Waveguide effect enhancement of local photocurrent in hybrid organic/inorganic solar cells.

The local efficiency of hybrid ZnO-nanorods/C/ZnPc:C/MoO/Ag solar cells, with different nanorods length has been investigated by scanning near-field optical microscopy. Simultaneous spatially resolved measurements of topography and photocurrent suggest a waveguide effect enhancement of the local photocurrent. This interpretation is supported by finite element method simulations of the light propagation in the solar cell.

Optimizing Electromagnetic Hotspots in Plasmonic Bowtie Nanoantennae.

Sensitivity is a key factor in the improvement of nanoparticle-based biosensors. Bowtie nanoantennae have shown high sensitivity for both surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)- and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-based biosensing. In this work, optical bowtie nanoantennae with varying geometries were simulated, fabricated, and characterized.

Spatial confinement of electromagnetic hot and cold spots in gold nanocubes.

We report a near-field imaging study of colloidal gold nanocubes. This is accomplished through a photochemical imaging method in which molecular displacements are vectorial in nature, enabling sensitivity to the polarization of the optical near-field of the nanocubes. We analyze the confinement of both electromagnetic hot and "cold" spots with a resolution of λ/35 and emphasize the particularly high spatial confinement of cold spots.