Plasmonics is a rapidly developing research field with many potential applications in fields ranging from bioscience, information processing and communication to quantum optics. It is based on the generation, manipulation and transfer of surface plasmons (SPs) that have the ability to manipulate light at the nanoscale. Realizing plasmonic applications requires understanding how the SP-based pro...

We have probed the local thermoelectric power of semiconductor nanostructures with the use of ultrahigh-vacuum scanning thermoelectric microscopy. When applied to a p-n junction, this method reveals that the thermoelectric power changes its sign abruptly within 2 nanometers across the junction. Because thermoelectric power correlates with electronic structure, we can profile with nanometer spat...

An all optical implementation of quantum information processing with semiconductor macroatoms is proposed. Our quantum hardware consists of an array of quantum dots and the computational degrees of freedom are energy-selected interband optical transitions. The quantum-computing strategy exploits exciton-exciton interactions driven by ultrafast multicolor laser pulses. Contrary to existing propo...

Could nanostructures act as lenses to focus incident light for efficient utilization of photovoltaics? Is it possible, in order to avoid serious recombination loss, to realize periodic nanostructures in solar cells without direct etching in a light absorbing semiconductor? Here we propose and demonstrate a promising architecture to shape nanolenses on a planar semiconductor. Optically transpare...

Low-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures are of great interest in high performance electronic and photonic devices. ZnO is considered to be a multifunctional material due to its unique properties with potential in various applications. In this work, 3-nm ZnO nanoislands are deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and the electronic properties are characterized by UV-Vis-NIR Spectrophotom...

There has been significant interest in the development of multicomponent nanocrystals formed by the assembly of two or more different materials with control over size, shape, composition, and spatial orientation. In particular, the selective growth of metals on the tips of semiconductor nanorods and wires can act to couple the electrical and optical properties of semiconductors with the unique ...

We investigate the dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) caused by hyperfine coupling between nonequilibrium electronic spins and nuclear spins in semiconductor nanostructures. We derive the time and position dependence of the resulting hyperfine and dipolar magnetic fields. In GaAs quantum wells the induced nuclear spin polarization greatly exceeds the polarization of the electronic system that c...

We report on facile fabrication of 1-D flat ZnO nanotower arrays on various substrates, including a metal, a semiconductor and an insulator. The nanotowers have a unique flat basal section near the substrate and taper in stages to wire-like at the tip. Electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are used to characterize these new nanostructures, revealing that their morphologies ar...

The calculation of the optical and electronic properties of semiconductor nanostructures is still based for the most part on highly approximated, continuum-like models such as the effective-mass approximation, which do not take into account the atomistic structure of the quantum dots. We present here an atomistic pseudopotential approach to the calculation of excited states in semiconductor nan...