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Green light stimulates terahertz emission from mesocrystal microspheres

Nature Nanotechnology volume 6, pages 103–106 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

The discovery of efficient sources of terahertz radiation has been exploited in imaging applications1, and developing a nanoscale terahertz source could lead to additional applications. High-frequency mechanical vibrations of charged nanostructures can lead to radiative emission, and vibrations at frequencies of hundreds of kilohertz have been observed from a ZnO nanobelt under the influence of an alternating electric field2. Here, we observe mechanical resonance and radiative emission at ∼0.36 THz from core–shell ZnO mesocrystal microspheres excited by a continuous green-wavelength laser. We find that ∼0.016% of the incident power is converted into terahertz radiation, which corresponds to a quantum efficiency of ∼33%, making the ZnO microspheres competitive with existing terahertz-emitting materials1,3. The mechanical resonance and radiation stem from the coherent photo-induced vibration of the hexagonal ZnO nanoplates that make up the microsphere shells. The ZnO microspheres are formed by means of a nonclassical, self-organized crystallization process4,5,6, and represent a straightforward route to terahertz radiation at the nanoscale.

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Figure 1: FE-SEM images and schematic illustration of the ZnO mesocrystal microspheres.
Figure 2: Vibration spectra of the multi-microsphere samples fabricated with synthesis times of 2.5, 3, 5, 7 and 10 h.
Figure 3: Vibration spectra of single and multi-microsphere samples with different synthesis times.
Figure 4: Experimental setup and terahertz absorption spectra.
Figure 5: Dependence on different parameters of terahertz radiation power for the 10 h microsphere sample.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Programs of China (grants 2011CB922102, 2007CB936301, 2007CB310404), as well as the National and Jiangsu Natural Science Foundations (grants BK2008020, 60976063, 10874071). Partial support was also provided by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) under General Research Funds (GRF) no. CityU 112608) and City University of Hong Kong (Strategic Research Grant (SRG) 7008009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    X. L. Wu, S. J. Xiong, Z. Liu, J. C. Shen & T. H. Li

  2. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    J. Chen & P. H. Wu

  3. Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

    Paul K. Chu

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  1. X. L. Wu
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  2. S. J. Xiong
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  4. J. Chen
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  5. J. C. Shen
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Contributions

X.L.W. designed the experimental setup, performed the experiments, analysed the data, and co-wrote the manuscript. S.J.X. analysed the data and co-wrote the manuscript. Z.L. and J.C.S. performed the experiments. J.C. and P.H.W. designed the experimental setup and analysed the data. T.H.L. plotted all the figures. P.K.C. analysed the data and co-wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to X. L. Wu or Paul K. Chu.

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Wu, X., Xiong, S., Liu, Z. et al. Green light stimulates terahertz emission from mesocrystal microspheres. Nature Nanotech 6, 103–106 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.264

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