Terahertz linear/non-linear anomalous Hall conductivity of moiré TMD hetero-nanoribbons as topological valleytronics materials.

Twisted moiré van der Waals heterostructures hold promise to provide a robust quantum simulation platform for strongly correlated materials and realize elusive states of matter such as topological states in the laboratory. We demonstrated that the moiré bands of twisted transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) hetero-nanoribbons exhibit non-trivial topological order due to the tendency of valence and conduction band states in K valleys to form giant band gaps when spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is taken into account. Among the features of twisted WS[Formula: see text]/MoS[Formula: see text] and WSe[Formula: see text]/MoSe[Formula: see text], we found that the heavy fermions associated with the topological flat bands and the presence of strongly correlated states, enhance anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) away from the magic angle. By band analysis, we showed that the topmost conduction bands from the ± K-valleys are perfectly flat and carry a spin/valley Chern number. Moreover, we showed that the non-linear anomalous Hall effect in moiré TMD hetero-nanoribbons can be used to manipulate terahertz (THz) radiation. Our findings establish twisted heterostructures of group-VI TMD nanoribbons as a tunable platform for engineering topological valley quantum phases and THz non-linear Hall conductivity.

Tunable spatial fractional derivatives with graphene-based transmit arrays.

The optical implementation of mathematical spatial operators is a critical step toward achieving practical high-speed, low-energy analog optical processors. In recent years, it has been shown that using fractional derivatives in many engineering and science applications leads to more accurate results. In the case of optical spatial mathematical operators, the derivatives of the first and second orders have been investigated. But no research has been performed on fractional derivatives. On the other hand, in previous studies, each structure is dedicated to a single integer order derivative. This paper proposes a tunable structure made of graphene arrays on silica to implement fractional derivative orders smaller than two, as well as first and second orders. The approach used for derivatives implementation is based on the Fourier transform with two graded index lenses positioned at the structure's sides and three stacked periodic graphene-based transmit arrays in middle. The distance between the graded index lenses and the nearest graphene array is different for the derivatives of order smaller than one and between one and two. In fact, to implement all derivatives, we need two devices with the same structure having a slight difference in parameters. Simulation results based on the finite element method closely match the desired values. Given the tunability of the transmission coefficient of the proposed structure in the approximate amplitude range of [0,1] and phase range of [-180, 180], on top of the acceptable implementation of the derivative operator, this structure allows obtaining other spatial multi-purpose operators, which are a prelude to achieving analog optical processors and even improving the optical studies performed in image processing.

A microfluidic device to separate high-quality plasma from undiluted whole blood sample using an enhanced gravitational sedimentation mechanism.

The growing interest in lab-on-a-chip systems for plasma separation has led to the presentation of various devices. Trench-based devices benefiting from gravitational sedimentation are efficient structures with air-locking and low speed-drawbacks. The present study introduces a fast, hemolysis-free, highly efficient blood plasma separation microfluidic device. The proposed device is based on gravitational sedimentation combined with dielectrophoresis force to promote the purity of the separated plasma, reduce the separation process time, and overcome the air-locking problem. The effect of geometrical parameters on the separation process is investigated using finite element analysis to attain optimal design specifications. A drop of whole blood (10 µl) is injected into the fabricated chip at four flow rates of 70 nl/s to 100 nl/s. It takes less than 4 min to obtain 2.2 µl plasma from undiluted blood without losing plasma proteins. Additionally, a porous Melt-Blown Polypropylene (MBPP) layer is used to eliminate the air-locking problem, which in previous trench-based microsystems led to time-consuming device preparation steps. Blood samples with various hematocrits (15%-65%) are tested with the applied voltages of 0-20 Vpp through the optimized structure. A purity of 99.98% ± 0.02% (evaluated by hemocytometry) is achieved using optimized dielectrophoresis force by the applied voltage of 20 Vpp, which is more than the previous studies. The UV-Visible spectroscopy results confirm obtaining a non-hemolyzed sample at a flow rate of 70 nl/s. The proposed device achieves a relative increase in the flow rate compared to similar previous studies while maintaining the high quality of the separated plasma. This achievement lies in using the MBPP layer and combining two separation methods.

Plasmon-induced transparency based on a triangle cavity coupled with an ellipse-ring resonator.

In this paper, a novel compact plasmonic system is introduced to realize the phenomenon of plasmon-induced transparency. The proposed device consists of a triangle defect coupled with an ellipse-ring resonator based on a metal-insulator-metal platform. By the finite-difference time-domain method, the transmission characteristics are numerically studied in detail. In order to verify the simulation results, the coupled mode theory is utilized. In the following, the effect of geometrical parameters, namely, the major and minor radii of the ellipse-ring and the gap between cavities, are investigated. Moreover, the fundamental factors of transmission spectra including intrinsic Drude loss and refractive index of dielectric region are studied. As a result, the transmission peak is obtained near 70% and the full width at half-maximum is close to 28 nm. The sensitivity and figure of merit of the proposed structure are 860 nm/RIU and 31.6 RIU-1, respectively. The mentioned compact structure has the ability and potential to be used in integrated optical circuits like slow light devices, nanoscale filters and nanosensors.

All-optical tunable slow light achievement in photonic crystal coupled-cavity waveguides.

In this paper, a tunable low power slow light photonic crystal device with a silicon-on-insulator platform is proposed based on the combination of an asymmetric defects coupled-cavity waveguide and the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) phenomenon. Modulating the refractive index of special regions in the suggested structure by the EIT phenomenon leads to a relatively wideband slow light device with adjustable group index in the same structure. Using this feature, a small and compact delay line is introduced that has many applications in optical telecommunications, especially in buffers. The numerical calculations show that the group index of 80-98 over the slow light bandwidth from 3.2 to 2.6 nm is achievable for the central wavelength of 1546-1555 nm, respectively. The device malfunction, due to fabrication errors, is modeled, and the tunable characteristics of the proposed structure are verified.