Spectroscopy of Many-Body Processes in Nanostructures

非技术总结材料研究部的CMMT计划和人力资源开发部的HBCU-UP计划共同资助这一奖项，支持等离子体增强光学光谱的理论和计算研究方面的研究和教育。表面等离子体是一种可以在金属/介质结构界面上产生的集体电子振荡。等离子激元可以与分子和固体发生强烈的相互作用，从而显著改变它们的光学特性。在这种等离子体系统中，表面等离子体与半导体纳米结构或染料分子之间的光学相互作用构成了在光伏、光学传感和光化学等领域的众多应用的基础。该项目旨在对复杂等离子体系统的光学特性进行建模，这些特性由系统各组成部分之间的相互作用和/或能量传递过程决定。这项研究是在杰克逊州立大学进行的。杰克逊州立大学是一所历史悠久的黑人大学，主要服务于密西西比州最大城市社区的教育需求，并为传统上代表人数较少的少数族裔群体的本科生提供研究机会。杰克逊州立大学物理系的一个主要目标是增加有兴趣从事STEM学科职业的非裔美国学生的比例。该项目将通过向密西西比州的非裔美国本科生介绍纳米科学的概念和方法，增加他们的研究和教育机会。技术总结材料研究部的CMMT计划和人力资源开发部的HBCU-UP计划共同资助这个奖项，支持等离子体增强光学光谱的理论和计算研究方面的研究和教育。该项目旨在研究复杂等离子体系统中的多体和合作现象，例如与半导体纳米结构或染料分子共轭的金属或石墨烯结构。主要内容包括：i)金属核和掺杂染料介质壳的复合纳米粒子中的损耗补偿和脉冲子作用；ii)等离子体结构附近的大量荧光分子的能量传递过程；iii)杂化等离子体系统中强烈的激子-等离子体耦合；以及iv)石墨烯等离子体。主要的研究重点是系统组成之间的串扰在确定控制等离子体增强光谱现象的系统本征态结构中的作用。这些方法包括适用于具有许多组成部分的等离子体激元系统的解析和数值方法的组合。这些结果将被用来解释可用的实验数据，并对基于等离子激元的传感设备的效率进行建模。这项研究是在杰克逊州立大学进行的。杰克逊州立大学是一所历史悠久的黑人大学，主要服务于密西西比州最大城市社区的教育需求，并为传统上代表人数较少的少数族裔群体的本科生提供研究机会。杰克逊州立大学物理系的一个主要目标是增加有兴趣从事STEM学科职业的非裔美国学生的比例。该项目将通过向密西西比州的非裔美国本科生介绍纳米科学研究的概念和方法，增加他们的研究和教育机会。

NONTECHNICAL SUMMARYThe CMMT program of the Division of Materials Research and the HBCU-UP program of the division of Human Resource Development jointly fund this award that supports research and education in theoretical and computational studies of plasmon-enhanced optical spectroscopy. Surface plasmons are collective electronic oscillations that can be created at the interface of metal/dielectric structures. Plasmons can interact strongly with molecules and solids to significantly change their optical characteristics. In such plasmonic systems, the optical interactions between surface plasmons and semiconductor nanostructures or dye molecules form the basis for numerous applications in photovoltaics, optical sensing, and photochemistry, among others. This project aims at modeling the optical properties of complex plasmonic systems that are determined by interactions and/or energy transfer processes between the systems' constituent parts. The research is carried out at Jackson State University, which is a historically black university that primarily serves the educational needs of Mississippi's largest urban community and provides research opportunities to undergraduate students from traditionally underrepresented minority groups. A major goal of the Physics department at Jackson State University is to increase the fraction of African-American students interested in pursuing careers in STEM disciplines. This project will enhance the research and education opportunities for African-American undergraduate students in Mississippi by introducing them to concepts and methods of research in nanoscience.TECHNICAL SUMMARYThe CMMT program of the Division of Materials Research and the HBCU-UP program of the division of Human Resource Development jointly fund this award that supports research and education in theoretical and computational studies of plasmon-enhanced optical spectroscopy. The project aims at studying many-body and cooperative phenomena in complex plasmonic systems, such as metal or graphene structures conjugated with semiconductor nanostructures or dye molecules. The main topics include: i) loss compensation and spaser action in composite nanoparticles with metal core and dye-doped dielectric shell, ii) energy transfer processes in large ensembles of fluorophores situated near plasmonic structures, iii) strong exciton-plasmon coupling in hybrid plasmonic systems, and iv) graphene plasmonics. The main research focus is on the role of crosstalk between system constituents in determining the structure of system eigenstates that governs plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy phenomena. The methods include a combination of analytical and numerical approaches suitable for plasmonic systems with many constituent parts. The results will be used to explain available experimental data and to model the efficiency of plasmon-based sensing devices. The research is carried out at Jackson State University, which is a historically black university that primarily serves the educational needs of Mississippi's largest urban community and provides research opportunities to undergraduate students from traditionally underrepresented minority groups. A major goal of the Physics department at Jackson State University is to increase the fraction of African-American students interested in pursuing careers in STEM disciplines. This project will enhance the research and education opportunities for African-American undergraduate students in Mississippi by introducing them to concepts and methods of research in nanoscience.