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Investigation of black phosphorus as a nano-optical polarization element by polarized Raman spectroscopy

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Abstract

Manipulating the polarization of light at the nanoscale is essential for the development of nano-optical devices. Owing to its corrugated honeycomb structure, two-dimensional (2D) layered black phosphorus (BP) exhibits outstanding in-plane optical anisotropy with distinct linear dichroism and optical birefringence in the visible region, which are superior characteristics for ultrathin polarizing optics. Herein, taking advantage of polarized Raman spectroscopy, we demonstrate that layered BP with a nanometer thickness can remarkably alter the polarization state of a linearly-polarized laser and behave as an ultrathin optical polarization element in a BP-Bi2Se3 stacking structure by inducing the exceptionally polarized Raman scattering of isotropic Bi2Se3. Our findings provide a promising alternative for designing novel polarization optics based on 2D anisotropic materials, which can be easily integrated in microsized all-optical and optoelectronic devices.

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Acknowledgements

J. Z. and L. T. acknowledge the funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Nos. 21233001, 51272006, 11374355, and 21573004) and the National Basic Research Program of China (Nos. 2016YFA0200101, 2016YFA0200104, and 2015CB932400). H. X. acknowledges the funding of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51502167). The authors thank X. L. for the constructive discussion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Nannan Mao, Shishu Zhang, Jinxiong Wu, Huihui Tian, Juanxia Wu, Hailin Peng, Lianming Tong & Jin Zhang

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710062, China

    Hua Xu

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  1. Nannan Mao
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  2. Shishu Zhang
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Correspondence to Lianming Tong or Jin Zhang.

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Mao, N., Zhang, S., Wu, J. et al. Investigation of black phosphorus as a nano-optical polarization element by polarized Raman spectroscopy. Nano Res. 11, 3154–3163 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1690-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1690-4

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