arXiv subjects

Ermanno Miele

Publications and source records attributed to Ermanno Miele.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Energy Harvesting for Self-Powered Microsystems: A Critical Review of Materials, Power Management, and System Integration

The relentless proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), wearable bioelectronics, and cyber-physical infrastructure has rendered the conventional electrochemical battery the single most prohibitive bottleneck to long-term, maintenance-free autonomous microsystems. Energy harvesting, i.e. the conversion of ambient mechanical, thermal, and radiative energy into usable electrical power, has consequently emerged as a transformative paradigm to realize perpetual, battery-independent operation. This review critically synthesizes the most significant advances in energy harvesting technologies over the recent period, with a focus on triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), piezoelectric and pyroelectric transducers, indoor photovoltaics, radio-frequency (RF) rectennas, and their multi-source hybrid integrations. We highlight paradigm-shifting breakthroughs, including liquid-solid TENGs that eliminate mechanical wear, nonlinear piezoelectric oscillators that broaden operational bandwidth by over 300%, machine-learning-accelerated material discovery for high charge-density dielectrics, and multiband and broadband RF harvesting enabled by metamaterial architectures. Crucially, we move beyond conventional materials-centric narratives to critically interrogate the "unseen" system-level bottlenecks: ultra-low-voltage cold-start power management integrated circuits (PMICs), the impedance-matching challenges of hybrid energy sources, and the persistent degradation of micro-supercapacitors and thin-film batteries under realistic field conditions.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2022

Giant mid-IR resonant coupling to molecular vibrations in sub-nm gaps of plasmonic multilayer metafilms

Nanomaterials capable of confining light are desirable for enhancing spectroscopies such as Raman scattering, infrared absorption, and nonlinear optical processes. Plasmonic superlattices have shown the ability to host collective resonances in the mid-infrared, but require stringent fabrication processes to create well-ordered structures. Here, we demonstrate how short-range-ordered Au nanoparticle multilayers on a mirror, self-assembled by a sub-nm molecular spacer, support collective plasmon-polariton resonances in the visible and infrared, continuously tunable beyond 11 $μ$m by simply varying the nanoparticle size and number of layers. The resulting molecule-plasmon system approaches vibrational strong coupling, and displays giant Fano dip strengths, SEIRA enhancement factors ~10$^6$, light-matter coupling strengths g~100 cm$^{-1}$, Purcell factors ~10$^6$, and mode volume compression factors ~10$^8$. The collective plasmon-polariton mode is highly robust to nanoparticle vacancy disorder and is sustained by the consistent gap size defined by the molecular spacer. Structural disorder efficiently couples light into the gaps between the multilayers and mirror, enabling Raman and infrared sensing of sub-picolitre sample volumes.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Detecting mid-infrared light by molecular frequency upconversion with dual-wavelength hybrid nanoantennas

Coherent interconversion of signals between optical and mechanical domains is enabled by optomechanical interactions. Extreme light-matter coupling produced by confining light to nanoscale mode volumes can then access single mid-infrared (MIR) photon sensitivity. Here we utilise the infrared absorption and Raman activity of molecular vibrations in plasmonic nanocavities to demonstrate frequency upconversion. We convert λ~10 μm incoming light to visible via surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in doubly-resonant antennas that enhance upconversion by >10^10. We show >200% amplification of the SERS antiStokes emission when a MIR pump is tuned to a molecular vibrational frequency, obtaining lowest detectable powers ~1 μW/μm^2 at room temperature. These results have potential for low-cost and large-scale infrared detectors and spectroscopic techniques, and bring single-molecule sensing into the infrared

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Cooperative energy transfer controls the spontaneous emission rate beyond field enhancement limits

Quantum emitters located in proximity to a metal nanostructure individually transfer their energy via near-field excitation of surface plasmons. The energy transfer process increases the spontaneous emission (SE) rate due to plasmon-enhanced local field. Here, we demonstrate significant acceleration of quantum emitter SE rate in a plasmonic nano-cavity due to cooperative energy transfer (CET) from plasmon-correlated emitters. Using an integrated plasmonic nano-cavity, we realize up to six-fold enhancement in the emission rate of emitters coupled to the same nano-cavity on top of the plasmonic enhancement of the local density of states. The radiated power spectrum retains the plasmon resonance central frequency and lineshape, with the peak amplitude proportional to the number of excited emitters indicating that the observed cooperative SE is distinct from super-radiance. Plasmon-assisted CET offers unprecedented control over the SE rate and allows to dynamically control the spontaneous emission rate at room temperature enabling an SE rate based optical modulator.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Hybrid plasmonic nanostructures based on controlled integration of MoS2 flakes on metallic nanoholes

Here, we propose an easy and robust strategy for the versatile preparation of hybrid plasmonic nanopores by means of controlled deposition of single flakes of MoS2 directly on top of metallic holes. The device is realized on silicon nitride commercial membranes and can be further refined by TEM or FIB milling to achieve the passing of molecules or nanometric particles through a pore. Importantly, we show that the plasmonic enhancement provided by the nanohole is strongly accumulated in the 2D nanopore, thus representing an ideal system for single-molecule sensing and sequencing in a flow-through configuration. Here, we also demonstrate that the prepared 2D material can be decorated with metallic nanoparticles that can couple their resonance with the nanopore resonance to further enhance the electromagnetic field confinement at the nanoscale level. This method can be applied to any gold nanopore with a high level of reproducibility and parallelization; hence, it can pave the way to the next generation of solid-state nanopores with plasmonic functionalities. Moreover, the controlled/ordered integration of 2D materials on plasmonic nanostructures opens a pathway towards new investigation of the following: enhanced light emission; strong coupling from plasmonic hybrid structures; hot electron generation; and sensors in general based on 2D materials. Nanopore

physics.app-ph↗