Laboratory for Hybrid Nanophotonics and Optoelectronics

Scientific results:

The Laboratory is one of the founders of a new research domain in Russia – silicon and dielectric nanophotonics for use in optoelectronics, as well as nanophotonic devices based on semiconductor nanostructures. The Laboratory actively researchers the effects related to the nonlinear interaction of powerful femtosecond laser pulses with silicon and other  dielectrics and semiconductors. Within this domain, we have demonstrated using laser pulses it is possible to  create silicon nanostructures of all types. We have also proposed new nanophotonic devices for the modulation of optical signals of designs semiconductor nanostructures and published our findings in leading international journals. The Laboratory also demonstrated theoretically and experimentally for the first time the possibility of high-precision laser-based restructuring  of the scattering diagram of a single «hybrid» (metal-dielectrics) nanoantenna consisting of a silicon and gold nanoparticles across almost the whole visible range. This opened new possibilities for  ultra-dense optical writing of color information with rates typical of the most advanced laser technologies. Moreover, we have successfully developed a number of methods for the high-output production of various dielectric and hybrid nanostructures for problems of nanophotonics. Particularly, we were the first in Russia to use a method of laser printing of nanoparticles and the first to propose its significant optimization that reduces the costs of the technology on the basis of the fact that crystalline silicon nanoparticles can be produced from affordable amorphous films of low initial quality. The laser printing of gold-silicon nanoparticles for the first time in the world allowed to create subwave sources of white light (with lengths of emission waves ranging from 400 to 950 nm) as well as to create a white-light near-field microscope based on them that will allow to conduct the scanning of various nanoobjects in a wide range of wavelengths faster by an order of magnitude compared to commercially available microscopes. This development is additionally protected by a patent for invention. The Laboratory has initiated a new domain, perovskite-based nanophotonics, which is aimed at the development of a new platform for the generation, transmission and modulation of optical signals. Indeed, halogenide perovskites (for example, APbX₃, where A is a cation (for instance, Cs or CH₃NH₃ molecules) and X is an anion on the basis of  one or several iodine (I), bromine (Br) and chlorine (Cl) halogens) ate direct-gap semiconductors that demonstrate high quantum efficiency of luminescence, are much more stable against defects of the crystal structure. For the first time  we have experimentally demonstrated nanoantennas and metasurfaces made of this material as well as demonstrated the possibility of simple rearrangement of their optical resonances across the whole visible range by varying the halogens. The use of advanced laser ablation methods allowed to create microdisc lasers from perovskites in millions in a matter of minutes. The Laboratory also was the first to develop a concept of integration of silicon nanoantennas into perovskite-based optoelectronic devices, where resonance silicon nanoparticles improved a solar cell made of organic-inorganic perovskite and raised its efficiency to the level of 21 per cent. Moreover, we have presented the most compact semiconductor laser in the world (a cuboid with a size of 310 nm) with optical pumping operating at room temperature in the visible range (with a wavelength of radiation of 530 nm). 

Implemented results of research:

Over the period of existence of the Laboratory, we have accumulated rich experience  and obtained a number of patents for technologies of the production of perovskite-based devices for optoelectronics – light-emitting diodes of solar cells. The Laboratory is currently collaborating with the Russian Center for Flexible Electronics (located in the town of Troitsk), that possesses class 7 clean rooms with industrial devices for applying thin films using wet chemistry methods by means of slot die (extrusion), a laboratory variation of which has been implemented at the Laboratory of Hybrid Nanophotonics and Optoelectronics. We are expecting that this collaboration can lead to the emergence of perovskite-based optoelectronics devices on the Russian market. 

Education and career development:

• Four Candidate of Sciences dissertations and 7 master’s degree theses have been prepared and defended. 

• Employees of the Laboratory have developed and are delivering a one-semester course in English for master’s degree students of ITMO University named «Experimental methods of nanophotonics».

• The head of the Laboratory Sergey V. Makarov organizes the annual international school for young scientists «SLALOM». 

Organizational and structural changes:

Over the course of the first stage of the work of the Laboratory, in 2017-2019 we created a unique complex of measurement and technological devices based on a system of glove boxes, a fully equipped chemical laboratory as well as a system for the optical characterization of nanomaterials and optoelectronic devices. The chemical sector was prepared for entry into service in 2021.

Moreover, in 2020 on the grounds of the Laboratory a mechanical sector that allows to quickly perform mechanical and technological works that inevitably become necessary when designing thin-film optoelectronic devices and developing technological tooling for their production and characterization. 

Collaborations:

City University of Hong Kong, Harbin Engineering University (China PR), Tor Vergata University of Rome (Italy), Australian National University (Australia): joint research.