Quantitative Measurement of Surface Plasmon-Enhanced Electromagnetic Fields on Single Plasmonic Nanostructures

David Wei教授是佛罗里达大学化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目的一名研究人员，他的研究方向是在单纳米粒子水平上对表面等离子体共振（SPR）增强电磁场（EM）强度进行直接定量评估。这些方法允许绘制各向异性纳米结构表面“热点”的横向空间分布，此外，允许在纳米尺度上对局部消光剖面、极化依赖和单个热点的超快激发态动力学进行彻底的研究。为了进一步了解纳米局部热点的性质和起源，我们详细分析了局部纳米结构几何形状与局部SPR属性之间的精确关系。长期目标是极大地促进新型等离子体纳米材料的发展，这些材料具有优化的性能，可用于生物医学和太阳能领域，包括单分子传感和太阳能光催化。拟议项目的发现旨在开发新的等离子体纳米材料和技术，促进公共健康和清洁能源，这对国家的未来至关重要。该项目更广泛的教育影响是对下一代生物医学传感和太阳能生产科学家的指导和启发。魏教授和他的团队特别关注扩大在科学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。在学生指导和课程开发的同时，魏教授积极开展持续的外展活动，向高中学生、教师和公众普及等离子体纳米材料。

Prof. Wei David Wei at the University of Florida is being supported by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry in developing methods and strategies for a direct and quantitative evaluation of the magnitude of surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-enhanced electromagnetic (EM) fields at the single-nanoparticle level. These methods are to allow the mapping of the lateral spatial distribution of "hot spots" on the surfaces of anisotropic nanostructures and, furthermore, to permit a thorough investigation into the local extinction profiles, polarization dependences, and ultra-fast excited state dynamics of individual hot spots at the nanometer scale. A detailed analysis of the precise correlation between local nanostructure geometry and the attributes of the resulting localized SPR is being made in order to significantly advance the understanding of the nature and origin of nano-localized hot spots. The long-range objective is to greatly facilitate the development of new classes of plasmonic nanomaterials with properties optimized for applications in the biomedical and solar energy fields, including single-molecule sensing and solar photocatalysis.Discoveries from the proposed project are targeted at the development of new plasmonic nanomaterials and technologies that promote public health and clean energy, both vital to the nation's future. The broader educational impact of this program is to be the instruction and inspiration of the next generation of scientists in biomedical sensing and solar energy production. Prof. Wei and his group are specifically focusing on broadening the participation of groups underrepresented in the sciences. In conjunction with student mentorship and curriculum development, Prof. Wei is active in ongoing outreach activities to educate high school students, teachers, and the general public on plasmonic nanomaterials.