Researchers from CIC-nanoGUNE (San Sebastián, Spain), in collaboration with the Donostia International Physics Center (San Sebastián, Spain), Materials Physics Center (CFM, CSIC-UPV/EHU, San Sebastián, Spain) and University of Oviedo demonstrate a new way to strongly couple infrared light and molecular vibrations, by utilizing phonon polariton nanoresonators made of hexagonal boron nitride, a Van der Waals material.
The results published in Light: Science & Applications (“Boron nitride nanoresonators for phonon-enhanced molecular vibrational spectroscopy at the strong coupling limit”) open new avenues for fundamental studies of vibrational strong coupling, as well as for the development of novel infrared sensors for chemical recognition of very small amounts of molecules.
The interaction of light and matter at the nanoscale is a key element for many fundamental studies and technological applications, ranging from light harvesting to the detection of small amounts of molecules.
During the last decades, many strategies have been implemented in order to enhance nanoscale light-matter interactions. One approach is based on concentrating light with the help of propagating and localized surface plasmon polaritons, which are collective electron oscillations in metals or semiconductors that are coupled to light. These electromagnetic excitations can concentrate light into nanoscale spots, so-called hotspots. At mid-infrared frequencies, they enable, for example, the detection of tiny amounts of molecules. This method is called surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy. However, typical mid-infrared plasmonic structures suffer from large losses and do not achieve ultimate light concentration.
An interesting but much less explored approach for enhancing nanoscale light-matter interaction is based on infrared-phononic materials, in which light couples to crystal lattice vibrations to form so-called phonon polaritons. “Phonon-polariton resonators offer much lower losses and field confinement than their mid-infrared plasmonic counterparts. For that reason, we decided to develop and apply infrared-phononic resonators to enhance the coupling of infrared light to molecular vibrations” says postdoc Marta Autore, first author of the paper.
Image Credit: Ella Maru Studio
News This Week
Immune Response to COVID-19 Strengthens Over Time – Important Implications for Vaccine Boosters
Study suggests people who have had COVID-19 benefit from vaccination, even if they’ve delayed it. Immunity from COVID-19 appears to gather strength with more time between vaccination and infection, a new laboratory study from researchers at [...]
Scientists Use Exotic DNA To Help Create “Climate-Proof” Crops
The incorporation of exotic DNA from wild relatives into wheat results in a remarkable yield increase of up to 50%, even in hot weather, surpassing elite lines without these genes. Amid a year of [...]
Australia becomes first country to recognise psychedelics as medicines
Australia has become the first country to recognise psychedelics as medicines, after the Therapeutic Goods Administration took researchers by surprise and approved the psychedelic substances in magic mushrooms and MDMA for use by people [...]
Silver nanoparticles show promise in fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria
In a new study, scientists with the University of Florida have found that a combination of silver nanoparticles and antibiotics is effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The researchers hope to turn this discovery into viable [...]
Combating severe cancer with a new drug delivery system
Peritoneal cancer is difficult to treat and has a poor survival prognosis. But a new and effective nanomedicine delivery system is offering some hope. The company is called NaDeNo and is well underway with [...]
New Research Shows How Ketamine Acts As “Switch” in the Brain
According to a new study by researchers at Penn Medicine, ketamine, which is well-known as an anesthetic and is becoming increasingly popular as an antidepressant, dramatically reorganizes activity in the brain, almost as if [...]
Supercharged T Cells: A New Way To Kill Pancreatic Cancer With Minimal Side Effects
A new immunotherapy releases cancer-killing cytokines only within the tumor. Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) have developed a new T cell-based immunotherapy that selectively targets cancer cells, producing a powerful anti-cancer cytokine [...]
AI has designed bacteria-killing proteins from scratch – and they work
An AI was tasked with creating proteins with anti-microbial properties. Researchers then created a subset of the proteins and found some did the job. An AI has designed anti-microbial proteins that were then tested [...]
Leave A Comment