Nanowire antennas of light
Researchers from the FOM Institute AMOLF, Philips Research and Institute for the Structure of Matter (CSIC, Spain) have demonstrated that semiconductor nanowires with a length of only a few micrometers are directional light sources. The control of the light emission (direction and intensity) can be applied to modify and improve the emission characteristics of solid state lighting devices (LEDs) and single photon sources based on nanowires. These results will be published on 14 November in the prestigious journal Nano Letters of the American Chemical Society, and are already available online.
Metallic antennas such as dipole antennas used daily in radio stations, mobile phones or wireless routers are directional sources of electromagnetic waves and operate at radio and microwave frequencies. The researchers demonstrated that in the case of the semiconductor nanowires, the operation frequency is much higher, near-infrared frequencies, due to their much smaller size and the material they are made of. The emission characteristics of nanowires can be further controlled by modifying their diameter. Material, shape and size of nanowires are all responsible for their emission characteristics and the antenna effect.
Reference
Grzegorz Grzela , Ramon Paniagua Dominguez , Tommy Barten , Yannik Fontana , Jose A. Sanchez Gil , and Jaime Gomez Rivas, Nanowire antenna emission, Nano Letters DOI: 10.1021/nl301907f.
Contact
Grzegorz Grzela (040) 2749369
Prof.dr. Jaime Gomez Rivas (040) 2742349