Excitation of surface plasmons from silver nanowires embedded in polymer nanofibers

Abstract

We report an excitation of surface plasmons in silver nanowires (AgNWs) which were embedded in flexible polymer nanofibers. Using waveguiding excitation, surface plasmons in AgNWs were excited and propagated. By directing light of 650, 532, and 473 nm wavelengths into the nanofiber, surface plasmons in an embedded single AgNW (average diameter 400 nm, length 4.3 μm) were excited and the corresponding propagation lengths for the three wavelengths are 10.6, 7.7, and 5.1 μm. It was also found that, when a spatially incoherent white light of a halogen lamp with an excitation optical power of 80 μW was coupled into the polymer nanofiber, a surface plasmon mediated interference fringe was observed. In addition, on the basis of surface plasmon excitation, two adjacent AgNWs embedded in the polymer nanofibers were demonstrated to serve as coupled plasmonic waveguides.

Solution-processed assembly of ultrathin transparent conductive cellulose nanopaper embedding AgNWs

“…Generally, indium tin oxide (ITO) has been widely used as transparent conductors due to its high transparency and low sheet resistance (over 80% and below 30 Ohm/sq) on a flexible substrate 7,8 , but the inherent brittleness of ITO usually causes cracks upon bending or folding 9,10 . In addition, pure AgNWs films can easily be oxidized to corrosion due to long time exposure in ambient air 33,34 . Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are among the most promising candidates because of their exceptional transparency and high conductivity (95% and 20 Ohm/sq) [21][22][23] .…”

“…32 In addition, pure AgNW films can be easily oxidized to corrosion due to long time exposure in ambient air. 33,34 Therefore, the development of hybrid transparent conductive films with high performance by encapsulating AgNWs is becoming an important research issue. 35 Chun et al prepared a hybrid Ag-MWNT composite film with an average thickness of 140 μm by drop casting using a polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) copolymer as the matrix.…”

Thermally Stable Silver Nanowires-Embedding Metal Oxide for Schottky Junction Solar Cells

“…First, AgNW-embedding ITO film can potentially be used to establish a Schottky junction with p-Si. Second, and more importantly, the AgNWs-embedding ITO film induces a surface plasmonic effect due to the combination of the teardrop structure of the dielectric ITO and the metallic AgNWs networks on the Si substrate; this teardrop structure should potentially allow the concentration of light at a subwavelength volume beyond the optical diffraction limit. ,,− …”

SERS-active substrate assembled by Ag NW-embedded porous polystyrene fibers

“…However, these exposed metal nanoparticles are vulnerable to water vapor oxidation and mechanical damage, which seriously weakens the enhancement effect for SERS substrates. 22,27 For the embedded mode of metal nanoparticle or nanowires, it is true that the polymer outside the metal nanomaterials can protect them from contamination and surface oxidation, especially for Ag nanostructures, which gives the composite a long lifetime. 17 However, the encapsulated polymer also prevents the target molecules from adsorbing on the surface of metal nanostructures quickly and accurately, which will seriously reduce the efficiency of sample collection.…”