REACTIVE PLASMONICS: OPTICAL CONTROL OF ELECTRONIC PROCESSES AT INTERFACES FOR NANOSCALE PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY AND METROLOGY

良导体表面附近移动的电荷载流子的相干振荡--表面等离子体激元--具有惊人的性质。光可以耦合到这些表面等离子体激元，并在金属和相邻材料之间的界面附近被它们捕获。这导致了光的纳米级限制，这是任何其他手段都不可能实现的，以及相关的电磁场增强。相关的效应和应用包括对生物传感器中使用的环境的折射率的高灵敏度、在化学传感和检测中使用的金属表面附近的拉曼散射的增强、增强的非线性光学效应、用于成像的局部光源以及许多其他。同时，参与表面等离子体激元形成的电子对金属纳米结构周围环境的影响几乎未被探索。与表面等离子体激元相关的微观电子动力学效应能够显著影响金属表面附近的物理和化学过程，这不仅是高电场的结果，而且还来自高能电子向相邻分子或材料的转移。我们建议开发一个全面的研究计划，以了解物理和利用与这种电子过程相关的应用，诱导等离子体激元激发，在设计师的纳米结构。这将为超快控制纳米级化学反应开辟新的范例，这些化学反应可以通过光、光控催化、等离子体热电子诱导的半导体器件中的光学和电学过程以及纳米级和超快温度控制以及许多其他未来技术进行切换。

The coherent oscillations of mobile charge carriers near the surface of good conductors-surface plasmons- have amazing properties. Light can be coupled to these surface plasmons and trapped by them near the interface between a metal and an adjacent material. This leads to the nanoscale confinement of light, impossible by any other means, and a related electromagnetic field enhancement. The associated effects and applications include high sensitivity to the refractive index of surroundings used in biosensors, enhancement of Raman scattering near the metal surfaces used in chemical sensing and detection, enhanced nonlinear optical effects, localised light sources for imaging, and many others. At the same time the influence of the electrons which participate in the formation of surface plasmons on the surroundings of the metal nanostructures is virtually unexplored. Microscopic electron dynamic effects associated with surface plasmons are capable of significantly influencing physical and chemical processes near the metal surface, not (only) as a result of the high electric fields, but also from the transfer of energetic electrons to the adjacent molecules or materials. We propose to develop a comprehensive research programme in order to understand the physics and harness applications associated with such electronic processes, induced by plasmonic excitations, in designer nanostructures. This will open up new paradigms in ultrafast control over nanoscale chemical reactions switchable with light, optically controlled catalysis, optical and electric processes in semiconductor devices induced by plasmonic hot-electrons, as well as nanoscale and ultrafast temperature control, and many other technologies of tomorrow.