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Nonreciprocity and nonreciprocal optical devices play a vital role in modern photonic technologies by enforcing one-way propagation of light. Here, we demonstrate an all-optical approach to nonreciprocity based on valley-selective response in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). This approach overcomes the limitations of magnetic materials and it does not require an external magnetic field. We provide experimental evidence of photoinduced nonreciprocity in a monolayer WS2 pumped by circularly polarized (CP) light. Nonreciprocity stems from valley-selective exciton population, giving rise to nonlinear circular dichroism controlled by CP pump fields. Our experimental results reveal a significant effect even at room temperature, despite considerable intervalley-scattering, showing promising potential for practical applications in magnetic-free nonreciprocal platforms. As an example, here we propose a device scheme to realize an optical isolator based on a pass-through silicon nitride (SiN) ring resonator integrating the optically biased TMD monolayer., Nonreciprocity is viewed as a useful feature for many future optical devices. Here, the authors observe all-optically-induced nonreciprocal dichroism in monolayer WS2, which is explained by valley-selective response.

The possibility of using lateral Ga(In)AsP nanostructures grown by the catalytic method in a quasi-closed volume from phosphorus and indium vapors on the GaAs (100) surface as an antireflection coating for photovoltaic devices is considered for the first time. It is shown that, at a fixed growth temperature, it is possible to control the surface morphology by changing the growth duration. The surface morphology is examined by scanning electron and atomic force microscopies. It is shown that the antireflection properties of the surface in the range 400–800 nm are related to its structure. The use of such a coating in GaAs-based photocells demonstrated a significant increase in the external quantum yield of photovoltaic converters.

Tunable light-emitting nanostructures are prospective for reconfigurable compact optoelectronic devices. In this regard, halide perovskites are one of the most efficient class of materials, because of their outstanding electronic and optical properties as well as low cost of fabrication and nanostructuring. Here, we study the temperature-tunable reconfiguration of photonic modes in periodically nanostructured perovskite (MAPbI3) film probed by enhanced photoluminescence. We achieved the quality factors of resonances around 500 at wavelengths 750–760 nm. The experimental results are in well agreement with theoretical simulations. Our study reveals the origin of the emission enhancement from such kind of perovskite nanostructures and paves the way to highly directional, efficient, and tunable narowband emission from optoelectronic devices.

Funding Information: The authors J.E., C.D. and A.K. would like to thank Jean Dussaud for his work on the MOVPE setup. V.N. would like to thank Maria Baeva for her assistance with the stretchable LED transparency measurements.J.E., C.D. and A.K. thank French National Labex GaNeX (ANR-11-LABX-0014) for MW synthesis and CL measurements. V.N. thanks the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR project no. 19-32-60040) for PDMS/MW membrane fabrication and optical measurements. I.S.M., V.N., F.M.K. thank the support from the Russian Science Foundation (grant 20-19-00256) for PDMS synthesis and electrical measurements. D.K. and A.G.N. thank Russian Foundation of Basic Research project no. 20-03-00804 for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes. F.E.K. thanks the support from the Russian Science Foundation (grant 19-79-00313) for the LED array encapsulation and membrane transfer. I.S.M., F.M.K., V.N., V.A.M., S.M., A.A.V., A.V.U., and D.A.M. thank the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (FSRM-2020-0005) for the general support. N.A. and M.T. acknowledge the financial support from the ITN Marie Curie project INDEED (grant no. 722176), by the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR/CEFIPRA project no. 6008-1) for MW/PDMS membrane processing and characterization. Funding Information: Funding: J.E., C.D. and A.K. thank French National Labex GaNeX (ANR-11-LABX-0014) for MW synthesis and CL measurements. V.N. thanks the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR project no. 19-32-60040) for PDMS/MW membrane fabrication and optical measurements. I.S.M., V.N., F.M.K. thank the support from the Russian Science Foundation (grant 20-19-00256) for PDMS synthesis and electrical measurements. D.K. and A.G.N. thank Russian Foundation of Basic Research project no. 20-03-00804 for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes. F.E.K. thanks the support from the Russian Science Foundation (grant 19-79-00313) for the LED array encapsulation and membrane transfer. I.S.M., F.M.K., V.N., V.A.M., S.M., A.A.V., A.V.U., and D.A.M. thank the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (FSRM-2020-0005) for the general support. N.A. and M.T. acknowledge the financial support from the ITN Marie Curie project INDEED (grant no. 722176), by the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR/CEFIPRA project no. 6008-1) for MW/PDMS membrane processing and characterization. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. We propose and demonstrate both flexible and stretchable blue light-emitting diodes based on core/shell InGaN/GaN quantum well microwires embedded in polydimethylsiloxane membranes with strain-insensitive transparent electrodes involving single-walled carbon nanotubes. InGaN/GaN core-shell microwires were grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy, encapsulated into a polydimethylsiloxane film, and then released from the growth substrate. The fabricated free-standing membrane of light-emitting diodes with contacts of single-walled carbon nanotube films can stand up to 20% stretching while maintaining efficient operation. Membrane-based LEDs show less than 15% degradation of electroluminescence intensity after 20 cycles of stretching thus opening an avenue for highly deformable inorganic devices.

In this article, we present the pick-and-place technique for the manipulation of single nanoparticles on non-conductive substrates using a tungsten tip irradiated by a focused electron beam from a scanning electron microscope. The developed technique allowed us to perform the precise transfer of single BaTiO3 nanoparticles from one substrate to another in order to carry out measurements of elastic light scattering as well as second harmonic generation. Also, we demonstrate a fabricated structure made by finely tuning the position of a BaTiO3 nanoparticle on top of a dielectric nanowaveguide deposited on a glass substrate. The presented technique is based on the electrostatic interaction between the sharp tungsten tip charged by the electron beam and the nanoscale object. A mechanism for nanoparticle transfer to a non-conductive substrate is proposed and the forces involved in the manipulation process are evaluated. The presented technique can be widely utilized for the fabrication of nanoscale structures on optically transparent non-conductive substrates, which presents a wide range of applications for nanophotonics.

Inorganic cesium lead halide perovskite nanowires, generating laser emission in the broad spectral range at room temperature and low threshold, have become powerful tools for the cutting-edge applications in the optoelectronics and nanophotonics. However, to achieve high-quality nanowires with the outstanding optical properties, it was necessary to employ long-lasting and costly methods of their synthesis, as well as postsynthetic separation and transfer procedures that are not convenient for large-scale production. Here we report a novel approach to fabricate high-quality CsPbBr3 nanolasers obtained by rapid precipitation from dimethyl sulfoxide solution sprayed onto hydrophobic substrates at ambient conditions. The synthesis technique allows producing the well-separated nanowires with a broad size distribution of 2-50 μm in 5-7 min, being the fastest method to the best of our knowledge. The formation of nanowires occurs via ligand-assisted reprecipitation triggered by intermolecular proton transfer from (CH3)2CHOH to H2O in the presence of a minor amount of water. The XRD patterns confirm an orthorhombic crystal structure of the as-grown CsPbBr3 single nanowires. Scanning electron microscopy images reveal their regular shape and truncated pyramidal end facets, while high-resolution transmission electron microscopy ones demonstrate their single-crystal structure. The lifetime of excitonic emission of the nanowires is found to be 7 ns, when the samples are excited with energy below the lasing threshold, manifesting the low concentration of defect states. The measured nanolasers of different lengths exhibit pronounced stimulated emission above 13 μJ cm-2 excitation threshold with quality factor Q = 1017-6166. Their high performance is assumed to be related to their monocrystalline structure, low concentration of defect states, and improved end facet reflectivity.

Nowadays modern science and technology require development of efficient electromagnetic emitters covering far GHz and THz ranges. Semiconductor elements with negative differential resistance (NDR) such as Gunn diodes based on GaAs and InP are well-established powerful microwave emitters. In this work the Gunn diode structure based on single GaN nanowire with the potential of THz device development was proposed and investigated both theoretically and experimentally. According to the results of the numerical modeling, the Gunn generation can be obtained in the proposed geometry. Dependence of the doping concentration on the NW length necessary for the electrons domain formation was obtained. The nanostructures were grown via molecular beam epitaxy technique. Contacts to single nanowires were fabricated with the combination of e-beam lithography and thermal evaporation. It was shown experimentally that the volt-ampere characteristics of the GaN nanowire structure possess current saturation region. Experimental results correspond well to proposed numerical model.

The results of studies of the surface of GaAs in the presence of indium and phosphorus surfactants are reported. It is shown that, as a result of their diffusion (annealing) at a temperature of 650–670°C, clusters enriched with indium are formed in the GaAs surface region. The clusters can be seen as bright spots in an image obtained by a scanning electron microscope with the use of an in-lens detector. At the same time, studies of the morphology of this surface with an atomic-force microscope show a decrease in the root-meansquare roughness of the surface after annealing (diffusion), which is indicative of the incorporation of In atoms into the GaAs crystal lattice. The clusters are responsible for changes in the Raman spectra. Specifically, an increase in the signal intensity due to surface-enhanced Raman scattering and a shift of the vibration frequency in the surface region are observed. It is found that cluster formation is defined by the crystallographic orientation of the surface and by the technological conditions of surface preparation.

In this work, we demonstrate the fabrication of differently oriented laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on hybrid metal-dielectric films. Dark-field and scanning electron microscopy images of obtained structures show a decrease in the size and period between them along the laser spot. The mapping of nonlinear optical properties of structures demonstrates two-order enhancement of SHG signal compared to the initial sample together with intense broadband photoluminescence signal. A comparison between maps and scanning electron microscopy images shows that the strongest nonlinear signal is detected in the region of the most densely located structures. We suppose that such type of structures can be used as a useful white light source for lab-on-chip devices.

The technique of pick up and transfer of nanoscaled particles from the surface of a non-conductive substrate using a tungsten tip irradiated with focused electron beam is experimentally presented. The proposed technique of manipulation is implemented in a scanning electron microscope and allows to manipulate nanoparticles, with continuous visualization of the transfer process in real-time. The mechanism of the manipulation process is presented, which is based on the electrostatic interaction of charges produced by an electron beam in the tip, particle and substrate.

Over the last five years, inorganic lead halide perovskite nanowires have emerged as prospective candidates to supersede standard semiconductor analogs in advanced photonic designs and optoelectronic devices. In particular, CsPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) perovskite materials have great advantages over conventional semiconductors such as defect tolerance, highly efficient luminescence, and the ability to form regularly shaped nano- and microcavities from solution via fast crystallization. However, on the way of electrically pumped lasing, the perovskite nanowires grown on transparent conductive substrates usually suffer from strong undesirable light leakage increasing their threshold of lasing. Here, we report on the integration of CsPbBr3 nanowires with nanostructured indium tin oxide substrates possessing near-unity effective refractive index and high conductivity by using a simple wet chemical approach. Surface passivation of the substrates is found out to govern the regularity of the perovskite resonators’ shape. The nanowires show room-temperature lasing with ultrahigh quality factors (up to 7860) which are up to four times higher than that of similar structures on a flat indium tin oxide layer, resulting in more than twofold reduction of the lasing threshold for the nanostructured substrate. Numerical modeling of eigenmodes of the nanowires confirms the key role of low-refractive-index substrate for improved light confinement in the Fabry–Pérot cavity which results in superior laser performance.

Fabrication of hybrid micro- and nanostructures with a strong nonlinear response is challenging and represents a great interest due to a wide range of photonic applications. Usually, such structures are produced by quite complicated and time-consuming techniques. This work demonstrates laser-induced hybrid metal-dielectric structures with strong nonlinear properties obtained by a single-step fabrication process. We determine the influence of several incident femtosecond pulses on the Au/Si bi-layer film on produced structure morphology. The created hybrid systems represent isolated nanoparticles with a height of 250–500 nm exceeding the total thickness of the Au-Si bi-layer. It is shown that fabricated hybrid nanostructures demonstrate enhancement of the SHG signal (up to two orders of magnitude) compared to the initial planar sample and a broadband photoluminescence signal (more than 200 nm in width) in the visible spectral region. We establish the correlation between nonlinear signal and phase composition provided by Raman scattering measurements. Such laser-induced structures have significant potential in optical sensing applications and can be used as components for different nanophotonic devices.

Microdisk lasers demonstrate high performance and low threshold characteristics due to supporting of whispering gallery modes with a high quality factor. One of the challenging problems impeding some practical applications of whispering gallery mode lasers is that they have isotropic emission predominantly lying in the plane of the cavity. In this work, we present a novel method that provides both enhancement of the laser emission and modifies its directivity, making the vertical direction favorable. Electromagnetic energy outcouples from the cavity through the platinum–carbon plasmonic wire nanoantenna grown by electron-beam assisted deposition right up the side wall of the cavity. Evanescent field of whispering gallery mode excites surface plasmon polariton which propagates along the nanoantenna and scatters at its tip. We demonstrate 20× enhancement of the dominant mode intensity with 24 dB of side mode suppression increment without essential worsening of the Q-factor which remains over 3 × 104. The pr...

It has been demonstrated experimentally that the local irradiation of a thin gold film on glass with electrons with an energy of 5 keV led to an increase in the thickness of the irradiated area. When the film was subjected to local irradiation with electrons with an energy of 25 keV, the irradiated region became thinner and a gold ring was formed along the perimeter of this region. At high densities of the electron current, thickened regions of the film assumed the shape of fractal nanostructures. The observed effects were induced by the formation of a negative charge region on the surface of glass (or in the bulk of it) and the migration of positive gold ions into this region.

Recently, hybrid halide perovskites have emerged as one of the most promising types of materials for thin-film photovoltaic and light-emitting devices because of their low-cost and potential for high efficiency. Further boosting their performance without detrimentally increasing the complexity of the architecture is critically important for commercialization. Despite a number of plasmonic nanoparticle based designs having been proposed for solar cell improvement, inherent optical losses of the nanoparticles reduce photoluminescence from perovskites. Here we use low-loss high-refractive-index dielectric (silicon) nanoparticles for improving the optical properties of organo-metallic perovskite (MAPbI3) films and metasurfaces to achieve strong enhancement of photoluminescence as well as useful light absorption. As a result, we observed experimentally a 50% enhancement of photoluminescence intensity from a perovskite layer with silicon nanoparticles and 200% enhancement for a nanoimprinted metasurface with silicon nanoparticles on top. Strong increase in light absorption is also demonstrated and described by theoretical calculations. Since both silicon nanoparticle fabrication/deposition and metasurface nanoimprinting techniques are low-cost, we believe that the developed all-dielectric approach paves the way to novel scalable and highly effective designs of perovskite based metadevices.

The authors at ANU were supported by the Australian Research Council. The authors at DSI were supported by DSI core funds and A*STAR SERC Pharos program, Grant 152 73 00025 (Singapore).

Inorganic cesium lead halide perovskite nanowires, generating laser emission in the broad spectral range at room temperature and low threshold, have become powerful tools for the cutting-edge applications in the optoelectronics and nanophotonics. However, to achieve high-quality nanowires with the outstanding optical properties, it was necessary to employ long-lasting and costly methods of their synthesis, as well as postsynthetic separation and transfer procedures that are not convenient for large-scale production. Here we report a novel approach to fabricate high-quality CsPbBr

The resonant high-index nanostructures open opportunities for control many optical effects via optically-induced electric and magnetic Mie resonances, mostly localized inside the structures. Especial interest such nanostructures represent for quantum emitters placed inside, that makes possible enhancement of quantum source emission through resonant coupling to localized modes. We have proposed the concept of active dielectric nanoantennas based on nanodiamonds with embedded NV-centers. The study of theoretically dependence of optical properties of this system on the spectral position of the resonant modes has demonstrated that that at some sizes of the diamond spherical particles and certain position of the dipole in the sphere the Purcell factor can achieve the value of 30. We have demonstrated experimentally that the photoluminescence properties of the NV-centers can be controlled via scattering resonances and observed a decrease of the NV-centers lifetime in the studied diamond particles, as compared to nonresonant nanodiamonds. These results are in a good agreement with our theoretical calculations for the average Purcell factor for multiple NV-centers within a nanoparticle. The simplicity of the proposed concept compared to existing photonic cavity systems and applicability for a wide range of color centers in diamond make active diamond nanoantenna an effective tool for creating controllable emitting elements in the visible range for future nanophotonic devices.

© 2018 American Chemical Society. Halide perovskites are known to support excitons at room temperatures with high quantum yield of luminescence that make them attractive for all-dielectric resonant nanophotonics and meta-optics. Here we report the observation of broadly tunable Fano resonances in halide perovskite nanoparticles originating from the coupling of excitons to the Mie resonances excited in the nanoparticles. Signatures of the photon-exciton ("hybrid") Fano resonances are observed in dark-field spectra of isolated nanoparticles, and also in the extinction spectra of aperiodic lattices of such nanoparticles. In the latter case, chemical tunability of the exciton resonance allows reversible tuning of the Fano resonance across the 100 nm bandwidth in the visible frequency range, providing a novel approach to control optical properties of perovskite nanostructures. The proposed method of chemical tuning paves the way to an efficient control of emission properties of on-chip-integrated light-emitting nanoantennas.

We suggest a novel class of active nanoantennas based on diamond nanoparticles with embedded nitrogen-vacancy centres coupled to Mie resonances of nanoparticles. We theoretically study the optical properties of such nanoantennas including the field enhancement and Purcell effect, and experimentally demonstrate the enhancement of the fluorescence rate of the emitters due to particle resonances, as compared to a nonresonant regime. Our results pave the way towards active dielectric nanophotonics for quantum light sources, bioimaging, and quantum information processing.

Nanoantennas made of high-index dielectrics with low losses in visible and infrared frequency ranges have emerged as a novel platform for advanced nanophotonic devices. On the other hand, halide perovskites are known to possess high refractive index, and they support excitons at room temperature with high binding energies and quantum yield of luminescence that makes them very attractive for all-dielectric resonant nanophotonics. Here we employ halide perovskites to create light-emitting nanoantennas with enhanced photoluminescence due to the coupling of their excitons to dipolar and multipolar Mie resonances. We demonstrate that the halide perovskite nanoantennas can emit light in the range of 530-770 nm depending on their composition. We employ a simple technique based on laser ablation of thin films prepared by wet-chemistry methods as a novel cost-effective approach for the fabrication of resonant perovskite nanostructures.

Achieving efficient localization of white light at the nanoscale is a major challenge due to the diffraction limit, and nanoscale emitters generating light with a broadband spectrum require complicated engineering. Here we suggest a simple, yet highly efficient, nanoscale white-light source based on a hybrid Si/Au nanoparticle with ultrabroadband (1.3–3.4 eV) spectral characteristics. We incorporate this novel source into a scanning-probe microscope and observe broadband spectrum of photoluminescence that allows fast mapping of local optical response of advanced nanophotonic structures with submicron resolution, thus realizing ultrabroadband near-field nanospectroscopy.

Resonant high-index nanostructures possess unique properties allowing development of nanophotonic devices: surprising ways of emission manipulation at subwavelength scale, efficient control of radiation pattern, and low dissipative losses. Here, the resonant properties of nanodiamonds with NV-centers in visible region were studied and the influence of resonance nature of nanodiamonds on the luminescence lifetime at zero-phonon line was demonstrated.

We analyze the optical forces acting on a nanoparticle placed in the vicinity of a plasmonic interface. We show that the under oblique plane wave excitation the nanoparticle excites surface plasmon polariton propagating along the plasmonic interface. The momentum conservation law in the plane of the interface results in appearance of optical recoil force attracting the particle to the source of light. The analyzed recoil force could increase the radiation pressure force by an order of magnitude.

Here we present a method of particle pick-and-place manipulation, which is based on electrostatic interaction between objects charged under the beam of a scanning electron microscope. This method allows well-controlled pickup, transport and placement of micro- and nanoparticles as well as visualization of the process and the result of manipulation in real time on electron images. Manipulation of Al"2O"3, WO"3 and tungsten particles under the influence of the electric field proposed by a charged metalized tip was experimentally demonstrated. We also created a theoretical model, which is based on the assumption that the dielectrophoretic force created by the charged metallic tip pulls a particle whereas the van der Waals force retains it on a substrate.

Nanostructures made of high-index semiconductors (n > 2.5) with the several orders of magnitude lower losses than noble metals possess (Au, Ag, Pt etc.) are gaining high interest in recent years for various advanced optical applications, including nanothermometry and optical heating. Owing to the high-Q of Mie-optical modes that are being supported by the nanostructures, such nanoresonators can be considered as a powerful tool for light absorption at the nanoscale. However, high potential of resonant semiconductor nanoparticles in drug release and delivery applications has not been studied yet. In this work, we prove both experimentally and theoretically that optically resonant iron-oxide (III) (Fe2O3) can be employed as a remote optical trigger for thermal rupture of polymer microcontainers used as a drug delivery platform. Such approach allows one to measure real-time temperature via thermally sensitive Raman signal of iron-oxide nanoparticles, that were embedded into the walls of microcontainers. We believe that, suggested system consisting of resonant semiconductor nanoparticles and polymer carrier capsules can serve as a highly efficient drug delivery platform with controllable remote release with temperature feedback.

The hybrid halide perovskites is a prospective material for fabrication of cost-effective optical devices. Unique perovskites properties are used for solar cells and different photonic applications. Recently, perovskite-based nanophotonics has emerged. Here, we consider perovskite like a high-refractive index dielectric material, which can be considered to be a basis for nanoparticles fabrication with Mie resonances. As a result, we fabricate and study resonant perovskite nanoparticles with different sizes. We reveal, that spherical nanoparticles show enhanced photoluminescence signal. The achieved results lay a cornerstone in the field of novel types of organic-inorganic nanophotonics devices with optical properties improved by Mie resonances.

High-index dielectric (Si) nanoantennas providing outcoupling of light from InAs/Ga(Al)As quantum dot (QD) microdisk lasers have been designed. The spatial distribution of light emitted from optically pumped QD microdisk lasers with a single Si spherical nanoantenna placed on the top surface of the microdisk was studied experimentally by confocal optical microscopy. Dependences of the emission intensity on the size and position of the Si nanoantenna were investigated. It was found that the laser mode to be outcoupled can be selected by choosing the nanosphere position with respect to the mode electromagnetic field maximum. Optimization of the Si nanoantenna parameters resulted in a 23-fold increase of the emission intensity at the location of the Si nanoantenna (whereas the total intensity enhanced 4 times) compared to the emission intensity from the initial microdisk laser without significant deterioration of the resonator quality factor.

Precise mass detectors based on an amorphous carbon nanowires, which localized on the top of a tungsten tip were fabricated and investigated. The nanowires were grown in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) chamber using focused electron beam technique. The movement trajectories and amplitude-frequency characteristics of the carbon nanowire oscillators were visualized at low and ambient pressure using SEM and confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM), respectevely. The SiO2 and TiO2 nanospheres were clamped on the top of the carbon nanowires. The manipulations of nanospheres were provided by means of dielectrophoretic force in SEM. The sensitivity of the mass detector based on the carbon nanowire oscillator was estimated.

We reveal remarkable substrate-driven transformations of electric and magnetic dipole resonances of a silicon nanoparticle on metal, manifesting as the modification of Q-factor of the resonances followed by strong enhancement of the respective fields.

Hybrid halide perovskites have emerged as one of the most promising type of materials for thin-film photovoltaic and light-emitting devices. Further boosting their performance is critically important for commercialization. Here we use femtosecond laser for post-processing of organo-metalic perovskite (MAPbI3) films. The high throughput laser approaches include both ablative silicon nanoparticles integration and laser-induced annealing. By using these techniques, we achieve strong enhancement of photoluminescence as well as useful light absorption. As a result, we observed experimentally 10-fold enhancement of absorbance in a perovskite layer with the silicon nanoparticles. Direct laser annealing allows for increasing of photoluminescence over 130%, and increase absorbance over 300% in near-IR range. We believe that the developed approaches pave the way to novel scalable and highly effective designs of perovskite based devices.

We proposed a numerical model of the Gunn diode and resonant diode based on a single nitride nanowire. Important model parameters needed for development of the considered devices, namely layers thickness, composition and doping level were evaluated. It has been shown theoretically that the single GaN nanowire based Gunn diode is capable to operate in over 1 THz frequency regime.

A scanning ion-conductance microscope was designed on the basis of scanning probe microscope NanoTutor. The optimal parameters of nanopipettes fabrication were found according to scanning electron microscopy diagnostics, current-distance I (Z) and current-voltage characteristics. A comparison of images of test objects, including biological samples, was carried out in the modes of optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy and scanning ion-conductance microscopy. Sphere-shaped nanopippettes probes were developed and tested to increase the stability of pipettes, reduce invasiveness and improve image quality of atomic force microscopy in tapping mode. The efficiency of sphere-shaped nanopippettes is shown.

We investigate electrical characteristics of GaN, GaAs and GaP NWs which are grown with MOCVD and MBE. We developed measurement technique and it allows to determine the required properties of the structures.

Surface electromagnetic waves are characterized by the intrinsic spin-orbit interaction which results in the fascinating spin-momentum locking. Therefore, directional coupling of light to surface waves can be achieved through chiral nanoantennas. Here, we show that dielectric nanoantenna provides chiral response with strong spectral dependence due to the interference of electric and magnetic dipole momenta when placed in the vicinity of the metal-air interface. Remarkably, chiral behaviour in the proposed scheme does not require elliptical polarization of the pump beam or the geometric chirality of the nanoantenna. We show that the proposed ultracompact and simple dielectric nanoantenna allows for both directional launching of surface plasmon polaritons on a thin gold film and their demultiplexing with a high spectral resolution.

We review methods and instruments for micromanipulation in electron microscopes. This kind of manipulation allows handling of individual micro- and nanoobjects with nanometer precision. Most known micromanipulation technique in an electron microscope is mechanical (or contact) manipulation. In this case positioning of an object is performed either with a needle-shaped probe tip or with a microgripper attached to a micromanipulator, while the electron microscope serves as an imaging tool. The other possibility is non-contact manipulation which is based on intrinsic features of the electron microscope. For instance an electron beam could charge illuminated objects which may cause their motion resulted from electrostatic interaction. Another feature is generation of electromagnetic field by passing electrons; this causes polarization of the object and therefore its movement. The review consists of four sections. In the first section we describe forces which act on a supported particle under electron beam illumination. Second part is dedicated to mechanical manipulation where we review various commercial and hand-made systems. In particular, we pay special attention to non-standard manipulation techniques (such as automatic manipulation) or investigation of mechanical properties of micro- and nanoobjects (adhesion, hardness, friction) using micromanipulators. The third and forth parts describe electrostatic and electromagnetic manipulation methods, respectively. These methods are much less known and the number of publications related to them is quite limited, therefore we describe each work in details.

Electrically driven microdisk lasers with top contacts made of a semitransparent conducting pyrolytic carbon film are developed. Electrical properties of the pyrolytic carbon contact to a p-type doped GaAs epitaxial layer are studied. Room temperature electroluminescence spectra from an array of the microdisk lasers and a single 27 μm in diameter microdisk laser are demonstrated.

Far field emission of optically pumped QD microdisk lasers with spherical Si nanoantenna placed on the top surface of microdisk is studied theoretically and experimentally. The interaction of the whispering gallery mode microdisk resonator with properly designed and positioned Si nanospheres results in improvement of light outcoupling and directed emission.

Electrical properties of single GaN nanowires grown by means of molecular beam epitaxy with N-plasma source were studied. Ohmic contacts connected to single n-type GaN wires were produced by the combination of electron beam lithography, metal vacuum evaporation and rapid thermal annealing technique. The optimal annealing temperature to produce ohmic contacts implemented in the form of Ti/Al/Ti/Au stack has been determined. By means of 2-terminal measurement wiring diagram the conductivity of single NW has been obtained for NWs with different growth parameters. The method of MESFET measurement circuit layout of single GaN nanowires (NWs) has been developed. In accordance with performed numerical calculation, free carriers' concentration and mobility of single NWs could be independently estimated using MESFET structure.

It is shown experimentally that the irradiation of thin Al and Au films of thickness 50 to 100 nm on a silicate glass surface by electrons results in effects that differ principally depending on the electron energy. For energies of 5 to 15 keV, the irradiation leads to an increase in the film thickness throughout the irradiated zone and a decrease in the thickness in the surrounding area. For an energy of 25 keV, the irradiation leads to dissolving the Au film in glass in the irradiated zone. The mechanisms of the observed effects are discussed.

Nano Letters, 19 (2), ISSN:1530-6984, ISSN:1530-6992