Whisper gallery modes in silicon nanocones intensify luminescence
Monday, November 30, 2015 - 10:20
in Physics & Chemistry
Silicon, a semiconducting material, reveals new talents when reduced to nanoscopic dimensions. A joint team at the HZB Institute of Nanoarchitectures for Energy Conversion and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) has demonstrated this. Silicon nanocones generate 200 times as much infrared luminescence as comparably sized nanocolumns when excited by visible light. Modelling and experimental results show that due to their geometry, cones are able to sustain what is referred to as whispering gallery modes at infrared wavelengths which can intensify the silicon luminescence. New applications are conceivable, including silicon-based nanolasers.