Here, we report a dual-band plasmonic photodetector based on Ga-polar gallium nitride (GaN) for highly sensitive detection of UV and green light. We discover that decoration of Au nanoparticles (NPs) drastically increases the photoelectric responsivities by more than 50 times in comparition to the blank GaN photodetector. The observed behaviors are attributed to polarization enhanced charge transfer of optically excited hot electrons from Au NPs to GaN driven by the strong spontaneous polarization field of Ga-polar GaN. Moreover, defect ionization promoted by localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) is also discussed. This novel type of photodetector may shed light on the design and fabrication of photoelectric devices based on polar semiconductors and microstructural defects.

The schematic diagram for enhanced PL of GaP by LSPRs of metallic nanoparticles.

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We present here a combined theoretical and experimental investigation on effective excitation of microcantilever by using photoacoustic waves. The photoacoustic waves arose from a vibrating Al foil induced by an intensity-modulated laser. We demonstrate that, superior to photothermal excitation, this new configuration avoids direct heating of the microcantilever, thus minimizing undesired thermal effects on the vibration of microcantilever, while still keeps the advantage of being a remote, non-contact excitation method. We also measured the vibration amplitude of the microcantilever as a function of distance between the microcantilever and the Al foil and found that the amplitudes decay gradually according to the inverse distance law. This method is universal and can be adopted in bio-microelectromechanical systems (BioMEMs) for the detection of small signals where detrimental thermal effects must be avoided.

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