Development and applications of novel plasmonic nanomaterials

提出的研究计划将开发新型等离子体纳米材料。这些纳米材料将由单独的金或银纳米晶体构建块（具有明确的尺寸和形状（立方体、笼状、条状））制成，通过使用几种湿化学方法将它们组装成二维和三维结构在电介质衬底上。本文提出的研究方案在材料和应用上都是新颖的：新型材料将不仅利用偶极，而且利用四极和杂化等离子体模式，这些模式比传统使用的偶极模式更窄，对周围环境的变化更敏感。-不同等离子体模式之间的相互作用将用于在此类材料中产生类似法诺的共振。-层内和层间等离子体耦合的控制将实现。-分析物/受体分子将放置在衬底平面上，以利用独特的局部场增强。-这些材料将与光纤设备集成，以开发一个独特的传感平台。-它们将改善等离子体硅太阳能电池和波导的性能。总的来说，该计划将有助于更好地理解支撑金属纳米结构的光学特性和新型等离子体纳米材料的设计。我们相信拟议的研究计划可能会导致应用纳米技术领域的突破。我们期望新型等离子体纳米材料将对通信、传感、成像、光子学、太阳能器件和纳米统治者的制造产生影响，从而为知识的进步和生活质量的提高做出贡献。

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.