Abstract-Detection of Microplastic in Salts Using Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

 

Jaeseung Im, Taewon Goo Jugyoung Kim, Soobong Choi, Sung Ju Hong, Young-Mi Bahk

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/9/3161

We report on a prototypical study of the detection of microplastic embedded in table salts by using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. In the experiment, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) of sizes from 150 to 400 µm are used as a representative microplastic and mixed with table salts. Analyzing terahertz transmittance with an effective medium model, we extract various optical properties such as refractive index, absorption coefficient, and real/imaginary parts of the dielectric constant of the mixture. Consequently, the optical properties exhibit volume-ratio-dependence in 0.1–0.5 THz regimes. Especially, the refractive index and the real part of the dielectric constant possess monotonic frequency dependence, meaning that the quantities can be relevant indicators for the detection of the microplastic in terms of practical applications. Our work proves that terahertz timedomain spectroscopy can pave a way to recognize microplastic mixed with salts and be expanded for detecting various micro-sized particles. 

Abstract-Enhanced terahertz conductivity in ultra-thin gold film deposited onto (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPTMS)-coated Si substrates

Youjin Lee, Dasom Kim, Jeeyoon Jeong, Jugyoung Kim, Volodymyr Shmid, Oleg Korotchenkov, Parinda Vasa, Young-Mi Bahk,  Dai-Sik Kim

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-51085-0

Various material properties change considerably when material is thinned down to nanometer thicknesses. Accordingly, researchers have been trying to obtain homogeneous thin films with nanometer thickness but depositing homogeneous few nanometers thick gold film is challenging as it tends to form islands rather than homogenous film. Recently, studies have revealed that treating the substrate with an organic buffer, (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) enables deposition of ultra-thin gold film having thickness as low as 5 nm. Different aspects of MPTMS treatment for ultra-thin gold films like its effect on the structure and optical properties at visible wavelengths have been investigated. However, the effect of the MPTMS treatment on electrical conductivity of ultra-thin gold film at terahertz frequency remains unexplored. Here, we measure the complex conductivity of nanometer-thick gold films deposited onto an MPTMS-coated silicon substrate using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. Following the MPTMS treatment of the substrate, the conductivity of the films was found to increase compared to those deposited onto uncoated substrate for gold films having the thickness less than 11 nm. We observed 5-fold enhancement in the conductivity for a 7 nm-thick gold film. We also demonstrate the fabrication of nanoslot-antenna arrays in 8.2-nm-thick gold films. The nanoslot-antenna with MPTMS coating has resonance at around 0.5 THz with an electric field enhancement of 44, whereas the nanoslot-antenna without MPTMS coating does not show resonant properties. Our results demonstrate that gold films deposited onto MPTMS-coated silicon substrates are promising advanced materials for fabricating ultra-thin terahertz plasmonic devices.

Abstract-Giant field enhancements in ultrathin nanoslots above 1 terahertz

Dasom Kim, Jeeyoon Jeong, Geunchang Choi, Young-Mi Bahk, Taehee Kang, Dukhyung Lee, Bidhek Thusa, Dai-Sik Kim,

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsphotonics.8b00151?journalCode=apchd5

Strong demand for plasmonic devices with an enormously enhanced electric field and desired resonance frequencies has led to extensive investigations of metallic slot structures. While strong field enhancement can be achieved by reducing the width of the slot, the effect of the gap surface plasmon limits the maximum achievable field enhancement at higher frequencies. Specifically, the effect of the gap surface plasmon becomes stronger as the gap width decreases and strongly suppresses the transmission while causing a red-shift of the resonance. Here, we overcome these issues and realize strong field enhancements at higher frequencies, by managing the metal thickness of the nanoslots. We show that as the nanoslots become as thin as 10 nm, they show a giant electric field enhancement of up to 7600. Moreover, the resonances are strongly blue-shifted to above 1 THz from 0.33 THz. Our work provides a novel route to achieving high field enhancements at desired frequencies, as well as a means by which to characterize the slot as the gap-sensitive or substrate-sensitive type

Abstract-Enhanced Terahertz Shielding of MXenes with Nano-Metamaterials

Geunchang Choi, Faisal Shahzad, Young-Mi Bahk, Young Min Jhon, Hyunchul Park, Mohamed Alhabeb, Babak Anasori, Dai-Sik Kim, Chong Min Koo, Yury Gogotsi, Minah Seo,

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adom.201701076/full

Terahertz (THz) shielding becomes increasingly important with the growing development of THz electronics and devices. Primarily materials based on carbon nanostructures or polymer–carbon nanocomposites have been explored for this application. Herein, significantly enhanced THz shielding efficiencies for 2D titanium carbide (Ti3C2 MXene) thin films with nanoscale THz metamaterials are presented. Nanoscale slot antenna arrays with strong resonances at certain frequencies enhance THz electromagnetic waves up to three orders of magnitude in transmission, which in turn enormously increases the shielding performance in combination with MXene films. Drop-casting of a colloidal solution of MXene (a few micrograms of dry material) can produce an ultrathin film (several tens of nanometers in thickness) on a slot antenna array. Consequently, THz waves strongly localized in the near-field regime by the slot antenna undergo enhanced absorption through the film with a magnified effective refractive index. Finally, the combination of an ultrathin MXene film and a nano-metamaterial shows excellent shielding performance in the THz range.

Abstract-Enhanced Terahertz Shielding of MXenes with Nano-Metamaterials

Geunchang Choi, Faisal Shahzad, Young-Mi Bahk, Young Min Jhon, Hyunchul Park, Mohamed Alhabeb, Babak Anasori, Dai-Sik Kim, Chong Min Koo, Yury Gogotsi,

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adom.201701076/abstract

Terahertz (THz) shielding becomes increasingly important with the growing development of THz electronics and devices. Primarily materials based on carbon nanostructures or polymer–carbon nanocomposites have been explored for this application. Herein, significantly enhanced THz shielding efficiencies for 2D titanium carbide (Ti3C2 MXene) thin films with nanoscale THz metamaterials are presented. Nanoscale slot antenna arrays with strong resonances at certain frequencies enhance THz electromagnetic waves up to three orders of magnitude in transmission, which in turn enormously increases the shielding performance in combination with MXene films. Drop-casting of a colloidal solution of MXene (a few micrograms of dry material) can produce an ultrathin film (several tens of nanometers in thickness) on a slot antenna array. Consequently, THz waves strongly localized in the near-field regime by the slot antenna undergo enhanced absorption through the film with a magnified effective refractive index. Finally, the combination of an ultrathin MXene film and a nano-metamaterial shows excellent shielding performance in the THz range.

Abstract-Electromagnon with Sensitive Terahertz Magnetochromism in a Room-Temperature Magnetoelectric Hexaferrite

Sae Hwan Chun, Kwang Woo Shin, Hyung Joon Kim, Seonghoon Jung, Jaehun Park, Young-Mi Bahk, Hyeong-Ryeol Park, Jisoo Kyoung, Da-Hye Choi, Dai-Sik Kim, Gun-Sik Park, J. F. Mitchell, and Kee Hoon Kim

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.027202

An electromagnon in the magnetoelectric (ME) hexaferrite ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{0.5}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{2.5}{\mathrm{Co}}_2{\mathrm{Fe}}_{24}{O}_{41}$ (${\mathrm{Co}}_{2}Z$-type) single crystal is identified by time-domain terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. The associated THz resonance is active on the electric field ($E^{\omega }$) of the THz light parallel to the $c$ axis ($\parallel \left[001\right]$), whose spectral weight develops at a markedly high temperature, coinciding with a transverse conical magnetic order below 410 K. The resonance frequency of 1.03 THz at 20 K changes $-8.7\%$ and $+5.8\%$ under external magnetic field ($H$) of 2 kOe along [001] and [120], respectively. A model Hamiltonian describing the conical magnetic order elucidates that the dynamical ME effect arises from antiphase motion of spins which are coupled with modulating electric dipoles through the exchange striction mechanism. Moreover, the calculated frequency shift points to the key role of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction that is altered by static electric polarization change under different $H$.

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Abstract-Terahertz Nanoprobing of Semiconductor Surface Dynamics

Geunchang Choi, Young-Mi Bahk, Taehee Kang, Yoojin Lee, Byung Hee Son, Yeong Hwan Ahnn,  Minah Seo, Dai-Sik Kim,

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03289

Most semiconductors have surface dynamics radically different from its bulk counterpart due to surface defect, doping level, and symmetry breaking. Because of the technical challenge of direct observation of the surface carrier dynamics, however, experimental studies have been allowed in severely shrunk structures including nanowires, thin films, or quantum wells where the surface-to-volume ratio is very high. Here, we develop a new type of terahertz (THz) nanoprobing system to investigate the surface dynamics of bulk semiconductors, using metallic nanogap accompanying strong THz field confinement. We observed that carrier lifetimes of InP and GaAs dramatically decrease close to the limit of THz time resolution (∼1 ps) as the gap size decreases down to nanoscale and that they return to their original values once the nanogap patterns are removed. Our THz nanoprobing system will open up pathways toward direct and nondestructive measurements of surface dynamics of bulk semiconductors

Abstract-Terahertz nano probing of semiconductor surface dynamics

Geunchang Choi, Young-Mi Bahk, Taehee Kang, Yoojin Lee, Byung Hee Son, Yeong Hwan Ahn, Minah Seo, and Dai-Sik Kim

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03289

Most semiconductors have surface dynamics radically different from its bulk counterpart due to surface defect, doping level, and symmetry breaking. Due to the technical challenge of direct observation of the surface carrier dynamics, however, experimental studies have been allowed in severely shrunk structures including nanowires, thin films, or quantum wells where the surface-to-volume ratio is very high. Here, we develop a new type of terahertz (THz) nano probing system to investigate the surface dynamics of bulk semiconductors, using metallic nano gap accompanying strong THz field confinement. We observed that carrier lifetimes of InP and GaAs dramatically decrease close to the limit of THz time resolution (~1 ps) as the gap size decreases down to nano scale, and that they return to their original values once the nano gap patterns are removed. Our THz nano probing system will open up pathways towards direct, and nondestructive measurements of surface dynamics of bulk semiconductors

Abstract-Ultimate terahertz field enhancement of single nanoslits

Young-Mi Bahk, Sanghoon Han, Jiyeah Rhie, Joohyun Park, Hyeongtag Jeon, Namkyoo Park, and Dai-Sik Kim

Phys. Rev. B 95, 075424

http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.95.075424

A single metallic slit is the simplest plasmonic structure for basic physical understanding of electromagnetic field confinement. By reducing the gap size, the field enhancement is expected to first go up and then go down when the gap width becomes subnanometer because of the quantum tunneling effects. A fundamental question is whether we reach the classical limit of field enhancement before entering the quantum regime, i.e., whether the quantum effects undercut the highest field enhancement classically possible. Here, by performing terahertz time domain spectroscopy on single slits of widths varying from 1.5 nm to 50 µm, we show that ultimate field enhancement determined by the wavelength of light and film thickness can be reached before we hit the quantum regime. Our paper paves way toward designing a quantum plasmonic system with maximum control yet without sacrificing the classical field enhancements.

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Abstract-Terahertz field enhancement in asymmetric and tapered nano-gaps

Sanghoon Han, Young-Mi Bahk, Namkyoo Park, and Dai-Sik Kim
https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-24-3-2065

We investigate field enhancement inside metal-insulator-metal gaps with asymmetric thicknesses and tapered shapes in the terahertz regime. Finite-difference time-domain simulations were conducted for calculation of field enhancement factor. The calculation indicates that for asymmetric sample, field enhancement increases proportionally with the decrease of the thinner of the two metal film thicknesses surrounding the gap. Concomitantly, angle variation has little effect on the field enhancement if the thickness of the narrowest gap region is fixed. A model based on the capacitor concept is proposed for intuitive understanding of the phenomena.

© 2016 Optical Society of America

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Abstract-Electromagnetic Saturation of Angstrom-Sized Quantum Barriers at Terahertz Frequencies

Young-Mi Bahk, Bong Joo Kang, Yong Seung Kim, Joon-Yeon Kim, Won Tae Kim, Tae Yun Kim, Taehee Kang, Jiyeah Rhie, Sanghoon Han, Cheol-Hwan Park, Fabian Rotermund, and Dai-Sik Kim

Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 125501 – Published 16 September 2015

http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.125501

Metal-graphene-metal hybrid structures allow angstrom-scale van der Waals gaps, across which electron tunneling occurs. We squeeze terahertz electromagnetic waves through these λ/10 000 000 gaps, accompanied by giant field enhancements. Unprecedented transmission reduction of 97% is achieved with the transient voltage across the gap saturating at 5 V. Electron tunneling facilitated by the transient electric field strongly modifies the gap index, starting a self-limiting process related to the barrier height. Our work enables greater interplay between classical optics and quantum tunneling, and provides optical indices to the van der Waals gaps.

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Abstract-Plasmon Enhanced Terahertz Emission from Single Layer Graphene

Young-Mi Bahk , Gopakumar Ramakrishnan ,Jongho Choi , Hyelynn Song , Geunchang Choi ,Yong Hyup Kim , Kwang Jun Ahn , Dai-Sik Kim , and Paul C. M. Planken

ACS Nano, Just Accepted Manuscript

DOI: 10.1021/nn5025237

Publication Date (Web): August 19, 2014

Copyright © 2014 American Chemical Society

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn5025237

We show that surface plasmons, excited with femtosecond laser pulses on continuous or discontinuous gold substrates, strongly enhance the generation and emission of ultrashort, broadband terahertz pulses from single layer graphene. Without surface plasmon excitation, for graphene on glass, ‘non-resonant laser-pulse-induced photon drag currents’ appear to be responsible for the relatively weak emission of both s- and p-polarized terahertz pulses. For graphene on a discontinuous layer of gold, only the emission of the p-polarized terahertz electric field is enhanced, whereas the s-polarized component remains largely unaffected, suggesting the presence of an additional terahertz generation mechanism. We argue that in the latter case, ‘surface-plasmon-enhanced optical rectification’, made possible by the lack of inversion symmetry at the graphene on gold surface, is responsible for the strongly enhanced emission. The enhancement occurs because the electric field of surface plasmons is localized and enhanced where the graphene is located: at the surface of the metal. We believe that our results point the way to small, thin and more efficient terahertz photonic devices.