Hot electrons and electromagnetic effects in the broadband Au, Ag, and Ag-Au nanocrystals: The UV, visible, and NIR plasmons

Energetic and optical properties of plasmonic nanocrystals strongly depend on their sizes, shapes, and composition. Whereas using plasmonic nanoparticles in biotesting has become routine, applications of plasmonics in energy are still early in development. Here, we investigate hot electron (HE) generation and related electromagnetic effects in both mono- and bi-metallic nanorods (NRs) and focus on one promising type of bi-metallic nanocrystals - core-shell Au-Ag nanorods. The spectra of the NRs are broadband, highly tunable with their geometry, and have few plasmon resonances. In this work, we provide a new quantum formalism describing the HE generation in bi-metallic nanostructures. Interestingly, we observe that the HE generation rate at the UV plasmon resonance of Au-Ag NRs appears to be very high. These HEs are highly energetic and suitable for carbon-fuel reactions. Simultaneously, the HE generation at the longitudinal plasmon (L-plasmon) peaks, which can be tuned from the yellow to near-IR, depends on the near-field and electromagnetic Mie effects, limiting the HE efficiencies for the long and large NRs. These properties of the L-plasmon relate to all kinds of NRs (Au, Ag, and Au-Ag). We also consider the generation of the interband d-holes in Au and Ag, since the involvement of the d-band is crucial for the energetic properties of UV plasmons. The proposed formalism is an important development for the description of bi-metallic (or tri-metallic, or more complex) nanostructures, and it paves the way to the efficient application of the plasmonic HEs and hot holes in sensing, nanotechnology, photocatalysis, and electrophotochemistry

Coulomb dissociation of N 20,21

Neutron-rich light nuclei and their reactions play an important role in the creation of chemical elements. Here, data from a Coulomb dissociation experiment on N20,21 are reported. Relativistic N20,21 ions impinged on a lead target and the Coulomb dissociation cross section was determined in a kinematically complete experiment. Using the detailed balance theorem, the N19(n,γ)N20 and N20(n,γ)N21 excitation functions and thermonuclear reaction rates have been determined. The N19(n,γ)N20 rate is up to a factor of 5 higher at

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI <18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For schoolaged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI <2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI >2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesit

Polarization switch between parallel and orthogonal collective resonances in aluminum arrays

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Polarization switching between parallel and orthogonal collective resonances in arrays of metal nanoparticles

International audienceIn this work, we discuss excitation of orthogonal and parallel collective resonances in rectangular arrays of aluminum nanoparticles and switch between them with a change of array dimensions or polarization. We demonstrate that in the case of the substrate, scattered fields from nanoparticles can interact with each other in directions both parallel and orthogonal to the external electric field, which results in manifestation of the parallel coupling when localized plasmon resonance is near its spectral position. In this work, the parallel diffraction waves couple with in-plane quadrupolar mode excited with a scattered field coming from the neighboring nanoparticles. The rate of the parallel coupling depends on the interparticle distance, which allows us to control the intensity of the coupled mode

Influence of the CTAB surfactant layer on optical properties of single metallic nanospheres

International audienceWe evaluate experimentally and theoretically the role of the residual ligands and ambient environment refractive index on the optical response of a single spherical gold nanoparticle on a substrate and demonstrate the changes in the near and far-field properties of its hybridized modes in the presence of the CTAB layer. Particularly, we show that the conventional bilayer scheme for CTAB is not relevant for colloidal nanoparticles deposited on a substrate. We show that this CTAB layer considerably changes the amplitude and localization of the confinement of electric field which is of prime importance in the design of plasmonic complex systems coupled to emitters. Moreover, we numerically study the influence of CTAB layer on the modification of sensitivity of plasmonic resonances of a gold nanopshere to local refractive index changes

Refractive index mediated plasmon hybridization in an array of aluminium nanoparticles

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