In this work, we designed and fabricated high aspect ratio vertical plasmonic nanostructures geared towards gas sensing using infrared absorption. The structures have inner and out Au walls with an aspect ratio of 18.3 and 16.7, respectively. The gap between the walls is partially filled with SiO2. From finite-difference time-domain simulations, we found that the initial resonance frequency of the entire structure is dictated by the overall height of the inner Au walls, while the SiO2/air ratio at the gap can further tune the resonance frequency. This is experimentally demonstrated through the observed Fourier transform infrared measurements.
In this work, we conducted nanoscale imaging of both the Raman peaks and electron Raman scattering to study the strain and doping of graphene wrinkles and compared the varying Raman spectral characteristics to flat graphene using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS). We found that on the wrinkle, anisotropic strain and non-uniform doping was present. We also found that the G band peaks were broader on the flat graphene as compared to on the wrinkle and attribute it to the plasmon-mediated excitation that opens other possible paths for electron-hole recombination due to the high electric field confinement underneath the tip apex. A broad background continuum that we surmise is electronic Raman scattering originating from both the graphene monolayer and the Au(111) substrate was observed and when imaged has a strong correlation to the TERS images of the Raman peaks.
In order to characterize nanomaterial-based devices, such as transistors, in working conditions (e.g. in ambient), we are constantly developing and improving our tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) system to probe our samples with both high chemical sensitivity and high spatial resolution. We have achieved the detection of temperature at nanoscale volumes using our technique called tip-enhanced THz-Raman spectroscopy (TE-THzRS) and have achieved sub-nanometer spatial resolution through our environment stable TERS system. We have also probed nanometer scale strain variations in monolayer graphene membranes using TERS. Now, aside from studying the strain distribution in graphene wrinkles, we are also studying carrier doping, one aspect of graphene’s electronic properties, through TERS.
In this work, we studied the Raman spectra characteristics, strain distribution and carrier concentration of monolayer graphene wrinkles on a Au(111) crystal facet using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) in ambient. G-band splitting was observed in certain areas of the wrinkle indicating the presence of anisotropic strain. A broad background was also observed in the near-field spectra that is hypothesized to be electronic Raman scattering originating from the graphene monolayer and the Au(111) substrate. Hence, careful spectral analysis must be done since this broad background potentially contains information on the sample.
Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) done in ambient conditions opens the door to characterize the as-fabricated properties of nanodevices in their operating environment with both high spatial resolution and high chemical sensitivity. With sub-nanometer resolution now achievable using our TERS system in ambient, we can image nanoscale strain variations in graphene and study the strain distribution in such local domains. The effects of high photon confinement are also investigated, whose immediate manifestation is the plasmonic activation of certain Raman modes. This leads to the question of how to analyze strain at the near-field, which is quite relevant today as technology continuous to grow ever smaller.
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