Angewandte
Chemie
[
19]
confirms that these nanosheets could be applied for asym-
metric light propagation in photonic circuits.
backward output intensity, respectively. According to this
formula, the calculated C value of the examined nanosheet is
0.89, which is high enough for applications in nanoscale
photonic devices. By changing the size of the nanosheets
(Figure S4), we can further control the propagation length to
modulate the intensity contrast and diode efficiency. When
the laser beam was focused on two opposite obtuse corners
(Figure 5d,e), the nanosheet showed two asymmetric light
propagation channels, providing a way to manipulate the
photonic signals in multiple directions. According to the
corresponding spatially resolved PL spectra (Figure 5 f), the
calculated C values of the two propagation channels are 0.93
and 0.88. We believe this kind of asymmetric propagation will
play a fundamental role in creating a new generation of
miniaturized all-optical logic devices.
This asymmetric light propagation in the nanosheets is
pertinent to the molecular-packing modes in the crystal,
because the molecular stacking as well as the direction of its
optical transition dipole determine the final optical proper-
[
17]
ties. If the electric field of the incident light is parallel to the
transition dipole moment of oriented molecules, the PL is
maximized with a high absorption cross section and prop-
agation efficiency. In our case, the transition dipole of the
AMN molecule is parallel to the naphthalene long axis in the
p-conjugated plane, pointing in the direction of the amido
groups. The well-defined rhombic nanosheet crystal has four
AMN molecules in one unit cell, in which the four molecules
display a centrosymmetric arrangement (Figure 4d; Fig-
ure S3). When a unit cell was excited, the emitted light was
guided mainly along the directions of the components of the
transition dipole for the two front molecules (solid arrows).
As a result of this ensemble behavior, characteristic of
repeated unit cells in a single-crystal nanosheet, the two out-
coupled edges (Figure 4b, solid arrows) are much brighter
than their opposite edges.
In summary, we have controlled the formation of distinct
self-assembled nanostructures (nanowires and nanosheets)
and the photonic properties of organic materials by rational
molecular design. Different dominant intermolecular inter-
actions (H bonding, p–p stacking), based on molecular
moieties with different structural and conformational char-
acteristics, were responsible for the formation of organic
nanostructures with distinct morphologies. The nanowires
had low dissipation of light during propagation, while the
nanosheets displayed interesting asymmetric light propaga-
tion, which originated from the molecular-packing modes in
the aggregated nanostructure. The ability to asymmetrically
propagate light makes these nanosheets promising candidates
for optical planar diodes, which is important to control the
flow of photons. These results should be useful for the
investigation of active photonic devices and could have
significant potential for future integrated photonic circuits.
This asymmetric propagation makes the organic rhombic
nanosheets suitable for optical planar diodes, which are
optical analogues of the well-known and widely used elec-
[18]
tronic diodes.
By changing the input position on the
nanosheet, we can achieve different functions for this optical
device. When the excitation laser is focused on two opposite
edges with the same excitation power, emitted light is allowed
to travel from one side to the other in the forward direction,
while transmission in the opposite direction is inhibited
(
Figure 5a,b). The corresponding PL spectra (Figure 5c)
quantitatively demonstrated the excellent performance for
unidirectional signal transfer with different loss coefficients R
Received: April 8, 2013
Published online: && &&, &&&&
À1
À1
(
0.106 dBmm forward, and 0.573 dBmm backward). The
intensity contrast (C) between the two output edges is defined
as C = (I ÀI )/(I +I ), where I and I are the forward and
Keywords: materials science · nanophotonics ·
organic nanomaterials · self-assembly · waveguides
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Figure 5. a,b) PL images obtained from a single sheet by exciting two
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(
a,b). d,e) PL images obtained from the sheet by exciting two opposite
obtuse corners. f) The corresponding spatially resolved PL spectra of
the edges (marked with 1–4) shown in (d,e).
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 1 – 6
ꢀ 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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