Development and applications of novel plasmonic nanomaterials

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The proposed research program will develop novel plasmonic nanomaterials. These nanomaterials will be created from individual gold or silver nanocrystal building blocks- of well-defined size and shape (cubes, cages, bars) by assembling them in two and three dimensional structures on a dielectric substrate using several wet chemistry approaches. This proposed research program is novel in both materials and application: - novel materials will make use not only of dipolar, but also of quadrupolar and hybrid plasmonic modes that are more narrow and sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment than the traditionally used dipolar mode. - interaction between different plasmon modes will be used to create Fano-like resonances in such materials. - control of intra- and inter-layer plasmonic coupling will be achieved. - the analyte/receptor molecules will be placed in the substrate plane to capitalize on unique local field enhancement. - these materials will be integrated with fiber optic devices to develop a unique sensing platform. - they will improve the performance of plasmonic silicon solar cells and waveguides. Overall the proposed program will lead to a better understanding of the optical properties for supported metal nanostructures and design of novel plasmonic nanomaterials. We believe the proposed research program could potentially lead to a breakthrough in the area of applied nanotechnology. We expect that novel plasmonic nanomaterials will have impact in communication, sensing, imaging, photonics, solar power devices, and fabrication of nanorulers, thus contributing to the advancement of knowledge and improvement of quality of life.