Raman Monitoring of the Electro-Optical Synergy-Induced Enhancements in Carbon-Bromine Bond Cleavage, Reaction Rate, and Product Selectivity of p-Bromothiophenol

Electro-optical synergy has recently been targeted to improve the separation of hot carriers and thereby further improve the efficiency of plasmon-mediated chemical reactions (PMCRs). However, the electro-optical synergy in PMCRs needs to be more deeply understood, and its contribution to bond dissociation and product selectivity needs to be clarified. Herein, the electro-optical synergy in plasmon-mediated reduction of p-bromothiophenol (PBTP) was studied on a plasmonic nanostructured silver electrode using in situ Raman spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. It was found that the electro-optical synergy-induced enhancements in the cleavage of carbon-bromine bonds, reaction rate, and product selectivity (4,4'-biphenyl dithiol vs thiophenol) were largely affected by the applied bias, laser wavelength, and laser power. The theoretical simulation further clarified that the strong electro-optical synergy is attributed to the matching of energy band diagrams of the plasmonic silver with those of the adsorbed PBTP molecules. A deep understanding of the electro-optical synergy in PBTP reduction and the clarification of the mechanism will be highly beneficial for the development of other highly efficient PMCRs.

Near-Infrared Dual-Band LSPR Coupling in Oriented Assembly of Doped Metal Oxide Nanocrystal Platelets

Coupling effects of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) represent an efficient means to tune the plasmonic modes and to enhance the near-field. While LSPR coupling in metal nanoparticles has been extensively explored, limited attention has been given to heavily doped semiconductor nanocrystals. Here, we investigate the LSPR coupling behavior of Cs-doped tungsten oxide (CsxWO3-δ) nanocrystal platelets as they undergo an oriented assembly into parallel stacks. The oriented assembly was achieved by lowering the dispersion stability of the colloidal nanoplatelets, of which the basal surface was selectively ligand-functionalized. This assembly induces simultaneous blue-shifts and red-shifts of dual-mode LSPR peaks without compromising the intensity and quality factor. This stands in contrast to the significant damping, broadening, and overall red-shift of the LSPR observed in random assemblies. Computational simulations successfully replicate the experimental observations, affirming the potential of this coupling phenomenon of near-infrared dual-mode LSPR in diverse applications including solar energy, bio-optics, imaging, and telecommunications.

Surface plasmon-assisted catalytic reduction of p-nitrothiophenol for the detection of Fe2+ by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Herein, we developed a concise, time-efficient, and high selective assay for detecting Fe2+ through its triggered surface plasmon-assisted reduction reaction of p-nitrothiophenol (PNTP) to p,p'-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) on the surface of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. When Fe2+ was added to the PNTP-AuNPs system, the appearance of three characteristic peaks at 1142, 1392, and 1440 cm-1 attributed to DMAB demonstrated that Fe2+ induced the catalytic coupling reaction of PNTP. The Raman intensity ratio of the peak at 1142 cm-1 to the peak at 1336 cm-1 and the concentration of Fe2+ presented a good linear response from 10 to 100 μM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.35 μM. More importantly, the entire detection process can be completed within 2 min and further successfully used for the detection of Fe2+ in river water.

Fluorescence enhancement of surface plasmon coupled emission by Au nanobipyramids and its modulation effect on multi-wavelength radiation

Surface plasmon coupled emission (SPCE), a novel surface-enhanced fluorescence technique, can generate directional and amplified radiation by the intense interaction between fluorophores and surface plasmons (SPs) of metallic nanofilms. For plasmon-based optical systems, the strong interaction between localized and propagating SPs and "hot spot" structures show great potential to significantly improve the electromagnetic (EM) field and modulate optical properties. Au nanobipyramids (NBPs) with two sharp apexes to enhance and restrict the EM field were introduced through electrostatic adsorption to achieve a mediated fluorescence system, and the emission signal enhancement was realized by factors over 60 compared with the normal SPCE. It has been demonstrated that the intense EM field produced by the NBPs assembly is what triggered the unique enhancement of SPCE by Au NBPs, which effectively overcomes the inherent signal quenching of SPCE for ultrathin sample detection. This remarkable enhanced strategy offers the chance to improve the detection sensitivity for plasmon-based biosensing and detection systems, and expand the range of applications for SPCE in bioimaging with more comprehensive and detailed information acquisition. The enhancement efficiency for various emission wavelengths was investigated in light of the wavelength resolution of SPCE, and it was discovered that enhanced emission for multi-wavelength could be successfully detected through the different emission angles due to the angular displacement caused by wavelength change. Benefit from this, the Au NBP modulated SPCE system was employed for multi-wavelength simultaneous enhancement detection under a single collection angle, which could broaden the application of SPCE in simultaneous sensing and imaging for multi-analytes, and expected to be used for high throughput detection of multi-component analysis.

Highly Responsive Near-Infrared Si/Sb2Se3 Photodetector via Surface Engineering of Silicon

The development of imaging technology and optical communication demands a photodetector with high responsiveness. As demonstrated by microfabrication and nanofabrication technology advancements, recent progress in plasmonic sensor technologies can address this need. However, these photodetectors have low optical absorption and ineffective charge carrier transport efficiency. Sb₂Se₃ is light-sensitive material with a high absorption coefficient, making it suitable for photodetector applications. We developed an efficient, scalable, low-cost near-infrared (NIR) photodetector based on a nanostructured Sb₂Se₃ film deposited on p-type micropyramidal Si (made via the wet chemical etching process), working on photoconductive phenomena. Our results proved that, at the optimized thickness of the Sb₂Se₃ layer, the proposed Si micropyramidal substrate enhanced the responsivity nearly two times, compared with that of the Sb₂Se₃ deposited on a flat Si reference sample and a glass/Sb₂Se₃ sample at 1064 nm (power density = 15 mW/cm²). More interestingly, the micropyramidal silicon-based device worked at 0 V bias, paving a path for self-bias devices. The highest specific detectivity of 2.25 × 10¹⁵ Jones was achieved at 15 mW/cm² power density at a bias voltage of 0.5 V. It is demonstrated that the enhanced responsivity was closely linked with field enhancement due to the Kretschmann configuration of Si pyramids, which acts as hot spots for Si/Sb₂Se₃ junction. A high responsivity of 47.8 A W^-1 proved it suitable for scalable and cost-effective plasmonic-based NIR photodetectors.

Application of Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance of Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles in Spectral Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2: A Numerical Study

Severe respiratory syndrome COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak has became the most important global health issue, and simultaneous efforts to fast and low-cost diagnosis of this virus were performed by researchers. One of the most usual tests was colorimetric methods based on the change of color of gold nanoparticles in the presence of viral antibodies, antigens, and other biological agents. This spectral change can be due to the aggregation of the particles or the shift of localized surface plasmon resonance due to the electrical interactions of surface agents. It is known that surface agents could easily shift the absorption peak of metallic nanocolloids which is attributed to the localized surface plasmon resonance. Experimental diagnosis assays for colorimetric detection of SARS-CoV-2 using Au NPs were reviewed, and the shift of absorption peak was studied from the viewpoint of numerical analysis. Using the numerical method, the refractive index and real and imaginary parts of the effective relative permittivity of the viral biological shell around Au NPs were obtained. This model gives a quantitative description of colorimetric assays of the detection of SARS-CoV-2 using Au NPs.

Effect of surface plasmon on optical detection of picosecond ultrasonic pulses generated in aluminum nanofilms

Photoacoustic and thermoacoustic detection methods, including picosecond ultrasonic laser sonar based on metallic thin films, are widely used in industrial applications for their noninvasiveness. Herein, we present our findings on the phase advance effect of laser-induced picosecond ultrasonic signals in surface plasmon detection in Al nanofilms. Al has been extensively studied as a promising surface plasmon material in the ultraviolet region. Reflection time-resolved spectroscopy was integrated with a Kretschmann configuration to study the optical detection mechanisms with and without meeting the surface plasmon phase-matching condition. Through a comparison of the phase changes in picosecond ultrasonic pulses at different optical detection angles, we attributed the observed phase delay modification to the displacement of the detection region under the surface plasmon phase-matching condition.

Sub-bandgap near-infrared photovoltaic response in Au/Al2O3/n-Si metal-insulator-semiconductor structure by plasmon-enhanced internal photoemission

Silicon sub-bandgap near-infrared (NIR) (λ > 1100 nm) photovoltaic (PV) response by plasmon-enhanced internal photoemission was investigated. The Si sub-bandgap NIR PV response, which remains unexploited in Schottky junction-like solar cell device, was examined using nanometer sized Au/Al₂O₃/n-Si junction arrays. This kind of metal-insulator-semiconductor structure was similar in functionality to Schottky junction in NIR absorption, photo-induced charge separation and collection. It showed that NIR absorption increased steadily with increasing volume of Au nanoparticles (NPs) till a saturation was reached. Simulation results indicated the formation of localized surface plasmon on the surfaces of Au NPs, which was correlated well with the observed NIR absorption. On the other hand, the NIR PV response was found sensitive to the amount and size of Au NPs and thickness of Al₂O₃. Chemical and field-effect passivation of n-Si by using Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ were used to optimize the NIR PV response. In the current configuration, the best PV conversion efficiency was 0.034% at λ = 1319 nm under illumination power of 0.1 W/cm².

Selective adsorption of cysteamine molecules on Au/TiO2 boosts visible light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Photocatalytic evolution of hydrogen is becoming a research hotspot because it can help to produce clean energy and reduce environmental pollution. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and its composites are photocatalysts that are widely used in hydrogen evolution because of their high abundance in nature, low price, and high photo/chemical stability. However, their catalytic performances still need to be further improved, particularly in the visible light spectrum. Herein, visible light-driven photocatalytic evolution of hydrogen on Au/TiO₂ nanocomposite is enhanced ∼ 10 folds by selectively functionalizing the nanocomposite with cysteamine molecules. It is revealed that the amine group (-NH₂) in cysteamine favors the transfer and separation of photo-generated hot carriers. The rate of hydrogen produced can be further tuned by varying the ionization of the functionalized molecules at different pH values. This work provides a simple, convenient, and effective method that can be used to improve the photocatalytic evolution of hydrogen. This method can also be used for many other nanocatalysts (e.g., Au-MoS₂, Au-BiVO₄) and catalytic reactions (e.g., carbon dioxide reduction, nitrogen reduction).

Long-range surface plasmon aptasensor for label-free monitoring of vancomycin

Vancomycin (VCM) causes poisoning symptoms at high concentrations; thus, therapeutic drug monitoring is recommended to measure and control blood levels regularly. However, blood analysis at regular intervals does not allow knowing the detailed temporal change in concentration. To address this challenge, we developed a long-range surface plasmon (LRSP) aptasensor for measuring VCM label-free and real-time by combining a sensitive LRSP sensor and a peptide aptamer with a VCM recognition site. First, three different biosensors for VCM were compared. One was prepared by immobilizing the peptide aptamer directly on (Direct-Apt) or via a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold surface (SAM-Apt). The other used anti-VCM antibodies immobilized on a gold surface via the SAM (SAM-Ab). The Direct-Apt showed larger sensor output to VCM than the other biosensors. The dynamic range for VCM was 0.78-100 μM, including the therapeutic range (6.9-13.8 μM). The Direct-Apt also showed the sensor output only from VCM among four different antibiotics, demonstrating the high selectivity for VCM. The VCM captured by the aptamer could be removed by rinsing with phosphate-buffered saline. The measurement was rapid, with 72- and 77-sec response and recovery times, allowing not only repeated but also real-time measurements. Finally, the Direct-Apt in 20% serum solutions showed comparable sensitivity to VCM in the buffer solution, indicating high capability for real-sample.

Encrypted information reading technology at the micro/nano scale based on surface plasma-driven reactions

The plasma exciton induced photocatalytic reaction has considerable potential in terms of controllability and selectivity. In this paper, with the advantage of Raman fingerprinting, the localized photocatalytic reaction driven by surface plasmons is realized by the writing and reading process of encrypted information at the micro/nano scale. A layer of probe molecules (4-nitrobenzenethiol, 4-NBT) was assembled on a gold nanoporous array grown on porous anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) membranes. The focused Raman spot is manipulated in a two-dimensional micro/nano manipulation technique to control the movement of the spot at an excitation wavelength of 633 nm. Probe molecules within the spot trajectory will undergo a photocatalytic reaction to produce p,p'-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) molecules, thereby writing the specific information required. The use of Raman mapping to image the characteristic peaks of formed DMAB under excitation light with a longer wavelength of 785 nm enables the readout of 2D micro/nano cryptograms. Combined with finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations, it was found that the presence of a large number of regularly arranged hot spots on the surface of the array is the key to achieving the efficient photocatalytic reaction. This study enables real-time, lossless recording/reading of encrypted information with the aid of 2D Raman technology. This would be a very interesting research area with broad application in confidential information storage.

Optoplasmonic MOFs film for SERS detection

Optoplasmonic hybrid structures composed of photonic and plasmonic elements with excellent optical properties are of great significance for the development of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates. In this work, the optoplasmonic hybrid structure is composed of SiO₂ microsphere and two-dimensional (2D) plasmonic- metal organic frameworks (MOF) film. Among them, the 2D plasmonic-MOF film is prepared from silver nanoparticles encapsulated by zeolitic imidazole acid framework (AgNP@ZIF-8) by self-assembly method. This optoplasmonic hybrid structure with gas adsorption properties could be used as a SERS substrate for 4-Mercaptophenol (4-MP) gas detection. Experimental data show that this substrate is dependent on the thickness of the ZIF shell and the size of the SiO₂ microspheres. In addition, it is confirmed by the electromagnetic field simulation of finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD). The optoplasmonic hybrid microstructures exhibit good uniformity for detection of 4-MP gas molecules. This work not only broadens the understanding of our optoplasmonic hybrid structure, but also has broad application prospects in SERS and gas sensing related fields.

Giant Enhancement of Second-Harmonic Generation in Hybrid Metasurface Coupled MoS2 with Fano-Resonance Effect

Plasmonic nanostructures have been regarded as potential candidates for boosting the nonlinear up-conversion rate at the nanoscale level due to their strong near-field enhancement and inherent high design freedom. Here, we design a hybrid metasurface to realize the moderate interaction of Fano resonance and create the dual-resonant mode-matching condition to facilitate the nonlinear process of second harmonic generation (SHG). The hybrid metasurface presents dipolar and octupolar plasmonic modes near the fundamental and doubled-frequency wavelengths, respectively, further utilized to enhance the SHG of low-dimensional MoS₂ semiconductors. The maximum intensity of SHG in hybrid metasurface coupled MoS₂ is more than ten thousand times larger than that of other structure-units coupled MoS₂. The conversion efficiency is reported to be as high as 3.27 × 10^-7. This work paves the way to optimize nonlinear light-matter interactions in low-dimensional structures coupled with semiconductors.

Ultrafast chiral peptides purification via surface plasmon enhanced spin selectivity

By D-arginine and L-arginine chiral peptides induced spin selectivity and Au NPs enhanced spin polarization, chiral peptides purification has been effectively simplified and the purification performance has raised from a mixture system. The angular momentums of light are operated by the polarizer and wave plates. Au NPs decorated ZnO nanorods electrodes are utilized to modulate the polarization of spintronic. Seed growth methods are for synthesizing spherical Au NPs. UV light reduction methods are for urchin-liked Au NPs. Au NPs are decorated on ZnO nanorods electrodes for rising photon to electron conversion efficiency and enhancing spin polarization rates by surface plasmon effect. From our results, photon to the electron conversion efficiency of ZnO nanorods electrodes has effectively enhanced by urchin-liked Au NPs decorating. Ultrahigh localized plasmon conversion efficiency as high as 60% was also obtained. Besides, density functional theory (DFT) calculations simulated the force on spintronic. Since the D-arginine and L-arginine are on Au substrate, DFT results demonstrate different angular momentum and spin polarization coupling. Along with urchin-liked Au NPs rising chiral induced spin polarization by surface plasmon resonance, the sensitivity of chiral arginine has been raised around 5000% from bare ZnO nanorods electrodes. The purification and separation time of a specific chiral arginine only needs 5 min.

Nanoscale-Femtosecond Imaging of Evanescent Surface Plasmons on Silver Film by Photon-Induced Near-Field Electron Microscopy

Surface plasmons on silver nanostructures have a broad range of tunable resonance properties in visible and near-infrared regimes, which possess wide applications in nanophotonics and optoelectronics. Here we use a femtosecond laser to excite surface plasmons on a silver film and trace the subsequent transient dynamics via photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM). A polarization experiment of PINEM demonstrates a conspicuous polarization dependence of the transient surface plasmon field on the silver film; however, unlike silver nanowires and nanorods, there is no polarization dependence for the PINEM intensity. This compelling finding suggests a thin film platform can be more easily used to identify the temporal and spatial overlaps between the pump laser and probe electron pulses in 4D ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM). Our work illustrates the femtosecond excitation and transient behavior of the surface plasmons on silver film and paves a universal, simple way for identifying the time zero in 4D UEM.

Sandwich optoplasmonic hybrid structure for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Combined with photonic microstructure and plasmonic nanostructure, the optoplasmonic hybrid structure with fantastic optical properties attracts lots of attentions in recent years. With the help of light enrichment by dielectric photonic microenvironment, the embedded plasmonic nanoantennas generate much greater electromagnetic field enhancement at surface for light harvesting compared to conventional plasmonic nanostructures. In this work, a sandwich optoplasmonic hybrid structure is developed for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) detection, which is consisted of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) microspheres array, self-assembled Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) film and SiO₂ microsphere (PMMA@AgNPs@SiO₂). The SERS spectra collected on this optoplasmonic substrate point out it has high sensitivity with limit of detection (LOD) at 10 fM. The experimental data demonstrate both the PMMA microarray and SiO₂ microsphere play important roles in enrichment of light illuminating at AgNPs for SERS detection, which is confirmed by the simulated electric field distributions. This sandwich optoplasmonic hybrid structure not only enlarges research field of surface plasmon, but also provides a novel SERS subtract for sensitive analysis in chem/bio-field.

Giant Extra-Ordinary Near Infrared Transmission from Seemingly Opaque Plasmonic Metasurface: Sensing Applications

In the present study, we report giant extra-ordinary transmission of near infrared (NIR) light, more than 90%, through a seemingly opaque plasmonic metasurface, which consists of two metal nano-slits arrays (MNSAs) with alternate opening arrangements. By using perfect coupling of the plasmonic modes formed between the sharp edges of the upper and lower MNSAs of silver, a giant, wavelength selective transmission could be obtained. The study is accompanied by optimization of electromagnetic (EM) field coupling for different interlayer spacings and lateral overlap between the two MNSAs to understand their significance in light transmission through the metasurface. The interlayer spacing between the MNSAs works as the transmitting channel for light. The optimization of performance with different fill factors and plasmonic metals was performed as well. Because of the excitation of extended surface plasmons (ESPs) generated at both the MNSAs, the metasurface can be used for refractive index (RI) sensing as one of its applications by using a transparent and flexible polymer, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), as substrate. The maximum sensitivity which could be achieved for the optimal configuration of the metasurface was 1435.71 nm/RIU, with a figure of merit (FOM) of 80 RIU^-1 for 90.45% optical transmission of light for the refractive index variation of analyte medium from 1.33 to 1.38 RIU. The present study strengthens the concept of light funneling through subwavelength structures due to plasmons, which are responsible for light transmission through this seemingly opaque metasurface and finds use in highly sensitive, flexible, and cost-effective EOT-based sensors.

Plasmon-Enhanced Light Absorption in (p-i-n) Junction GaAs Nanowire Solar Cells: An FDTD Simulation Method Study

A finite-difference time-domain method is developed for studying the plasmon enhancement of light absorption from vertically aligned GaAs nanowire arrays decorated with Au nanoparticles. Vertically aligned GaAs nanowires with a length of 1 µm, a diameter of 100 nm and a periodicity of 165-500 nm are functionalized with Au nanoparticles with a diameter between 30 and 60 nm decorated in the sidewall of the nanowires. The results show that the metal nanoparticles can improve the absorption efficiency through their plasmonic resonances, most significantly within the near-bandgap edge of GaAs. By optimizing the nanoparticle parameters, an absorption enhancement of almost 35% at 800 nm wavelength is achieved. The latter increases the chance of generating more electron-hole pairs, which leads to an increase in the overall efficiency of the solar cell. The proposed structure emerges as a promising material combination for high-efficiency solar cells.

Optoplasmonic film for SERS

Combining plasmonic and photonic elements, optoplasmonic hybrid structure exhibits excellent optical properties beyond conventional plasmonic or photonic structures. In this work, the optoplasmonic film consists of SiO2 microsphere and Au film without any nanostructures is investigated. With the help of a microsphere, the intensity of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) on Au film is highly enhanced (~1000 times) compared to bare Au film. The simulated electromagnetic field points out the enhancement caused by the optical lens effect of SiO2 microsphere that high light intensity is generated under the microsphere to excite surface plasmon on Au film. Furthermore, our data demonstrates the microsphere lens enhancement is greatly influenced by the size of the SiO2 microsphere and wavelength of incident light. This interesting film with a simple configuration could overcome the challenges in the fabrication and store process induced by nanostructures, which play an important role in SERS application. Our work not only enlarges the knowledge of the optoplasmonic hybrid structure, but also exhibits excellent application prospective in light harvest field e.g. enhanced spectrum, photocatalysis, optothermal effect, and hot electron generation, etc.

Targeted Sub-Attomole Cancer Biomarker Detection Based on Phase Singularity 2D Nanomaterial-Enhanced Plasmonic Biosensor

A zero-reflection-induced phase singularity is achieved through precisely controlling the resonance characteristics using two-dimensional nanomaterials. An atomically thin nano-layer having a high absorption coefficient is exploited to enhance the zero-reflection dip, which has led to the subsequent phase singularity and thus a giant lateral position shift. We have improved the detection limit of low molecular weight molecules by more than three orders of magnitude compared to current state-of-art nanomaterial-enhanced plasmonic sensors. Detection of small cancer biomarkers with low molecular weight and a low concentration range has always been challenging yet urgent in many clinical applications such as diagnosing early-stage cancer, monitoring treatment and detecting relapse. Here, a highly enhanced plasmonic biosensor that can overcome this challenge is developed using atomically thin two-dimensional phase change nanomaterial. By precisely engineering the configuration with atomically thin materials, the phase singularity has been successfully achieved with a significantly enhanced lateral position shift effect. Based on our knowledge, it is the first experimental demonstration of a lateral position signal change > 340 μm at a sensing interface from all optical techniques. With this enhanced plasmonic effect, the detection limit has been experimentally demonstrated to be 10^-15 mol L^-1 for TNF-α cancer marker, which has been found in various human diseases including inflammatory diseases and different kinds of cancer. The as-reported novel integration of atomically thin Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ with plasmonic substrate, which results in a phase singularity and thus a giant lateral position shift, enables the detection of cancer markers with low molecular weight at femtomolar level. These results will definitely hold promising potential in biomedical application and clinical diagnostics.

Defect minimized Ag-ZnO microneedles for photocatalysis

A facile solution processing strategy has been developed for the formation of Ag-modified ZnO microneedles at various calcination temperatures such as 300, 500, and 700 °C (AZ3, AZ5, and AZ7 respectively). Due to the heavy doping of AgNO₃, Ag⁺ ions have been incorporated in to the crystal lattice of ZnO in all the Ag-ZnO samples, which facilitated the formation of Ag-ZnO microneedle morphology with minimized defect states, and obviously, the plasmon peaks were observed due to Ag modification. These Ag-ZnO microneedle structures have been evaluated for their photocatalytic performance using methylene blue as model target contaminant and their activity was compared with the commercially available titania P25 photocatalyst. The photoactivity of all the Ag-ZnO microneedle structures was significantly higher than that of the commercially available P25 photocatalyst with the most active Ag-ZnO material having a photocatalytic activity ~ 1.4 times greater than that of P25 titania.

Improved SERS Performance and Catalytic Activity of Dendritic Au/Ag Bimetallic Nanostructures Based on Ag Dendrites

Bimetallic nanomaterials, which exhibit a combination of the properties associated with two different metals, have enabled innovative applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Here, we introduce the fabrication of dendritic Au/Ag bimetallic nanostructures for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and catalytic applications. The dendritic Au/Ag bimetallic nanostructures were prepared by combining the electrochemical deposition and replacement reaction. The formation of Au nanoparticle shell on the surface of Ag dendrites greatly improves the stability of dendritic nanostructures, followed by a significant SERS enhancement. In addition, these dendritic Au/Ag bimetallic nanostructures are extremely efficient in degrading 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) compared with the initial dendritic Ag nanostructures. These experimental results indicate the great potential of the dendritic Au/Ag bimetallic nanostructures for the development of excellent SERS substrate and highly efficient catalysts.

NaGdF4:Yb,Er-Ag nanowire hybrid nanocomposite for multifunctional upconversion emission, optical imaging, MRI and CT imaging applications

The effect of novel silver nanowire encapsulated NaGdF₄:Yb,Er hybrid nanocomposite on the upconversion emission and bioimaging properties has been investigated. The upconvension nanomaterials were synthesised by polyol method in the presence of ethylene glycol, PVP and ethylenediamine. The NaGdF₄:Yb,Er-Ag hybrid was formed with upconverting NaGdF₄:Yb,Er nanoparticles of size ~ 80 nm and silver nanowires of thickness ~ 30 nm. The surface plasmon induced by the silver ion in the NaGdF₄:Yb,Er-Ag nanocomposite resulted an intense upconversion green emission at 520 nm and red emission at 660 nm by NIR diode laser excitation at 980 nm wavelength. The UV-Vis-NIR spectral absorption at 440 nm and 980 nm, the intense Raman vibrational modes and the strong upconversion emission results altogether confirm the localised surface plasmon resonance effect of silver ion in the hybrid nanocomposite. MRI study of both NaGdF₄:Yb,Er nanoparticle and NaGdF₄:Yb,Er-Ag nanocomposite revealed the T1 relaxivities of 22.13 and 10.39 mM^-1 s^-1, which are larger than the commercial Gd-DOTA contrast agent of 3.08 mM^-1 s^-1. CT imaging NaGdF₄:Yb,Er-Ag and NaGdF₄:Yb,Er respectively showed the values of 53.29 HU L/g and 39.51 HU L/g, which are higher than 25.78 HU L/g of the CT contrast agent Iobitridol. The NaGdF₄:Yb,Er and NaGdF₄:Yb,Er-Ag respectively demonstrated a negative zeta potential of 54 mV and 55 mV, that could be useful for biological application. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the NaGdF₄:Yb,Er tested in HeLa and MCF-7 cancer cell line by MTT assay demonstrated a cell viability of 90 and 80 %, respectively. But, the cell viability of NaGdF₄:Yb,Er-Ag slightly decreased to 80 and 78%. The confocal microscopy imaging showed that the UCNPs are effectively up-taken inside the nucleolus of the cancer cells, and it might be useful for NIR laser-assisted phototherapy for cancer treatment. Graphical abstract.

High Photon Absorptivity of Quantum Dot Infrared Photodetectors Achieved by the Surface Plasmon Effect of Metal Nanohole Array

With the increasing demand for small-scale photodetector devices, quantum dot-based infrared photodetectors have attracted more and more attention in the past decades. In this work, periodic metal nanohole array structures are introduced to the quantum dot infrared photodetectors to enhance the photon absorptivity performance via the surface plasmon enhancement effect in order to overcome the bottleneck of low optical absorption efficiency that exists in conventional photodetectors. The results demonstrate that the optimized metal nanohole array structures can greatly enhance the photon absorptivity up to 86.47% in the specific photodetectors, which is 1.89 times than that of conventional photodetectors without the metal array structures. The large enhancement of the absorptivity can be attributed to the local coupling surface plasmon effect caused by the metal nanohole array structures. It is believed that the study can provide certain theoretical guidance for high-performance nanoscale quantum dot-based infrared photodetectors.

Multi-plasmon resonances enhanced two-photon coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering by nanorods

The development of new structures allows two-photon coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (TPCARS) to be strongly enhanced by multiple surface plasmon resonances (MSPRs). In this paper, plasmonic structure consisting of two Ag nanorods is designed and the enhancement of TPCARS is investigated. By properly selecting designing structure parameters, strong MSPRs peaks at 1020 nm and 505 nm are obtained, which can enhance the TPCARS signal based on the frequency match of the fundamental frequency and frequency doubling. The enhancement factor of TPCARS can reach as high as 3.66 × 10²⁸ with significant electric field enhancements under appropriate selection of system parameters. Furthermore, the two-photon process can be controlled at different optical frequencies by changing the geometric parameters of Ag nanorods. The new scheme advanced in this work can help to achieve single molecule level of CARS, and may have a potential to increase the intensity and resolution of nonlinear optical imaging.

Enhanced surface plasmon microscopy based on multi-channel spatial light switching for label-free neuronal imaging

In this paper, we have investigated multi-channel switching of light incidence in multiple directions to improve image clarity in surface plasmon microscopy (SPM) for robust and consistent imaging performance regardless of the pattern geometry and shape. Multi-channel light switching in SPM allows significant reduction of adverse scattering effects by surface plasmon (SP). For proof of concept, an eight-channel spatially switched SPM (ssSPM) system has been set up. The results with reference objects including square arrays and Siemens stars experimentally confirm much improved images with ssSPM by reducing the artifacts of SP scattering significantly. On a quantitative basis, contrast analysis preformed with square arrays shows image contrast enhanced by more than three times over conventional SPM. Three image reconstruction algorithms were evaluated for optimal image acquisition. It is suggested that averaging combined with minimum-filtering produces the highest resolution. ssSPM was applied to label-free imaging of primary neuron cultures and shown to present enhanced images with clarity far better than conventional SPM.

Efficient Prediction and Analysis of Optical Trapping at Nanoscale via Finite Element Tearing and Interconnecting Method

Numerical simulation plays an important role for the prediction of optical trapping based on plasmonic nano-optical tweezers. However, complicated structures and drastic local field enhancement of plasmonic effects bring great challenges to traditional numerical methods. In this article, an accurate and efficient numerical simulation method based on a dual-primal finite element tearing and interconnecting (FETI-DP) and Maxwell stress tensor is proposed, to calculate the optical force and potential for trapping nanoparticles. A low-rank sparsification approach is introduced to further improve the FETI-DP simulation performance. The proposed method can decompose a large-scale and complex problem into small-scale and simple problems by using non-overlapping domain division and flexible mesh discretization, which exhibits high efficiency and parallelizability. Numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed method for the prediction and analysis of optical trapping at nanoscale.

Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Single Aluminum Nanostructures

Aluminum nanostructures are a promising alternative material to noble metal nanostructures for several photonic and catalytic applications, but their ultrafast electron dynamics remain elusive. Here, we combine single-particle transient extinction spectroscopy and parameter-free first-principles calculations to investigate the non-equilibrium carrier dynamics in aluminum nanostructures. Unlike gold nanostructures, we find the sub-picosecond optical response of lithographically fabricated aluminum nanodisks to be more sensitive to the lattice temperature than the electron temperature. We assign the rise in the transient transmission to electron-phonon coupling with a pump-power-independent lifetime of 500 ± 100 fs and theoretically confirm this strong electron-phonon coupling behavior. We also measure electron-phonon lifetimes in chemically synthesized aluminum nanocrystals and find them to be even longer (1.0 ± 0.1 ps) than for the nanodisks. We also observe a rise and decay in the transient transmissions with amplitudes that scale with the surface-to-volume ratio of the aluminum nanodisks, implying a possible hot carrier trapping and detrapping at the native oxide shell-metal core interface.

Plasmon-Enhanced Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer

In this review, we firstly introduce physical mechanism of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), the methods to measure FRET efficiency, and the applications of FRET. Secondly, we introduce the principle and applications of plasmon-enhanced fluorescence (PEF). Thirdly, we focused on the principle and applications of plasmon-enhanced FRET. This review can promote further understanding of FRET and PE-FRET.

A flexible control on electromagnetic behaviors of graphene oligomer by tuning chemical potential

In this work, we demonstrate that the electromagnetic properties of graphene oligomer can be drastically modified by locally modifications of the chemical potentials. The chemical potential variations of different positions in graphene oligomer have different impacts on both extinction spectra and electromagnetic fields. The flexible tailoring of the localizations of the electromagnetic fields can be achieved by precisely adjusting the chemical potentials of the graphene nanodisks at corresponding positions. The proposed nanostructures in this work lead to the practical applications of graphene-based plasmonic devices such as nanosensing, light trapping and photodetection.

High-Efficiency Plasmonic Third-Harmonic Generation with Graphene on a Silicon Diffractive Grating in Mid-infrared Region

Benefiting from the large third-order nonlinear susceptibility of graphene and significantly enhanced field intensity of graphene plasmons (GPs), graphene has shown great potentials to enhance plasmonic third-harmonic generation conversion efficiency. However, it still lacks an effective configuration that can excite the fundamental frequency (FF) GPs and guide the generated third-harmonic frequency (THF) GPs simultaneously. Here, we have proposed a diffractive silicon grating underneath a graphene sheet to generate and transmit THF GPs. The FF GPs are efficiently excited by illuminating a normal-incidence plane wave due to guided-mode resonance and then are converted to the THF GPs with a large conversion efficiency, originating from the giant field intensity of the FF GPs. We numerically demonstrate that, a large third-harmonic generation conversion efficiency of 3.68 × 10^-7 can be realized with a small incident power density of 0.19 MW/cm² at 28.62 μm. Furthermore, the generated THF GPs can be efficiently guided along low-loss GP waveguides that are connected to both sides of grating section. Our results can stimulate making graphene-based light sources for mid- and far-infrared silicon photonics.

Insights on the transport of tamoxifen by gold nanoparticles for MCF-7 breast cancer cells based on SERS spectroscopy

Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) were synthesized and modified with anti-folate receptor antibody (AB), folic acid (FA), crystal violet (CV), poly (ethyleneglycol) methyl ether thiol and the antineoplastic drug tamoxifen (TAM). Such a preparation was incubated in vitro with MCF-7 human breast cancer cells, showing a decrease in the TAM dosage for the reduction of cell viability. The adsorption of TAM on gold surface was investigated by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy and the assignment based on Density Functional Theory calculations showed that the ether moiety was involved in the interactions with the metal. Such a chemical affinity was correlated with the carrying of TAM in the biological media. CV was included in the preparation as a molecular probe for SERS spectroscopy, whose signal was monitored to analyse the efficiency of the modified AuNP in the target of neoplastic cells. The results showed AB, FA and TAM components had complementary roles in the cell recognition and, therefore, in the efficiency of the drug carrier nanosystem.

Polycrystallinity of Lithographically Fabricated Plasmonic Nanostructures Dominates Their Acoustic Vibrational Damping

The study of acoustic vibrations in nanoparticles provides unique and unparalleled insight into their mechanical properties. Electron-beam lithography of nanostructures allows precise manipulation of their acoustic vibration frequencies through control of nanoscale morphology. However, the dissipation of acoustic vibrations in this important class of nanostructures has not yet been examined. Here we report, using single-particle ultrafast transient extinction spectroscopy, the intrinsic damping dynamics in lithographically fabricated plasmonic nanostructures. We find that in stark contrast to chemically synthesized, monocrystalline nanoparticles, acoustic energy dissipation in lithographically fabricated nanostructures is solely dominated by intrinsic damping. A quality factor of Q = 11.3 ± 2.5 is observed for all 147 nanostructures, regardless of size, geometry, frequency, surface adhesion, and mode. This result indicates that the complex Young's modulus of this material is independent of frequency with its imaginary component being approximately 11 times smaller than its real part. Substrate-mediated acoustic vibration damping is strongly suppressed, despite strong binding between the glass substrate and Au nanostructures. We anticipate that these results, characterizing the optomechanical properties of lithographically fabricated metal nanostructures, will help inform their design for applications such as photoacoustic imaging agents, high-frequency resonators, and ultrafast optical switches.

Surface Plasmon Enhanced Strong Exciton-Photon Coupling in Hybrid Inorganic-Organic Perovskite Nanowires

Manipulating strong light-matter interaction in semiconductor microcavities is crucial for developing high-performance exciton polariton devices with great potential in next-generation all-solid state quantum technologies. In this work, we report surface plasmon enhanced strong exciton-photon interaction in CH₃NH₃PbBr₃ perovskite nanowires. Characteristic anticrossing behaviors, indicating a Rabi splitting energy up to ∼564 meV, are observed near exciton resonance in hybrid perovskite nanowire/SiO₂/Ag cavity at room temperature. The exciton-photon coupling strength is enhanced by ∼35% on average, which is mainly attributed to surface plasmon induced localized excitation field redistribution. Further, systematic studies on SiO₂ thickness and nanowire dimension dependence of exciton-photon interaction are presented. These results provide new avenues to achieve extremely high coupling strengths and push forward the development of electrically pumped and ultralow threshold small lasers.

Mass Measurements of Focal Adhesions in Single Cells Using High Resolution Surface Plasmon Resonance Microscopy

Surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM) is a powerful label-free imaging technique with spatial resolution approaching the optical diffraction limit. The high sensitivity of SPRM to small changes in index of refraction at an interface allows imaging of dynamic protein structures within a cell. Visualization of subcellular features, such as focal adhesions (FAs), can be performed on live cells using a high numerical aperture objective lens with a digital light projector to precisely position the incident angle of the excitation light. Within the cell-substrate region of the SPRM image, punctate regions of high contrast are putatively identified as the cellular FAs. Optical parameter analysis is achieved by application of the Fresnel model to the SPRM data and resulting refractive index measurements are used to calculate protein density and mass. FAs are known to be regions of high protein density that reside at the cell-substratum interface. Comparing SPRM with fluorescence images of antibody stained for vinculin, a component in FAs, reveals similar measurements of FA size. In addition, a positive correlation between FA size and protein density is revealed by SPRM. Comparing SPRM images for two cell types reveals a distinct difference in the protein density and mass of their respective FAs. Application of SPRM to quantify mass can greatly aid monitoring basic processes that control FA mass and growth and contribute to accurate models that describe cell-extracellular interactions.

Polymer decorated gold nanoparticles in nanomedicine conjugates

Noble metal, especially gold nanoparticles and their conjugates with biopolymers have immense potential for disease diagnosis and therapy on account of their surface plasmon resonance (SPR) enhanced light scattering and absorption. Conjugation of noble metal nanoparticles to ligands specifically targeted to biomarkers on diseased cells allows molecular-specific imaging and detection of disease. The development of smart gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that can deliver therapeutics at a sustained rate directly to cancer cells may provide better efficacy and lower toxicity for treating cancer tumors. We highlight some of the promising classes of targeting systems that are under development for the delivery of gold nanoparticles. Nanoparticles designed for biomedical applications are often coated with polymers containing reactive functional groups to conjugate targeting ligands, cell receptors or drugs. Using targeted nanoparticles to deliver chemotherapeutic agents in cancer therapy offers many advantages to improve drug/gene delivery and to overcome many problems associated with conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The targeted nanoparticles were found to be effective in killing cancer cells which were studied using various anticancer assays. Cell morphological analysis shows the changes occurred in cancer cells during the treatment with AuNPs. The results determine the influence of particle size and concentration of AuNPs on their absorption, accumulation, and cytotoxicity in model normal and cancer cells. As the mean particle diameter of the AuNPs decreased, their rate of absorption by the intestinal epithelium cells increased. These results provide important insights into the relationship between the dimensions of AuNPs and their gastrointestinal uptake and potential cytotoxicity. Furthermore gold nanoparticles efficiently convert the absorbed light into localized heat, which can be exploited for the selective laser photothermal therapy of cancer. We also review the emerging technologies for the fabrication of targeted gold colloids as imagining agents.

Multiplexed Holograms by Surface Plasmon Propagation and Polarized Scattering

Thanks to the superiority in controlling the optical wave fronts, plasmonic nanostructures have led to various striking applications, among which metasurface holograms have been well developed and endowed with strong multiplexing capability. Here, we report a new design of multiplexed plasmonic hologram, which allows for reconstruction of multiple holographic images in free space by scatterings of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waves in different propagation directions. Besides, the scattered polarization states can be further modulated by arranging the orientations of nanoscatterers. By incorporation of the SPP propagation and polarized scattering, a 4-fold hologram with low crosstalk is successfully demonstrated, which breaks the limitation of only two orthogonal states in conventional polarization multiplexers. Moreover, our design using the near-field SPP as reference wave holds the advantage for compact integration. This holographic approach is expected to inspire new photonic designs with enhanced information capacity and integratability.

Etchant-based design of gold tip apexes for plasmon-enhanced Raman spectromicroscopy

In this paper, we gain insight into the design and optimization of plasmonic (metallic) tips prepared with dc-pulsed voltage electrochemical etching gold wires, provided that, a duty cycle is self-tuned. Physically, it means that etching electrolyte attacks the gold wire equally for all pulse lengths, regardless of its surface shape. Etchant effect on the reproducibility of a curvature radius of the tip apex is demonstrated. It means that the gold conical tips can be designed chemically with a choice of proper etchant electrolyte. It is suggested to use a microtomed binary polymer blend consisting of polyamide and low density polyethylene, as a calibration grating, for optimizing and standardizing tip-enhanced Raman scattering performance.

Various Silver Nanostructures on Sapphire Using Plasmon Self-Assembly and Dewetting of Thin Films

Silver (Ag) nanostructures demonstrate outstanding optical, electrical, magnetic, and catalytic properties and are utilized in photonic, energy, sensors, and biomedical devices. The target application and the performance can be inherently tuned by control of configuration, shape, and size of Ag nanostructures. In this work, we demonstrate the systematical fabrication of various configurations of Ag nanostructures on sapphire (0001) by controlling the Ag deposition thickness at different annealing environments in a plasma ion coater. In particular, the evolution of Ag particles (between 2 and 20 nm), irregular nanoclusters (between 30 and 60 nm), and nanocluster networks (between 80 and 200 nm) are found be depended on the thickness of Ag thin film. The results were systematically analyzed and explained based on the solid-state dewetting, surface diffusion, Volmer-Weber growth model, coalescence, and surface energy minimization mechanism. The growth behavior of Ag nanostructures is remarkably differentiated at higher annealing temperature (750 °C) due to the sublimation and temperature-dependent characteristic of dewetting process. In addition, Raman and reflectance spectra analyses reveal that optical properties of Ag nanostructures depend on their morphology.

Spectrophotometric determination of L-cysteine by using polyvinylpyrrolidone-stabilized silver nanoparticles in the presence of barium ions

In this article a simple and selective colorimetric probe for cysteine determination using silver nano particles (AgNPS) is described. The determination process was based upon the surface plasmon resonance properties of polyvinylpyrrolidone-stabilized AgNPS. Interaction of AgNPS with cysteine molecules in the presence of barium ions induced a red shift in the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) maximum of AgNPs, as a result of nanoparticle aggregation. Consequently, yellow color of AgNP solution was changed to pink. The linear range for the determination of cysteine was 3.2-8.2 μM (R=0.9965) with a limit of detection equal to 2.8 μM (3σ). The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of cysteine in human plasma samples. Acceptable recovery results of the spiked samples confirmed the validity of the proposed method.

Plasmon-Enhanced Light Absorption in GaAs Nanowire Array Solar Cells

In this paper, we propose a plasmon-enhanced solar cell structure based on a GaAs nanowire array decorated with metal nanoparticles. The results show that by engineering the metallic nanoparticles, localized surface plasmon could be excited, which can concentrate the incident light and propagate the energy to nanowires. The surface plasmon can dramatically enhance the absorbance of near-bandgap light, and the enhancement is influenced by the size and material of nanoparticles. By optimizing the particle parameters, a large absorbance enhancement of 50 % at 760 nm and a high conversion efficiency of 14.5 % can be obtained at a low diameter and period ratio (D/P ratio) of 0.3. The structure is promising for low-cost high-performance nanoscale solar cells.

Plasmonic nanostructured metal-oxide-semiconductor reflection modulators

We propose a plasmonic surface that produces an electrically controlled reflectance as a high-speed intensity modulator. The device is conceived as a metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor on silicon with its metal structured as a thin patch bearing a contiguous nanoscale grating. The metal structure serves multiple functions as a driving electrode and as a grating coupler for perpendicularly incident p-polarized light to surface plasmons supported by the patch. Modulation is produced by charging and discharging the capacitor and exploiting the carrier refraction effect in silicon along with the high sensitivity of strongly confined surface plasmons to index perturbations. The area of the modulator is set by the area of the incident beam, leading to a very compact device for a strongly focused beam (∼2.5 μm in diameter). Theoretically, the modulator can operate over a broad electrical bandwidth (tens of gigahertz) with a modulation depth of 3 to 6%, a loss of 3 to 4 dB, and an optical bandwidth of about 50 nm. About 1000 modulators can be integrated over a 50 mm(2) area producing an aggregate electro-optic modulation rate in excess of 1 Tb/s. We demonstrate experimentally modulators operating at telecommunications wavelengths, fabricated as nanostructured Au/HfO2/p-Si capacitors. The modulators break conceptually from waveguide-based devices and belong to the same class of devices as surface photodetectors and vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers.

Near-field surface plasmon effects on Au-double-slit diffraction for polychromatic light

The surface plasmon effects on near-field diffraction for polychromatic light are studied. An Au-double-slit is used as the model and Fresnel integral is employed to perform the theoretic analysis. The results are illustrated with numerical examples and they show that, compared with the normal double-slit, the plasmon effect changes the spectral shift from redshift to blueshift and also enhances the intensity peak. This effect can be used in optical data transmission or specific spectral selectors.