Applied physics. Molecular tuning of quantum plasmon resonances

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy: Current Understanding, Challenges, and Opportunities

While surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has experienced substantial advancements since its discovery in the 1970s, it is an opportunity to celebrate achievements, consider ongoing endeavors, and anticipate the future trajectory of SERS. In this perspective, we encapsulate the latest breakthroughs in comprehending the electromagnetic enhancement mechanisms of SERS, and revisit CT mechanisms of semiconductors. We then summarize the strategies to improve sensitivity, selectivity, and reliability. After addressing experimental advancements, we comprehensively survey the progress on spectrum-structure correlation of SERS showcasing their important role in promoting SERS development. Finally, we anticipate forthcoming directions and opportunities, especially in deepening our insights into chemical or biological processes and establishing a clear spectrum-structure correlation.

Administration of small-molecule guanabenz acetate attenuates fatty liver and hyperglycemia associated with obesity

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by excessive accumulation of hepatic triglycerides (TG) and hyperglycemia arising due to persistent insulin resistance, and is profoundly linked to obesity. However, there is currently no established treatment for NAFLD in obese human subjects. We previously isolated Helz2, the expression of which was upregulated in human and mouse NAFLD, and its deletion activated the hepatic expression of functional leptin receptor long form (Leprb) and suppressed NAFLD development and body weight (BW) gain in obese mice. A high-throughput assay of small-molecule drugs revealed that guanabenz acetate (Ga), originally used to treat hypertension, possesses a high affinity constant against HELZ2, and its administration activates LEPRB expression in HepG2 cells in vitro. The chronic oral administration of Ga shows the selective leptin sensitization in the liver via upregulation of hepatic Leprb expression, which affects expression of genes involved in lipogenesis and fatty acid β-oxidation and diminishes hepatocyte hypertrophy with droplets enriched in TG in high-fat diet-induced obese mice. This activity significantly improves insulin resistance to decrease hyperglycemia and hepatocyte and adipocyte weights, resulting in BW reduction without reducing food intake. Regarding drug repositioning, Ga has the potential to effectively treat NAFLD and hyperglycemia in obese patients.

Suppressing Molecular Charging, Nanochemistry, and Optical Rectification in the Tip-Enhanced Raman Geometry

Classical versus quantum plasmons are responsible for the recorded signals in non-contact-mode versus contact-mode tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) and lead to distinct observables. Under otherwise identical experimental conditions, we illustrate the concept through tapping- and contact-mode TERS mapping of chemically functionalized silver nanocubes. Whereas molecular charging, chemical transformations, and optical rectification are prominent observables in contact-mode TERS, the same effects are suppressed using tapping-mode feedback. In effect, this work demonstrates that nanoscale physical and chemical processes can be accessed and/or suppressed on demand in the TERS geometry. The advantages of tapping-mode TERS are otherwise highlighted with the latter in mind.

On the Fano Line Shape of Single Molecule Electroluminescence Induced by a Scanning Tunneling Microscope

The coupling between molecular exciton and gap plasmons plays a key role in single molecular electroluminescence induced by a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). But it has been difficult to clarify the complex experimental phenomena. By employing the nonequilibrium Green's function method, we propose a general theoretical model to understand the light emission spectrum of single molecule and gap plasmons from an energy transport point of view. The coherent interaction between gap plasmons and molecular exciton leads to a prominent Fano resonance in the emission spectrum. We analyze the dependence of the Fano line shape on the system parameters, based on which we provide a unified account of several recent experimental observations. Moreover, we highlight the effect of the tip-molecule electronic coupling on the spectrum.

Strongly Asymmetric Spectroscopy in Plasmon-Exciton Hybrid Systems due to Interference-Induced Energy Repartitioning

Recent intense effort has been devoted to exploring different manifestations of resonant excitations of strongly coupled plasmons and excitons, but so far such studies have been limited to situations where the Fano- or Rabi-type spectra are largely symmetric at zero detuning. Using a newly developed full quantum mechanical model, here we reveal the existence of a highly asymmetric spectroscopic regime for both the Rabi splitting and transparency dip. The asymmetric nature is inherently tied to the non-negligible exciton absorbance and is caused by substantial interference-induced energy repartitioning of the resonance peaks. This theoretical framework can be exploited to reveal the quantum behaviors of the two excitation entities with varying mutual coupling strengths in both linear and nonlinear regimes. We also use prototypical systems of rhodamine molecules strongly coupled with AuAg alloyed nanoparticles and well-devised control experiments to demonstrate the validity and tunability of the energy repartitioning and correlated electronic state occupations, as captured by the variations in the asymmetric spectroscopy and corresponding nonlinear absorption coefficient as a function of the Au:Ag ratio. The present study helps to substantially enrich our microscopic understanding of strongly coupled plasmon-exciton systems.

Photonics and spectroscopy in nanojunctions: a theoretical insight

Green function methods for photonics and spectroscopy in nanojunctions.

Quantum mechanical effects in plasmonic structures with subnanometre gaps

Metallic structures with nanogap features have proven highly effective as building blocks for plasmonic systems, as they can provide a wide tuning range of operating frequencies and large near-field enhancements. Recent work has shown that quantum mechanical effects such as electron tunnelling and nonlocal screening become important as the gap distances approach the subnanometre length-scale. Such quantum effects challenge the classical picture of nanogap plasmons and have stimulated a number of theoretical and experimental studies. This review outlines the findings of many groups into quantum mechanical effects in nanogap plasmons, and discusses outstanding challenges and future directions.

Atomistic electrodynamics simulations of bare and ligand-coated nanoparticles in the quantum size regime

The optical properties of metallic nanoparticles with nanometre dimensions exhibit features that cannot be described by classical electrodynamics. In this quantum size regime, the near-field properties are significantly modified and depend strongly on the geometric arrangements. However, simulating realistically sized systems while retaining the atomistic description remains computationally intractable for fully quantum mechanical approaches. Here we introduce an atomistic electrodynamics model where the traditional description of nanoparticles in terms of a macroscopic homogenous dielectric constant is replaced by an atomic representation with dielectric properties that depend on the local chemical environment. This model provides a unified description of bare and ligand-coated nanoparticles, as well as strongly interacting nanoparticle dimer systems. The non-local screening owing to an inhomogeneous ligand layer is shown to drastically modify the near-field properties. This will be important to consider in optimization of plasmonic nanostructures for near-field spectroscopy and sensing applications.

Investigating the properties of metallic nanoparticles in the 2–10 nm range is a computational challenge. Here, the authors introduce an atomistic electrodynamics model to describe bare and coated particles and dimers, and show that the ligand layer modifies the near-field properties of the particles.

Optical field enhancement of nanometer-sized gaps at near-infrared frequencies

We report near-field and far-field measurements of transmission through nanometer-sized gaps at near-infrared frequencies with varying the gap size from 1 nm to 10 nm. In the far-field measurements, we excluded direct transmission on the metal film surface via interferometric method. Kirchhoff integral formalism was used to relate the far-field intensity to the electric field at the nanogaps. In near-field measurements, field enhancement factors of the nanogaps were quantified by measuring transmission of the nanogaps using near-field scanning optical microscopy. All the measurements produce similar field enhancements of about ten, which we put in the context of comparing with the giant field enhancements in the terahertz regime.

Probing the quantum tunneling limit of plasmonic enhancement by third harmonic generation

Metal nanostructures provide extreme focusing of optical energy that is limited fundamentally by quantum tunneling. We directly probe the onset of the quantum tunneling regime observed by a sharp reduction in the local field intensity in subnanometer self-assembled monolayer gaps using third harmonic generation. Unlike past works that have inferred local limits from far-field spectra, this nonlinear measurement is sensitive to the near-field intensity as the third power. We calculate the local field intensity using a quantum corrected model and find good quantitative agreement with the measured third harmonic. The onset of the quantum regime occurs for double the gap size of past studies because of the reduced barrier height of the self-assembled monolayer, which will be critical for many applications of plasmonics, including nonlinear optics and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy.