King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Yihan Zhu

Yu Han

Kun Li

Daliang Zhang

Jianfeng Huang

The fabrication of asymmetric monometallic nanocrystals with novel properties for plasmonics, nanophotonics and nanoelectronics. Asymmetric monometallic plasmonic nanocrystals are of both fundamental synthetic challenge and practical significance. In an example, a thiol-ligand mediated growth strategy that enables the synthesis of unprecedented Au Nanorod-Au Nanoparticle (AuNR-AuNP) dimers from pre-synthesized AuNR seeds. Using high-resolution electron microscopy and tomography, crystal structure and three-dimensional morphology of the dimer, as well as the growth pathway of the AuNP on the AuNR seed, was investigated for this example. The dimer exhibits an extraordinary broadband optical extinction spectrum spanning the UV, visible, and near infrared regions (300-1300 nm). This unexpected property makes the AuNR-AuNP dimer example useful for many nanophotonic applications. In two experiments, the dimer example was tested as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate and a solar light harvester for photothermal conversion, in comparison with the mixture of AuNR and AuNP. In the SERS experiment, the dimer example showed an enhancement factor about 10 times higher than that of the mixture, when the excitation wavelength (660 nm) was off the two surface plasmon resonance (SPR) bands of the mixture. In the photothermal conversion experiment under simulated sunlight illumination, the dimer example exhibited an energy conversion efficiency about 1.4 times as high as that of the mixture.

Asymmetric monometallic nanorod nanoparticle dimer and related compositions and methods

A system and method involve receiving a sequence of images of an object with at least two consecutive images of the sequence being spatially shifted relative to each other. Each image is transformed into a Fourier domain using a Fourier transform to generate a corresponding plurality of Fourier transformed images. An amplitude filtered pattern is calculated in the Fourier domain based on amplitude components of the plurality of Fourier transformed images. Spatial shifts for pairs of consecutive images in the sequence of images are determined using the amplitude filtered pattern. Images in the sequence of images are aligned based on the determined spatial shifts and the aligned images are summed to form an image-shift-corrected summed image.

Image series alignment system and method

A system and method involve applying an electron beam to a sample and obtaining an image of the sample with the applied electron beam. An orientation of the sample relative to the sample's zone axis is automatically determined based on a distribution of reflections in the image. The orientation of the sample is automatically adjusted to align with the sample's zone axis based on the determined orientation.

Growing community of inventors

Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

Yihan Zhu