrode by monitoring the evolution of Fe2O3 and solid electrolyte interphase layer. The markedly enhanced electrode performances are therefore explained. Our approach exposes a hitherto unexplored route to tracking the phase, morphology, and electrochemical evolution of electrodes in real time, allowing us to reveal information that is not accessible with bulk-level characterization techniques.
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    Perovskite Origami for Programmable Microtube Lasing
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Dong, Haiyun; Saggau, Christian Niclaas; Zhu, Minshen; Liang, Jie; Duan, Shengkai; Wang, Xiaoyu; Tang, Hongmei; Yin, Yin; Wang, Xiaoxia; Wang, Jiawei; Zhang, Chunhuan; Zhao, Yong Sheng; Ma, Libo; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Metal halide perovskites are promising materials for optoelectronic and photonic applications ranging from photovoltaics to laser devices. However, current perovskite devices are constrained to simple low-dimensional structures suffering from limited design freedom and holding up performance improvement and functionality upgrades. Here, a micro-origami technique is developed to program 3D perovskite microarchitectures toward a new type of microcavity laser. The design flexibility in 3D supports not only outstanding laser performance such as low threshold, tunable output, and high stability but also yields new functionalities like 3D confined mode lasing and directional emission in, for example, laser “array-in-array” systems. The results represent a significant step forward toward programmable microarchitectures that take perovskite optoelectronics and photonics into the 3D era. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Functional Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.