arXiv subjects

Sheng-Di Lin

Publications and source records attributed to Sheng-Di Lin.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Optical characterization of size- and substrate-dependent performance of ultraviolet hybrid plasmonic nanowire lasers

Nanowire-based plasmonic lasers are now established as nano-sources of coherent radiation, appearing as suitable candidates for integration into next-generation nanophotonic circuitry. However, compared to their photonic counterparts, their relatively high losses and large lasing thresholds still pose a burdening constraint on their scalability. In this study, the lasing characteristics of ZnO nanowires on Ag and Al substrates, operating as optically-pumped short-wavelength plasmonic nanolasers, are systematically investigated in combination with the size-dependent performance of the hybrid cavity. A hybrid nanomanipulation-assisted single nanowire optical characterization combined with high-throughput PL spectroscopy enables the correlation of the lasing characteristics to the metal substrate and the nanowire diameter. The results evidence that the coupling between excitons and surface plasmons is closely tied to the relationship between substrate dispersive behavior and nanowire diameter. Such coupling dictates the degree to which the lasing character, be it more plasmonic- or photonic-like, can define the stimulated emission features and, as a result, the device performance.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Doubling of the superconducting transition temperature in ultra-clean wafer-scale aluminum nanofilms

Superconducting properties of thin films can be vastly different from those of bulk materials. Seminal work has shown the critical temperature Tc of elemental superconductors decreases with decreasing film thickness when the normal-state sheet resistance is lower than the quantum resistance h/(4e2). Sporadic examples on disordered films, however, hinted an enhancement in Tc although, structural and strain characterization was not possible since samples were prepared on a cold substrate in situ. To clarify the role of reduced dimensionality and disorder on the superconducting properties of thin films we employed molecular beam epitaxy to grow wafer-scale high-quality aluminum (Al) nanofilms with normal-state sheet resistance at least 20 times lower than h/(4e2) and investigated their electronic and structural properties ex situ. Defying general expectations, Tc increases with decreasing Al film thickness, reaching 2.4 K for 3.5-nm-thick Al film grown on GaAs: twice that of bulk Al (1.2 K). DFT calculations indicate surface phonon softening impacts superconductivity in pure ultra-thin films, offering a new route for materials engineering in two dimensions.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Single-crystalline aluminum film for ultraviolet plasmonic nanolasers

Plasmonic devices have advanced significantly in the past decade. Being one of the most intriguing devices, plamonic nanolasers plays an important role in biomedicine, chemical sensor, information technology, and optical integrated circuits. However, nanoscale plasmonic devices, particularly in ultraviolet regime, are extremely sensitive to metal and interface quality, which renders the development of ultraviolet plasmonics. Here, by addressing the material issues, we demonstrate a low threshold, high characteristic temperature metal-oxide-semiconductor ZnO nanolaser working at room temperature. The template for ZnO nanowires consists of a flat single-crystalline aluminum film grown by molecular beam epitaxy and an ultra-smooth Al2O3 spacer layer prepared by atomic layer deposition. By effectively reducing surface plasmon scattering loss and metal intrinsic absorption loss, the high-quality metal film and sharp interfaces between layers boost the device performance. Our work paves the way for future applications using ultraviolet plasmonic nanolasers and related devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Transient dual-energy lasing in a semiconductor microcavity

We demonstrate sequential lasing at two well-separated energies in a highly photoexcited planar microcavity at room temperature. Two spatially overlapped lasing states with distinct polarization properties appear at energies more than 5 meV apart. Under a circularly polarized nonresonant 2 ps pulse excitation, a sub-10-ps transient circularly polarized high-energy (HE) state emerges within 10 ps after the pulse excitation. This HE state is followed by a pulsed state that lasts for 20--50 ps at a low energy (LE) state. The HE state is highly circularly polarized as a result of a spin-preserving stimulated process, while the LE state shows a significantly reduced circular polarization because of a diminishing spin imbalance.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Multiple-pulse lasing from an optically induced harmonic confinement in a highly photoexcited microcavity

We report the observation of macroscopic harmonic states in an optically induced confinement in a highly photoexcited semiconductor microcavity at room temperature. The spatially photomodulated refractive index changes result in the visualization of harmonic states in a micrometer-scale optical potential at quantized energies up to 4 meV even in the weak-coupling plasma limit. We characterize the time evolution of the harmonic states directly from the consequent pulse radiation and identify sequential multiple $\sim$10 ps pulse lasing with different emitting angles and frequencies.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Single-crystalline Aluminum Nanostructures on Semiconducting GaAs Substrate for Ultraviolet to Near-infrared Plasmonics

Aluminum, as a metallic material for plasmonics, is of great interest because it extends the applications of surface plasmon resonance into the ultraviolet (UV) region and excels noble metals in the natural abundance, cost and compatibility with modern semiconductor fabrication process. Here, we present UV to near-infrared (NIR) plasmonic resonance of single-crystalline aluminum nanoslits and nanoholes. The high-definition nanostructures are fabricated with focused ion-beam (FIB) milling into an ultrasmooth single-crystalline aluminum film grown on a semiconducting GaAs substrate with molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method. The single-crystalline aluminum film shows improved reflectivity and reduced two-photon photoluminescence (TPPL) due to the ultrasmooth surface. Both linear scattering and non-linear TPPL are studied in detail. The nanoslit arrays show clear Fano-like resonance and the nanoholes are found to support both photonic modes and localized surface plasmonic resonance. We also found that TPPL generation is more efficient when the excitation polarization is parallel rather than perpendicular to the edge of the aluminum film. Such counter-intuitive phenomenon is attributed to the high refractive index of the GaAs substrate. We show that the polarization of TPPL from aluminum well preserves the excitation polarization and is independent of the crystal orientation of the film or substrate. Our study gains insight into the optical property of aluminum nanostructures on high-index semiconducting GaAs substrate and illustrates a practical route to implement plasmonic devices onto semiconductors for future hybrid nanodevices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

A Room-temperature Spin-polarized Polariton Laser

In the field of spin-controlled semiconductor lasers, massive effort has been focused upon materials with long spin relaxation times (~ns). In contrast, we demonstrate room-temperature spin-polarized ultrafast pulsed lasing in InGaAs quantum wells (~10 ps) embedded within a GaAs microcavity. The microcavity studied here is similar to vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL) used in optical communication. Unlike a VCSEL, the present polariton laser has nonlinear output and energy shifts owing to the mixing of the free-carrier polarization and cavity light field. At room temperature, we observe features resembling those in exciton-polariton condensates at cryogenic temperatures, including the spontaneous build-up of spatial coherence, macroscopic occupation, and spin polarization. Our results should stimulate activities to exploit spin-orbit interaction and many-body effects for fundamental studies of quantum light-matter fluids and developments of spin-dependent optoelectronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Mobility modulation effects in a double quantum well infrared photon-detector

An electrically isolated quantum well (QW) island can be positively charged by incoming infrared photon, because its electrons absorb photon energy via intersubband transition and acquire enough energy to escape it. This process has been used in a double QW photon-detector. Here, we present the observation of so-called negative photon-response in such detector. Its origin is clarified to be an electron mobility reduction phenomenon resulted from the photon induced charges.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Probing onset of strong localization and electron-electron interactions with the presence of direct insulator-quantum Hall transition

We have performed low-temperature transport measurements on a disordered two-dimensional electron system (2DES). Features of the strong localization leading to the quantum Hall effect are observed after the 2DES undergoes a direct insulator-quantum Hall transition with increasing the perpendicular magnetic field. However, such a transition does not correspond to the onset of strong localization. The temperature dependences of the Hall resistivity and Hall conductivity reveal the importance of the electron-electron interaction effects to the observed transition in our study.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Half integer features in the quantum Hall Effect: experiment and theory

The quantum Hall effect is one of the most important developments in condensed matter physics of the 20th century. The standard explanations of the famous integer quantized Hall plateaus in the transverse resistivity are qualitative, and involve assumptions about disorder, localized states, extended states, edge states, Fermi levels pinned by Landau levels, etc. These standard narratives give plausible reasons for the existence of the plateaus, but provide little in the way of even a qualitative understanding of the shape and width of the Hall plateaus, much less a first principles calculation. The injection model presented in this paper changes that situation. Rather than focusing on the middle of the Hall device, we follow the electrons to their source: one corner of the Hall bar and its steep electric field gradients. We find the entire resistivity curve including the Hall plateaus is calculable as a function of magnetic field, temperature, and current. The new higher current experiments reported here show remarkable half integer features for the first time; these are faithfully reproduced by the injection theory. The Hall plateaus and half integer inflections are shown to result from the local density of states appropriate to the magnetic field and the strong electric field gradient at the injection corner.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Probing Landau quantisation with the presence of insulator-quantum Hall transition in a GaAs two-dimensional electron system

Magneto-transport measurements are performed on the two-dimensional electron system (2DES) in an AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure. By increasing the magnetic field perpendicular to the 2DES, magnetoresistivity oscillations due to Landau quantisation can be identified just near the direct insulator-quantum Hall (I-QH) transition. However, different mobilities are obtained from the oscillations and transition point. Our study shows that the direct I-QH transition does not always correspond to the onset of strong localisation.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗