Surface Plasmon Polariton Assisted Optical Switching in Noble Metal Nanoparticle Systems: A Sub-Band Gap Approach

In a proposed book chapter surface plasmon polariton assisted optical switching in noble metal nanoparticle systems is discussed in the sub-band gap formalism.Comment: 34 page, 13 figures, Submitted as Book chapter in The Annual Reviews in Plasmonics, edited by Professor Chris D. Geddes. Springer Scinec

Laser-induced formation of periodic structures in plasma deposited polymer films containing Au, Ag, and Cu nanoparticles

Thin polymer films containing metal nanoparticles were irradiated with linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulses. The resulting laser-induced periodic modification of the nanoparticle assemblies was studied by using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The structure period LAMBDA is correlated with the applied laser wavelength lambda by LAMBDA = 0.7 lambda. The effect was observed for gold, silver and copper nanoparticles. Optical spectra of the laser-irradiated films show a clear dichroism

The NPI Process in Electronics Manufacturing

This report recommends the structure and criteria for setting up a new product introduction (NPI) program within an electronics manufacturing company. The three design and manufacturing companies used to provide a basis for the study were Planar, Tektronix, and TriQuint. Planar and Tektronix have an NPI program in place, while the program at TriQuint is still being developed. This project was selected because of the potential to assist with the development of the NPI program at TriQuint, as well as the fact that each of the team members is familiar with the NPI program at their respective companies

Generation of wavelength-dependent, periodic line pattern in metal nanoparticle-containing polymer films by femtosecond laser irradiation

Thin polymer films containing metal nanoparticles were irradiated with ultrashort, linearly polarized laser pulses. As result of irradiation, nanostructural changes occur in a type of periodically arranged, line-like areas with modified particle size and shape distribution. The periodic formation in this nanocomposite material is observed only for a small filling factor range, which can be attributed to the percolation region or nearby. Transmission (also in cross section) and scanning electron microscopy were applied to investigate the optainet structure modifications. A linear dependency between the period Lambda of the line structures and the laser wavelength lambda (800, 528, 400 and 266 nm) used with Lambda/lambda about 0.70 is assumed. The structural changes and the physical mechanism of the periodic formation are discussed

Single electron transistors: Modeling and fabrication

Traditional conduction models for metal island films on insulating substrates are based on electrostatically activated tunneling, but underestimate actual conductances by orders of magnitude. A modified model has made significant headway with this problem, as demonstrated by simulations. The simplest discontinuous "film" is the single island coulomb block, which forms the basis of the single-electron transistor (SET). Room temperature SETs employ chains of islands, i.e. 1-D discontinuous films. The conventional numerical SET model is extended by application of the discontinuous thin film (DTF) work. Practical applications of discontinuous films are impeded by the difficulty of fabricating reproducible, stable structures, particularly for low TCR films which are the most susceptible to drift. Similar difficulties are experienced with SET islands, and a technique to manufacture stable and reproducible DTFs and SETs is described