2-D Polymer/Plasmonic Nanostructured Arrays and their Potential Applications

众所周知，如果任何材料的尺寸缩小到纳米尺度，其性质就会发生变化。 现在可以开发许多材料，例如金属和聚合物，以便在纳米级上组合时产生新的特性。 该项目研究了从贵金属（银和金）和聚合物的组合中可以获得的不同和有用的新特性，两者都具有纳米级的尺寸。 因此，本研究的目标是生产，研究和利用具有不同形状的纳米颗粒的二维组装体的独特性质，这些纳米颗粒包含在专门选择的聚合物中，用于稳定和组装这些纳米颗粒。 这些信息将用于开发更复杂的结构，例如两种不同类型的金属纳米颗粒阵列和三维聚合物/纳米颗粒组装体，作为未来研究计划的一部分。 这种新的材料组合将被用于潜在的应用，如光学元件、光电开关和用于纳米级力测量的光机械设备。这些应用可能会导致新的产品，有助于技术和经济的增长。第二部分：技术总结银和金在纳米尺度上的等离子体性质吸引了许多研究人员在不同领域的不同令人兴奋的应用。本研究的目标是生产，研究和利用胶体等离子体纳米粒子的二维组件的独特性能，这些纳米粒子由不同形状的特殊选择的聚合物组成，这些聚合物既可以作为稳定的纳米粒子封端配体，也可以作为组装剂。 该聚合物将用于使用快速且具有成本效益的Langmuir-Blodgett单层沉积将纳米颗粒自组装成高度有序的等离子体阵列。将使用不同长度、化学官能度和组成的大分子来检查阵列的排序以及通过在不同纳米颗粒上耦合等离子体激元模式而导致的电子和光学性质的变化。 实验将通过使用离散偶极近似的计算来补充，以进一步从根本上了解阵列的光学特性以及它们与较小的聚集体或单个等离子体纳米颗粒的光学特性的不同之处。 该阵列也将被检查其潜在的用途作为灵活的光学偏振器和过滤器，光电开关，和光机械设备的纳米级力测量。

PART I: NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYIt is well known that if the size of any material is reduced to the nanometer scale, its properties change. Many materials, e.g. metallic and polymeric, can now be developed so as to yield new properties when combined on the nanoscale. This project examines the different and useful new properties that can be obtained from a combination of precious metals (silver and gold) and polymers, both having sizes on the nanoscale. The goal of this research is thus to produce, study, and exploit the unique properties of two-dimensional assemblies of nanoparticles having different shapes included within specially-chosen polymers that serve to both stabilize and assemble these nanoparticles. This information will be used to develop more complex structures, such as arrays of two different types of metal nanoparticles and three-dimensional polymer/nanoparticle assemblies, as part of future research plans. The new combination of materials will be examined for potential applications such as optical components, opto-electronic switches and opto-mechanical devices for nanoscale force measurements. These applications could lead to new products, helping technological and economic growth.PART II: TECHNICAL SUMMARYThe plasmonic properties of silver and gold on the nanoscale have attracted the attention of many researchers in different fields for different exciting applications. The goal of this research is to produce, study, and exploit the unique properties of two-dimensional assemblies of colloidal plasmonic nanoparticles consisting of different shapes with specially-chosen polymers that serve as both stabilizing nanoparticle-capping ligands and assembling agents. The polymers will be used to direct self-assembly of the nanoparticles into highly-ordered plasmonic arrays using the rapid and cost-effective Langmuir-Blodgett monolayer deposition. The ordering of the arrays and the resulting changes in electronic and optical properties through coupling of plasmonic modes on different nanoparticles will be examined using macromolecules of different lengths, chemical functionalities, and compositions. Experiments will be complemented by calculations using the discrete dipole approximation to further fundamentally understand the optical properties of the arrays and how they differ from those of smaller aggregates or individual plasmonic nanoparticles. The arrays will also be examined for their potential use as flexible optical polarizers and filters, opto-electronic switches, and opto-mechanical devices for nanoscale force measurements.