Plasmonics and its Applications

Plasmonics is a rapidly developing field that combines fundamental research and applications ranging from areas such as physics to engineering, chemistry, biology, medicine, food sciences, and the environmental sciences. Plasmonics appeared in the 1950s with the discovery of surface plasmon polaritons. Plasmonics then went through a novel propulsion in the mid-1970s, when surface-enhanced Raman scattering was discovered. Nevertheless, it is in this last decade that a very significant explosion of plasmonics and its applications has occurred. Thus, this book provides a snapshot of the current advances in these various areas of plasmonics and its applications, such as engineering, sensing, surface-enhanced fluorescence, catalysis, and photovoltaic devices

Experimental study of hot spots in gold/glass nanocomposites films by photoemission electron microscopy

International audienceIn this paper, an experimental study of hot spots in gold/dielectric films using photoemission electron microscopy is reported. This technique allows a characterization of the statistical optical properties with unprecedented accuracy in the 800- to 1040-nm range. Theoretical predictions of the scaling theory on the number and intensity wavelength dependences of hot spots in the near-infrared are confirmed. Statistical properties of the intensity distribution, spectral behavior, and spatial localization of the hot spots are reported

Advances in ultrafast plasmonics

In the past twenty years, we have reached a broad understanding of many light-driven phenomena in nanoscale systems. The temporal dynamics of the excited states are instead quite challenging to explore, and, at the same time, crucial to study for understanding the origin of fundamental physical and chemical processes. In this review we examine the current state and prospects of ultrafast phenomena driven by plasmons both from a fundamental and applied point of view. This research area is referred to as ultrafast plasmonics and represents an outstanding playground to tailor and control fast optical and electronic processes at the nanoscale, such as ultrafast optical switching, single photon emission and strong coupling interactions to tailor photochemical reactions. Here, we provide an overview of the field, and describe the methodologies to monitor and control nanoscale phenomena with plasmons at ultrafast timescales in terms of both modeling and experimental characterization. Various directions are showcased, among others recent advances in ultrafast plasmon-driven chemistry and multi-functional plasmonics, in which charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom are exploited to provide active control of the optical and electronic properties of nanoscale materials. As the focus shifts to the development of practical devices, such as all-optical transistors, we also emphasize new materials and applications in ultrafast plasmonics and highlight recent development in the relativistic realm. The latter is a promising research field with potential applications in fusion research or particle and light sources providing properties such as attosecond duration

Latest Novelties on Plasmonic and Non-Plasmonic Nanomaterials for SERS Sensing

An explosion in the production of substrates for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has occurred using novel designs of plasmonic nanostructures (e.g., nanoparticle self-assembly), new plasmonic materials such as bimetallic nanomaterials (e.g., Au/Ag) and hybrid nanomaterials (e.g., metal/semiconductor), and new non-plasmonic nanomaterials. The novel plasmonic nanomaterials can enable a better charge transfer or a better confinement of the electric field inducing a SERS enhancement by adjusting, for instance, the size, shape, spatial organization, nanoparticle self-assembly, and nature of nanomaterials. The new non-plasmonic nanomaterials can favor a better charge transfer caused by atom defects, thus inducing a SERS enhancement. In last two years (2019–2020), great insights in the fields of design of plasmonic nanosystems based on the nanoparticle self-assembly and new plasmonic and non-plasmonic nanomaterials were realized. This mini-review is focused on the nanoparticle self-assembly, bimetallic nanoparticles, nanomaterials based on metal-zinc oxide, and other nanomaterials based on metal oxides and metal oxide-metal for SERS sensing

Application of Novel Plasmonic Nanomaterials on SERS

During these past two decades, the fabrication of ultrasensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates has explosed by using novel plasmonic materials such bimetallic materials (e [...

Plasmonic Nanostructures Prepared by Soft UV Nanoimprint Lithography and Their Application in Biological Sensing

We prepared high-density plasmonic nanostructures on a glass substrate. By using soft UV nanoimprint lithography, gold nanodisks with a diameter of 65 nm were obtained on an area of 1 mm2. We tested these gold nanosensors in the biotin/streptavidin system to study their selectivity and sensitivity of detection. The prepared gold nanodisks could detect streptavidin at 10 pM

Applications of Shell-Isolated Nanoparticle-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is mainly used as an analysis or detection tool of biological and chemical molecules. Since the last decade, an alternative branch of the SERS effect has been explored, and named shell-isolated nanoparticle Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS) which was discovered in 2010. In SHINERS, plasmonic cores are used for enhancing the Raman signal of molecules, and a very thin shell of silica is generally employed for improving the thermal and chemical stability of plasmonic cores that is of great interest in the specific case of catalytic reactions under difficult conditions. Moreover, thanks to its great surface sensitivity, SHINERS can enable the investigation at liquid–solid interfaces. In last two years (2019–2020), recent insights in this alternative SERS field were reported. Thus, this mini-review is centered on the applications of shell-isolated nanoparticle Raman spectroscopy to the reactions with CO molecules, other surface catalytic reactions, and the detection of molecules and ions