• 文献标题:   Ultrasmall Plasmonic Single Nanoparticle Light Source Driven by a Graphene Tunnel Junction
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   NAMGUNG S, MOHR DA, YOO D, BHARADWAJ P, KOESTER SJ, OH SH
  • 作者关键词:   electroluminescence, gap plasmon, inelastic tunneling, graphene, nanoparticle, plasmonic
  • 出版物名称:   ACS NANO
  • ISSN:   1936-0851 EI 1936-086X
  • 通讯作者地址:   Univ Minnesota
  • 被引频次:   6
  • DOI:   10.1021/acsnano.7b09163
  • 出版年:   2018

▎ 摘  要

Metal nanoparticles that can couple light into tightly confined surface plasmons bridge the size mismatch between the wavelength of light and nanostructures are one of the smallest building blocks of nano-optics. However, plasmonic nanoparticles have been primarily studied to concentrate or scatter incident light as an ultrasmall antenna, while studies of their intrinsic plasmonic light emission properties have been limited. Although light emission from plasmonic structures can be achieved by inelastic electron tunneling, this strategy cannot easily be applied to isolated single nanoparticles due to the difficulty in making electrical connections without disrupting the particle plasmon mode. Here, we solve this problem by placing gold nanoparticles on a graphene tunnel junction. The monolayer graphene provides a transparent counter electrode for tunneling while preserving the ultrasmall footprint and plasmonic mode of nanoparticle. The tunneling electrons excite the plasmonic mode, followed by radiative decay of the plasmon. We also demonstrate that a dielectric overlayer atop the graphene tunnel junction can be used to tune the light emission. We show the simplicity and scalability of this approach by achieving electroluminescence from single nanoparticles without bulky contacts as well as millimeter-sized arrays of nanoparticles.