Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Item
    Exploiting Combinatorics to Investigate Plasmonic Properties in Heterogeneous Ag-Au Nanosphere Chain Assemblies
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Schletz, Daniel; Schultz, Johannes; Potapov, Pavel L.; Steiner, Anja Maria; Krehl, Jonas; König, Tobias A.F.; Mayer, Martin; Lubk, Axel; Fery, Andreas
    Chains of coupled metallic nanoparticles are of special interest for plasmonic applications because they can sustain highly dispersive plasmon bands, allowing strong ballistic plasmon wave transport. Whereas early studies focused on homogeneous particle chains exhibiting only one dominant band, heterogeneous assemblies consisting of different nanoparticle species came into the spotlight recently. Their increased configuration space principally allows engineering multiple bands, bandgaps, or topological states. Simultaneously, the challenge of the precise arrangement of nanoparticles, including their distances and geometric patterns, as well as the precise characterization of the plasmonics in these systems, persists. Here, the surface plasmon resonances in heterogeneous Ag-Au nanoparticle chains are reported. Wrinkled templates are used for directed self-assembly of monodisperse gold and silver nanospheres as chains, which allows assembling statistical combinations of more than 109 particles. To reveal the spatial and spectral distribution of the plasmonic response, state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscopy coupled with electron energy loss spectroscopy accompanied by boundary element simulations is used. A variety of modes in the heterogeneous chains are found, ranging from localized surface plasmon modes occurring in single gold or silver spheres, respectively, to modes that result from the hybridization of the single particles. This approach opens a novel avenue toward combinatorial studies of plasmonic properties in heterosystems. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Optical Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
  • Item
    Tailoring Plasmonics of Au@Ag Nanoparticles by Silica Encapsulation
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Schultz, Johannes; Kirner, Felizitas; Potapov, Pavel; Büchner, Bernd; Lubk, Axel; Sturm, Elena V.
    Hybrid metallic nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulated in oxide shells are currently intensely studied for plasmonic applications in sensing, medicine, catalysis, and photovoltaics. Here, a method for the synthesis of Au@Ag@SiO2 cubes with a uniform silica shell of variable and adjustable thickness in the nanometer range is introduced and their excellent, highly reproducible, and tunable optical response is demonstrated. Varying the silica shell thickness, the excitation energies of the single NP plasmon modes can be tuned in a broad spectral range between 2.55 and 3.25 eV. Most importantly, a strong coherent coupling of the surface plasmons is revealed at the silver–silica interface with Mie resonances at the silica–vacuum interface leading to a significant field enhancement at the encapsulated NP surface in the range of 100% at shell thicknesses t ≃ 20 nm. Consequently, the synthesis method and the field enhancement open pathways to a widespread use of silver NPs in plasmonic applications including photonic crystals and may be transferred to other non-precious metals. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Optical Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH