Silver nanowires with optimized silica coating as versatile plasmonic resonators

Metal nanoparticles are the most frequently used nanostructures in plasmonics. However, besides nanoparticles, metal nanowires feature several advantages for applications. Their elongation offers a larger interaction volume, their resonances can reach higher quality factors, and their mode structure provides better coupling into integrated hybrid dielectric plasmonic circuits. It is crucial though, to control the distance of the wire to a supporting substrate, to another metal layer or to active materials with sub nanometer precision. A dielectric coating can be utilized for distance control, but it must not degrade the plasmonic properties. In this paper, we introduce a controlled synthesis and coating approach for silver nanowires to fulfill these demands. We synthesize and characterize silver nanowires of around 70 amp; 8201;nm in diameter. These nanowires are coated with nm sized silica shells using a modified Stöber method to achieve a homogeneous and smooth surface quality. We use transmission electron microscopy, dark field microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy to study morphology and plasmonic resonances of individual nanowires and quantify the influence of the silica coating. Thorough numerical simulations support the experimental findings showing that the coating does not deteriorate the plasmonic properties and thus introduce silver nanowires as usable building blocks for integrated hybrid plasmonic system

Multi-dimensional modeling and simulation of semiconductor nanophotonic devices

Self-consistent modeling and multi-dimensional simulation of semiconductor nanophotonic devices is an important tool in the development of future integrated light sources and quantum devices. Simulations can guide important technological decisions by revealing performance bottlenecks in new device concepts, contribute to their understanding and help to theoretically explore their optimization potential. The efficient implementation of multi-dimensional numerical simulations for computer-aided design tasks requires sophisticated numerical methods and modeling techniques. We review recent advances in device-scale modeling of quantum dot based single-photon sources and laser diodes by self-consistently coupling the optical Maxwell equations with semiclassical carrier transport models using semi-classical and fully quantum mechanical descriptions of the optically active region, respectively. For the simulation of realistic devices with complex, multi-dimensional geometries, we have developed a novel hp-adaptive finite element approach for the optical Maxwell equations, using mixed meshes adapted to the multi-scale properties of the photonic structures. For electrically driven devices, we introduced novel discretization and parameter-embedding techniques to solve the drift-diffusion system for strongly degenerate semiconductors at cryogenic temperature. Our methodical advances are demonstrated on various applications, including vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, grating couplers and single-photon sources

"‘I ask your voices and your suffrages’: The Bogus Rome of Peele and Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus"

This essay provides a contextual reading of Titus Andronicus, paying close attention to the play’s collaborative authorship. Peele and Shakespeare are shown to have manufactured a superficially compelling but in reality utterly fake image of the Roman state as an imaginary laboratory for political ideas, especially the elective principle. Topical allusions and deliberate anachronisms encourage the audience to relate the subject matter to the present, viz., late Elizabethan England in the throes of a succession crisis and rent by confessional divisions. Unlike Peele’s solo works, which exhibit a potent anti-Catholic bias, Titus remains confessionally aloof. The play invites the audience to reflect on the viability of particular modes of succession without committing itself either way, and shows that it is not institutional structures and processes but those who use and abuse them that make the difference to the state of the polity

Authorship and appropriation Conceptions of playwriting in England, 1660-1710

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:D196339 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

"‘I ask your voices and your suffrages’: The Bogus Rome of Peele and Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus"

This essay provides a contextual reading of Titus Andronicus, paying close attention to the play’s collaborative authorship. Peele and Shakespeare are shown to have manufactured a superficially compelling but in reality utterly fake image of the Roman state as an imaginary laboratory for political ideas, especially the elective principle. Topical allusions and deliberate anachronisms encourage the audience to relate the subject matter to the present, viz., late Elizabethan England in the throes of a succession crisis and rent by confessional divisions. Unlike Peele’s solo works, which exhibit a potent anti-Catholic bias, Titus remains confessionally aloof. The play invites the audience to reflect on the viability of particular modes of succession without committing itself either way, and shows that it is not institutional structures and processes but those who use and abuse them that make the difference to the state of the polity

The 1553 Succession Crisis Reconsidered

This article offers a new perspective on the context and significance of the 1553 succession crisis precipitated by the Protestant Edward VI's abortive bid to exclude his Catholic sister Mary in favour of his evangelical cousin Jane. Challenging the view of Jane's coup as an evangelical crusade, and of Mary's victory as the only successful Tudor rebellion, it analyses the constitutional principles behind the new settlement of succession, demonstrates how it was justified to the public and uncovers its Elizabethan legacy. By closely reading a series of key texts, it reshapes our understanding of this seminal event in Tudor history