• Balling Castaneda posted an update 14 hours ago

    The terahertz (THz) metamaterial biosensor has great potential for label-free and rapid specificity testing. Here, we designed two highly sensitive structures to detect the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) of the cancer biomarker in early stages. There was about 29 GHz (500 ng/ml) resonance shift for CEA with an insert grate metamaterial, which was consistent with simulation results. Moreover, the concentration of CEA was gained through the relationship between the cancer marker concentration and frequency shift (Δƒ). Our design and detection methods may provide a potential route for the early warning stages of cancer.Nanoantennas play an important role as mediators to efficiently convert free-space light into localized optical energy and vice versa. However, effective control of the beam direction of a single nanoantenna remains a great challenge. In this paper, we propose an approach to steer the beam direction of a single nanoantenna by adjusting two antenna modes with opposite phase symmetry. Our theoretical study confirmed that the combination of even- and odd-symmetric modes with a phase difference of π/2 enables effective beam steering of a single nanoantenna whose steering angle is controlled by adjusting the amplitude ratio of the two antenna modes. To implement our theory in real devices, we introduced asymmetric trapezoidal nano-slot antennas with different side air-gaps of 10 and 50 nm. The trapezoidal nanoantennas can simultaneously excite the dipole and quadrupole modes in a single nanoantenna and enables effective beam steering with an angle of greater than 35° near the resonance of the quadrupole mode. In addition, the steering angle can also be controlled by adjusting the degree of asymmetry of the trapezoidal slot structure. We believe that our beam steering method for a single nanoantenna will find many potential applications in fields such as imaging, sensing, optical communication, and quantum optics.In this paper we achieve non-reciprocity in a silicon optical ring resonator, by introducing two small time-modulated perturbations into the ring. Isolators are designed using this time-perturbed ring, side-coupled to waveguides. The underlying operation of the time-modulated ring and isolator is analyzed using Temporal Coupled Mode Theory (TCMT). The TCMT is used to find the angular distance, phase difference and thickness of the two time-modulated points on the ring resonator and also to find and justify the optimum values for the modulation frequency and amplitude, which yields maximum isolation in the isolator arrangements. Insight into the major players that determine isolation are also presented, with the aid of TCMT. Our proposed structure is much simpler to implement compared to other ring-based optical isolators, as it does not require spatio-temporal modulation, or large regions with modulation, but only two point perturbations on the ring. All results are obtained using realistic values of modulation and validated using an in-house full-wave solver. We achieve 21 dB isolation and -0.25 dB insertion loss at the telecommunication wavelengths.Nominal dopant-free zinc blende twinning superlattice InP nanowires have been grown with high crystal-quality and taper-free morphology. Here, we demonstrate its superior optical performance and clarify the different carrier recombination mechanisms at different temperatures using a time resolved photoluminescence study. The existence of regular twin planes and lateral overgrowth do not significantly increase the defect density. At room temperature, the as-grown InP nanowires have a strong emission at 1.348 eV and long minority carrier lifetime (∼3 ns). The carrier recombination dynamics is mainly dominated by nonradiative recombination due to surface trapping states; a wet chemical etch to reduce the surface trapping density thus boosts the emission intensity and increases the carrier lifetime to 7.1 ns. This nonradiative recombination mechanism dominates for temperatures above 155 K, and the carrier lifetime decreases with increasing temperature. However, radiative recombination dominates the carrier dynamics at temperature below ∼75 K, and a strong donor-bound exciton emission with a narrow emission linewidth of 4.5 meV is observed. Consequently, carrier lifetime increases with temperature. By revealing carrier recombination mechanisms over the temperature range 10-300 K, we demonstrate the attraction of using InP nanostructure for photonics and optoelectronic applications.The male Rajah Brooke’s birdwing butterfly, Trogonoptera brookiana, has black wings with bright green stripes, and the unique microstructure in the wing scales causes wavelength-selective reflection. It has been reported that the reflectance spectrum has several peaks in the visible wavelength range. However, there has been little progress in the interpretation of the spectral shape, and questions remain unanswered. For example, what are the physical origins of the observed reflectance peaks, and how are their wavelengths determined? To answer these questions, we performed a detailed analysis of the photonic structure of the wing scale of Trogonopterabrookiana. The reflectance spectrum also shows strong polarization dependence. This paper describes the analysis for TM polarization, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal ridges on the scale. We first constructed a realistic structural model that reproduced the experimentally determined reflectance spectrum. We then simplified the model and calculated the reflectance spectrum while varying several structural parameters. For three of the four observed spectral peaks, our calculations revealed the reflection paths for constructive interference to explain the peak wavelengths. A possible origin of the fourth peak is discussed. Such detailed understanding of natural photonic structures can inspire optical component design.A novel class of partially coherent light sources that can yield stable optical lattice termed hollow array in the far field is introduced. The array dimension, the distance of hollow lobes intensity profile, the size and shape of the inner and outer lobe contours and other features can be flexibly controlled by altering the source parameters. Further, every lobe can be shaped with polar and Cartesian symmetry and even combined to form nested structures. selleck compound The applications of the work are envisioned in material surface processing and particle trapping.