Novel optical properties of metallic nanocavities

金属纳米空腔的新光学特性史蒂夫·布莱尔犹他大学知识优势：等离子体纳米光子学近年来是一个非常活跃的研究领域，但仍有探索的方向，充满了新发现的机会和新一代工程光子器件的意义。本研究的目的是探索位于金属纳米空腔内部和附近的分子和量子点的发射和能量转移特性；这些研究的设计考虑了设备应用。金属纳米腔中激发和辐射增强机制的完整图景尚未被描绘出来；本研究将系统地研究这些增强机制及其优化。这些研究的一个重要结果是将纳米腔增强与已发表的与纳米颗粒相关的增强进行了比较，后者受到了更大的关注。此外，还将研究位于金属纳米腔内和附近的供体和受体之间的能量转移机制。总的来说，这些研究对纳米传感器和高效发光和能量收集装置具有重要意义。更广泛的影响：新一代纳米光子器件将产生更广泛的影响，具有强烈的社会意义。例如，高灵敏度的纳米级分子换能器可以构成一种新型微阵列的基础，这种微阵列可用于从小的初始样本量筛选数千个低拷贝数目标物种，从而减轻了扩增步骤的需要。这些类型的廉价、紧凑和高度敏感的微阵列将迎来个性化医疗的新时代，基因图谱将用于疾病的诊断和治疗。参与这项研究的学生将体验到纳米腔研究前沿的跨学科环境，它融合了电气工程、生物工程、物理和化学的元素，他们将有机会与其他国际研究小组的同行合作。

Novel optical properties of metallic nanocavities0622225Steve BlairUniversity of UtahIntellectual Merit: Plasmonic nanophotonics has been an extremely active research area in recent years, but there remain directions for exploration rich with opportunities for new discoveries and implications for a new generation of engineered photonic devices. The purpose of this research is to explore the emission and energy transfer properties of molecules and quantum dots located within and nearby metal nanocavities; these studies are designed with device applications in mind. A complete picture of the excitation and radiative enhancement mechanisms in metallic nanocavities has yet to be painted; this research will systematically study these enhancement mechanisms and their optimization. One important outcome of these studies lies in the comparison of nanocavity enhancements to published enhancements associated with nanoparticles, which have received much greater attention. In addition, studies of energy transfer mechanisms between donor and acceptor species located within and in proximity to metallic nanocavities will be performed. Overall, these studies have important implications to nanosensors and efficient light-emitting and energy-harvesting devices. Broader Impact: The new generation of nanophotonic devices will have broader impacts with strong societal implications. For example, highly sensitive nanoscale moleculear transducers can form the basis for a new type of microarray which can be used to screen across many thousands of low copy number target species from small initial sample volumes, thus mitigating the need for amplification steps. These types of inexpensive, compact, and highly sensitive microarrays will usher in the new era of personalized medicine, where genetic profiles will be used in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Students involved in this research will experience an inherently cross-disciplinary environment at the forefront of nanocavity research, which incorporates elements from Electrical Engineering, Bioengineering, Physics, and Chemistry and they will have collaborative opportunities with counterparts from other, international, research groups.