Harnessing Asymmetry in Hybrid Metal Nanocrystal Assemblies

金属纳米颗粒之间的相互作用产生高度增强的局部电场，最近成为广泛应用于传感、光电子和光学薄膜的物理、化学和生物学领域的战略领域。更大的、高度对称的纳米粒子组件的新光学特征可能会通过破坏结构对称性而发生巨大变化，从而导致独特的现象，如法诺共振。该项目旨在扩展金属纳米粒子组件，使其在明确的位置包含荧光团，从而创建固有的可切换的对称破缺。在这种结构中包含额外的功能对于它们在智能光学薄膜和可切换设备中的使用是必不可少的。

The interaction between metallic nanoparticles creates highly enhanced, localised electric fields and has recently emerged as a strategic area widely applicable across physics, chemistry and biology for sensing, optoelectronics and optical films. The novel optical signatures of larger, highly symmetric nanoparticle assemblies may be drastically changed by breaking the structural symmetry, leading to unique phenomenon such as Fano-like resonances. This project aims to extend metal nanoparticle assemblies to include fluorophores in well-defined positions, creating an inherent and switchable symmetry breaking. Inclusion of additional functionality into such structures is essential for their use in smart optical films and switchable devices.