Development and applications of novel plasmonic nanomaterials

拟议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个的金或银纳米晶体构建块-具有明确的大小和形状(立方体、笼子、棒)-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介质衬底上来创建。这项拟议的研究计划在材料和应用方面都是新颖的：-新材料不仅将利用偶极模式，而且将使用比传统使用的偶极模式更窄、对周围环境变化更敏感的四极模式和混合等离子模式。-将利用不同等离子激元模式之间的相互作用在这种材料中产生类似Fano的共振。-将实现层内和层间等离子体耦合的控制。-分析物/受体分子将被放置在衬底平面，以利用独特的局部场增强。-这些材料将与光纤设备集成，以开发独特的传感平台。-它们将提高等离子体硅太阳能电池和波导的性能。所有建议的计划将使人们更好地了解支持的金属纳米结构的光学特性，并设计新型等离子体纳米材料。我们相信，拟议的研究计划可能会在应用纳米技术领域带来突破。我们期待新型等离子体纳米材料将在通信、传感、成像、光子学、太阳能器件和纳米机器人的制造方面产生影响，从而促进知识的进步和生活质量的提高。

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.