Browsing by Subject "Colorimetric sensors"

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Open Access
Dielectric metasurfaces as passive radiative coolers, colorimetric refractive index sensors, color filters, and one-way perfect absorber/reflectors with transparent sidebands
(2020-07) Yıldırım, Deniz Umut
Metamaterials deﬁne the class of synthetic, man-made materials with exotic properties that cannot be observed with natural materials. Their sub-wavelength counterparts are called metasurfaces. In particular, dielectric metasurfaces are extensively studied due to the advantages they oﬀer in comparison to metamaterials, which are mainly their reduced thickness and not suﬀering from ohmic losses that are present in metals. Here, we design and implement dielectric metasurfaces in four important application areas, namely 1. Passive radiative coolers for spacecraft, 2. Colorimetric refractive index sensors, and 3. Color ﬁlters based on monolayer graphene. 4. A metasurface with a resonant one-way absorption/reﬂection with transmissive sidebands functionality In the ﬁrst work, we propose a facile, lithography-free fabrication route, exploiting oblique deposition to design an optical solar reﬂector, which constitutes the physical interface between the spacecraft and space. Our proposed metasurface is based on disordered and densely packed Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) nanorod forests. The excellent light trapping capability of the nanorod forests, randomness in the geometrical dimensions of these nanorods, combined with the lossy plasmonic nature of ITO in the thermal-infrared range led to strong coupling of thermal-radiation to broad plasmonic resonances, and consequently an experimental emissivity of 0.968, in a very wide range from 2.5 µm to 25 µm. In the solar spectrum, low-loss dielectric characteristic of ITO resulted in an experimental solar absorptivity as small as 0.168. This design with high-throughput, robustness, low-cost and high-performance, therefore, shows great promise not only for space missions but also for promoting environmentally friendly passive radiative cooling for our planet and thermal imaging in the ﬁeld of security labeling. In the second work, we propose a highly-sensitive refractive index sensor, utilizing the excitation of guided-modes of a novel, 2-dimensional periodically modulated dielectric grating-waveguide structure. The optimized nanosensor can numerically excite guided-mode resonances with an ultra-narrow linewidth (fullwidth at half-maximum) of 0.58 nm. Sensitivity is numerically investigated by considering the deposition of dielectric layers on the structure. For a layer thickness of 30 nm, the maximum sensitivity reached as high as 110 nm/refractive index unit (RIU), resulting in a very high Figure of Merit of 190. The fabricated devices with 30 nm Aluminum Oxide and Zinc Oxide coatings achieved a maximum sensitivity of 235.2 nm/RIU with a linewidth of 19 nm. Colorimetric detection with polarization-insensitivity is conﬁrmed practically by a simple optical microscope. Samples with diﬀerent coatings have been observed to have clearly distinct colors, while the color of each sample is nearly identical upon azimuthal rotation. Excellent agreement is obtained between the numerical and experimental results regarding the spectral position of the resonances and sensitivity. The proposed device is, therefore, highly promising in eﬃcient, highlysensitive, almost lossless, and compact molecular diagnostics platform in the ﬁelds of biomedicine with personalized, label-free, early point-of-care diagnosis and ﬁeld analysis, drug detection, and environmental monitoring. In the third work, we numerically propose a graphene perfect absorber that can be utilized as a color ﬁlter, utilizing the excitation of guided-modes of a dielectric slab waveguide by a novel sub-wavelength dielectric grating structure. When the guided-mode resonance is critically coupled to the graphene, we obtain perfect absorption with an ultra-narrow bandwidth (full-width at half-maximum) of 0.8 nm. The proposed design not only preserves the spectral position of the resonance, but also maintains > 98% absorption at all polarization angles. The spectral position of the resonance can be tuned as much as 400 nm in visible and near-infrared regimes by tailoring geometrical parameters. The proposed device has great potential in eﬃcient, tunable, ultra-sensitive, compact and easyto-fabricate advanced photodetectors and color selective notch ﬁlters. In the fourth and ﬁnal work, we numerically propose the one-way perfect absorption of near-infrared (NIR) radiation in a tunable spectral range with high transmission in the neighboring spectral ranges. This functionality is obtained by using a 2-dimensional, guided-mode resonance based grating-waveguide metasurface that acts as a frequency-selective reﬂector, a spacer dielectric, and an absorbing oxide layer. Within the bandwidth of the excited guided-mode resonance excited at 1.82µm with a full-width at half-maximum of 19 nm), we conﬁrmed perfect absorption when light is incident from one of the two opposite directions, whereas in the other direction, perfect reﬂection is observed. The forward-to-backward absorption ratio reached as high as 60, while the thickness of the entire structure is in the order of the operating wavelength. In addition to the spectral tunability of the excited resonances and their bandwidths, our proposed device supports transparency windows with 65% transmission in the adjacent frequency bands. Our 2D grating is also veriﬁed to enable near-absolute insensitivity to the polarization state of incident light. Geometrical parameter modiﬁcation also gives our design great tunability, as we also designed a device with 300 nm absorption/reﬂection linewidth.
Open Access
Fluorescent Si QD decoration onto a flexible polymeric electrospun nanofibrous mat for the colorimetric sensing of TNT
(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017) Arslan, O.; Aytac Z.; Uyar, Tamer
UV range light was used for the facile, effective and large-scale synthesis of visible light emitting, surface-protected silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) starting from an amine-functionalized alkoxy silane precursor. Within mild and easy hydrolysis/condensation environments, the use of an amine-functionalized precursor together with a reducing agent resulted in a bright visible green light that could be used for fluorescent analytical detection systems. Visible light emitting Si QDs were investigated and it was found that their emission character depends on the illumination time, hydrolysis/condensation conditions and pretreatments for the silane coupling agents. A Nylon 6,6 electrospun nanofibrous mat was selected as a substrate for decoration by the Si QDs in order to fabricate a flexible and free-standing polymeric nanofibrous mat posessing a visible light emitting character so that it could act as a visible colorimetric sensor. The visible light emitting Si QDs were decorated onto the Nylon 6,6 nanofibrous mats via covering the surfaces as a ‘nanodress’ by a simple impregnation/dip-coating and heat-curing methods. The analytical results revealed that the Si QDs decorated flexible polymeric nanofibrous mats could be utilized for colorimetric trinitrotoluene (TNT) detection in low concentrations.