Bilkent University National Nanotechnology Research Center’s (UNAM) Asst. Prof. Serkan Kasırga has recently had two research articles selected for the Nanoscale Horizons 10th Anniversary Themed Collection, curated by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The collection, which features only 26 articles in total, highlights outstanding, high-quality, and impactful research from the African and Middle East region.
The first article, entitled “Plasmon-enhanced Photoresponse of Single Silver Nanowires and Their Network Devices,” investigates the photoresponse of silver nanowires (Ag NWs) and their network structures under light exposure. As promising alternatives to conventional transparent and flexible electrodes widely used in optoelectronic devices, these conductive nanostructures were found to undergo heating due to surface plasmons that are generated upon illumination. This plasmon-induced heating alters their electrical behavior. Notably, the study revealed that localized heating at the contact points between the silver nanowires and metal electrodes leads to a negative change in conductivity. Furthermore, this effect was significantly enhanced by decorating the surfaces of the nanowires with silver nanoparticles. These findings pave the way for a novel approach in developing next-generation plasmonic sensing technologies that operate without the need for spectroscopic measurements.
The second article, “Room-Temperature Insulator–Metal Transition Induced by Ionic Transport in Single-Crystalline Cu₂Se,” reports the observation of a room-temperature insulator-to-metal transition in single-crystalline copper selenide (Cu₂Se) for the first time. The research team synthesized ultra-thin and large-area Cu₂Se crystals using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method and conducted a detailed investigation of the electronic and ionic behaviors of the material. The results revealed that the mobility of copper ion vacancies leads to a dramatic reduction in the material’s electrical resistance by a factor of approximately one million. This transition was detected not only electrically but also optically. These findings highlight Cu₂Se as both a superionic conductor as well as a promising candidate for next-generation electronic and optoelectronic technologies, where phase transitions can be used for functional control.
Asst. Prof. Talip Serkan Kasırga’s publications are available at the link below:
