110 research outputs found
Polymer nanofibers as novel light-emitting sources and lasing material
Polymer micro- and nano-fibers, made of organic light-emitting materials with
optical gain, show interesting lasing properties. Fibers with diameters from
few tens of nm to few microns can be fabricated by electrospinning, a method
based on electrostatic fields applied to a polymer solution. The morphology and
emission properties of these fibers, composed of optically inert polymers
embedding laser dyes, are characterized by scanning electron and fluorescence
microscopy, and lasing is observed under optical pumping for fluences of the
order of 10^2 microJ cm^-2. In addition, light-emitting fibers can be
electrospun by conjugated polymers, their blends, and other active organics,
and can be exploited in a range of photonic and electronic devices. In
particular, waveguiding of light is observed and characterized, showing optical
loss coefficient in the range of 10^2-10^3 cm^-1. The reduced size of these
novel laser systems, combined with the possibility of achieving wavelength
tunability through transistor or other electrode-based architectures embedding
non-linear molecular layers, and with their peculiar mechanical robustness,
open interesting perspectives for realizing miniaturized laser sources to
integrate on-chip optical sensors and photonic circuits.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 27 references. Invited contribution. Copyright
(2013) Society of Photo Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or
electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction
and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for
commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are
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Emission properties of electrospun polymeric nanofibres
The emission properties of polymer nanofibres fabricated by electrospinning are analysed. The nanofibres, made by conjugated polymers, display diameters of few hundreds of nanometers, depending on the process parameters, and exhibit photoluminescence tunable in the visible spectral range and polarized along the fibre axis. Nonradiative energy transfer in fibres made by blends of polymers and its exploitation for emission tuning are discussed
A nanophotonic laser on a graph
Conventional nano-photonic schemes minimise multiple scattering to realise a
miniaturised version of beam-splitters, interferometers and optical cavities
for light propagation and lasing. Here instead, we introduce a nanophotonic
network built from multiple paths and interference, to control and enhance
light-matter interaction via light localisation. The network is built from a
mesh of subwavelength waveguides, and can sustain localised modes and
mirror-less light trapping stemming from interference over hundreds of nodes.
With optical gain, these modes can easily lase, reaching 100 pm
linewidths. We introduce a graph solution to the Maxwell's equation which
describes light on the network, and predicts lasing action. In this framework,
the network optical modes can be designed via the network connectivity and
topology, and lasing can be tailored and enhanced by the network shape.
Nanophotonic networks pave the way for new laser device architectures, which
can be used for sensitive biosensing and on-chip optical information
processing
Modal Coupling of Single Photon Emitters Within Nanofiber Waveguides
Nanoscale generation of individual photons in confined geometries is an
exciting research field aiming at exploiting localized electromagnetic fields
for light manipulation. One of the outstanding challenges of photonic systems
combining emitters with nanostructured media is the selective channelling of
photons emitted by embedded sources into specific optical modes and their
transport at distant locations in integrated systems. Here, we show that
soft-matter nanofibers, electrospun with embedded emitters, combine
subwavelength field localization and large broadband near-field coupling with
low propagation losses. By momentum spectroscopy, we quantify the modal
coupling efficiency identifying the regime of single-mode coupling. These
nanofibers do not rely on resonant interactions, making them ideal for
room-temperature operation, and offer a scalable platform for future quantum
information technology
Near-field electrospinning of conjugated polymer light-emitting nanofibers
The authors report on the realization of ordered arrays of light-emitting
conjugated polymer nanofibers by near-field electrospinning. The fibers, made
by poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene], have diameters of
few hundreds of nanometers and emission peaked at 560 nm. The observed
blue-shift compared to the emission from reference films is attributed to
different polymer packing in the nanostructures. Optical confinement in the
fibers is also analyzed through self-waveguided emission. These results open
interesting perspectives for realizing complex and ordered architectures by
light-emitting nanofibers, such as photonic circuits, and for the precise
positioning and integration of conjugated polymer fibers into light-emitting
devices.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures Nanoscale, 201
Additive Manufacturing: Applications and Directions in Photonics and Optoelectronics
The combination of materials with targeted optical properties and of complex, 3D architectures, which can be nowadays obtained by additive manufacturing, opens unprecedented opportunities for developing new integrated systems in photonics and optoelectronics. The recent progress in additive technologies for processing optical materials is here presented, with emphasis on accessible geometries, achievable spatial resolution, and requirements for printable optical materials. Relevant examples of photonic and optoelectronic devices fabricated by 3D printing are shown, which include light-emitting diodes, lasers, waveguides, optical sensors, photonic crystals and metamaterials, and micro-optical components. The potential of additive manufacturing applied to photonics and optoelectronics is enormous, and the field is still in its infancy. Future directions for research include the development of fully printable optical and architected materials, of effective and versatile platforms for multimaterial processing, and of high-throughput 3D printing technologies that can concomitantly reach high resolution and large working volumes
Hierarchical assembly of light-emitting polymer nanofibers in helical morphologies
Single electrospun nanofibers of light-emitting conjugated polymers hierarchically assemble at nano- to macroscopic lengthscales in various helical morphologies. At nanoscopic lengthscales, molecular chains follow the microscopic assembly, prevalently aligning along the fiber dynamic axis, as demonstrated by polarized photoluminescence spectroscopy. The role of molecular weight in the resulting assembling and optical properties is highlighted and discussed. Nanofibers based on the heaviest polymer exhibit the most stretched helical geometries and the highest suppression of the excitonic energy migration, resulting in the most blue-shifted photoluminescence with respect to thin films
Full color control and white emission from conjugated polymer nanofibers
The authors demonstrate full color tunability in the visible range, including white emission, by polymer nanofibers based on binary blends of conjugated materials. The nanofibers are realized by electrospinning and their emission is based on the dipole-dipole energy transfer from a blue-emitting donor and a red-emitting acceptor conjugated polymer. The fibers are characterized by scanning electron microscopy and time-resolved and cw photoluminescence. Light emission is tuned from blue to red, including bright white with color coordinates (0.38, 0.34) according to the standard of the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage. Polymer nanofibers based on blends of conjugated compounds turn out to be a promising class of organic semiconductor building blocks for nanophotonics
The conformational evolution of elongated polymer solutions tailors the polarization of light-emission from organic nanofibers
Polymer fibers are currently exploited in tremendously important
technologies. Their innovative properties are mainly determined by the behavior
of the polymer macromolecules under the elongation induced by external
mechanical or electrostatic forces, characterizing the fiber drawing process.
Although enhanced physical properties were observed in polymer fibers produced
under strong stretching conditions, studies of the process-induced nanoscale
organization of the polymer molecules are not available, and most of fiber
properties are still obtained on an empirical basis. Here we reveal the
orientational properties of semiflexible polymers in electrospun nanofibers,
which allow the polarization properties of active fibers to be finely
controlled. Modeling and simulations of the conformational evolution of the
polymer chains during electrostatic elongation of semidilute solutions
demonstrate that the molecules stretch almost fully within less than 1 mm from
jet start, increasing polymer axial orientation at the jet center. The
nanoscale mapping of the local dichroism of individual fibers by polarized
near-field optical microscopy unveils for the first time the presence of an
internal spatial variation of the molecular order, namely the presence of a
core with axially aligned molecules and a sheath with almost radially oriented
molecules. These results allow important and specific fiber properties to be
manipulated and tailored, as here demonstrated for the polarization of emitted
light.Comment: 45 pages, 10 figures, Macromolecules (2014
Anisotropic conjugated polymer chain conformation tailors the energy migration in nanofibers
Conjugated polymers are complex multi-chromophore systems, with emission
properties strongly dependent on the electronic energy transfer through active
sub-units. Although the packing of the conjugated chains in the solid state is
known to be a key factor to tailor the electronic energy transfer and the
resulting optical properties, most of the current solution-based processing
methods do not allow for effectively controlling the molecular order, thus
making the full unveiling of energy transfer mechanisms very complex. Here we
report on conjugated polymer fibers with tailored internal molecular order,
leading to a significant enhancement of the emission quantum yield. Steady
state and femtosecond time-resolved polarized spectroscopies evidence that
excitation is directed toward those chromophores oriented along the fiber axis,
on a typical timescale of picoseconds. These aligned and more extended
chromophores, resulting from the high stretching rate and electric field
applied during the fiber spinning process, lead to improved emission
properties. Conjugated polymer fibers are relevant to develop optoelectronic
plastic devices with enhanced and anisotropic properties.Comment: 43 pages, 15 figures, 1 table in Journal of the American Chemical
Society, (2016
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