The coupling of optical emitters with a nanostructured environment is at the heart of nano- and quantum optics. We control this coupling by the lithographic positioning of a few (1-3) quantum dots (QDs) along plasmonic silver nanowires with nanoscale resolution. The fluorescence emission from the QD-nanowire systems is probed spectroscopically, by microscopic imaging and decay time measurements...

Using polarization dependent scattering spectroscopy, we investigate plasmon propagation on branched silver nanowires. By controlling the polarization of the incident laser light, the wire plasmons can be routed into different wire branches and result in light emission from the corresponding wire ends. This routing behavior is found to be strongly dependent on the wavelength of light. Thus for ...

Metal nanowires (NWs) enable versatile applications in printed electronics and optoelectronics by serving as thin and flexible transparent electrodes. The performance of metal NWs as thin electrodes is highly correlated to the connectivity of NW meshes. The percolation threshold of metal NW films corresponds to the minimum density of NWs to form the transparent, yet conductive metal NW networks...

In this article, we demonstrated that composition modulation of Ag2Te nanowires can be achieved during the self-templated transformation of Te nanowires into Ag2Te nanowires during solution phase synthesis, which provides a mean to tune the carrier density of the Ag2Te nanowires. Both nearly stoichiometric and Ag-rich nanowires have been synthesized, which give rise to p-type and n-type Ag2Te n...

Surface plasmonic systems provide extremely efficient ways to modulate light-matter interaction in photon emission, light harvesting, energy conversion and transferring, etc. Various surface plasmon enhanced luminescent behaviors have been observed and investigated in these systems. But the origin of an avalanche-like photoluminescence, which was firstly reported in 2007 from Au and subsequentl...

We consider theoretically the spaser that is excited electrically via a nanowire with ballistic quantum conductance. We show that, in the extreme quantum regime, i.e., for a single conductance-quantum nanowire, the spaser with a core made of common plasmonic metals, such as silver and gold, is fundamentally possible. For ballistic nanowires with multiple-quanta or nonquantized conductance, the ...

We report the coupling of free-space photons (vacuum wavelength of 830 nm) to surface plasmon modes of a silver nanowire. The launch of propagating plasmons, and the subsequent emission of photons, is selective and occurs only at ends and other discontinuities of the nanowire. In addition, we observe that the nanowires redirect the plasmons through turns of radii as small as 4 microm. We exploi...

A novel method for preparing epoxy/silver nanocomposites was developed via the in situ formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) within the epoxy resin matrix while using silver nanowires (AgNWs) as a conductive filler. The silver–imidazole complex was synthesized from silver acetate (AgAc) and 1-(2-cyanoethyl)-2-ethyl-4-methylimidazole (imidazole). AgNPs were generated in situ during the curin...

The outstanding electrical, optical, and mechanical properties of silver nanowire transparent electrodes are attractive for use in many optoelectronic devices, and the recent developments related to these electrodes have led to their commercialization. To more fully utilize the advantages of this technology, developing new process technologies in addition to performance improvements is importan...

A chemically synthesized silver nanowire was used for atomic-resolution STM imaging and tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) spectroscopy, yielding excellent reproducibility. This TERS tip will open a new venue to surface analysis, such as molecular finger printing at nanoscales.