Self-assembled quasi-hexagonal arrays of gold nanoparticles with small gaps for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

• Emre Gürdal,
• Simon Dickreuter,
• Fatima Noureddine,
• Pascal Bieschke,
• Dieter P. Kern and
• Monika Fleischer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1977–1985, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.188

• spectral range and exhibit a very strong near-field in their close vicinity [1]. The plasmonic resonances of gold nanoparticles can be varied by changes in size, shape and geometrical arrangement [2][3]. A high density of intense hotspots can be induced by narrow gap sizes and rough surfaces [4][5]. These

Electromigrated electrical optical antennas for transducing electrons and photons at the nanoscale

• Arindam Dasgupta,
• Mickaël Buret,
• Nicolas Cazier,
• Marie-Maxime Mennemanteuil,
• Reinaldo Chacon,
• Kamal Hammani,
• Jean-Claude Weeber,
• Juan Arocas,
• Laurent Markey,
• Gérard Colas des Francs,
• Alexander Uskov,
• Igor Smetanin and
• Alexandre Bouhelier

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1964–1976, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.187

• interaction with surface plasmons and photons: quantum effects were shown to challenge the classical plasmonic description [28][29][30] and the fluctuations of the electronic current impart a rich photon statistics [31][32]. In this work, we present a strategy to realize electrically connected optical

• versatile and low-cost integrated light sources, and optical tunneling gap antennas may provide an alternative technology to solid-state light emitting diodes or quantum dots. Coupling of such a junction have been recently demonstrated in plasmonic strips [27][59] and we extend the concept to dielectric

Light extraction efficiency enhancement of flip-chip blue light-emitting diodes by anodic aluminum oxide

• Yi-Ru Huang,
• Yao-Ching Chiu,
• Kuan-Chieh Huang,
• Shao-Ying Ting,
• Po-Jui Chiang,
• Chih-Ming Lai,
• Chun-Ping Jen,
• Snow H. Tseng and
• Hsiang-Chen Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1602–1612, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.152

• . These results show that the plasmonic effect contribution does not exist. Conclusion We produced AAO nanostructures on high-efficiency FC-BLEDs and found that various pore-widening durations can enhance LEE by approximately 1.6–2.9%. Material analysis revealed that AAO structures are destroyed after the

Interaction-tailored organization of large-area colloidal assemblies

• Silvia Rizzato,
• Elisabetta Primiceri,
• Anna Grazia Monteduro,
• Adriano Colombelli,
• Angelo Leo,
• Maria Grazia Manera,
• Roberto Rella and
• Giuseppe Maruccio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1582–1593, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.150

• ]. These strategies can enable the highly controlled fabrication of metal nanostructures over a very large area, allowing the realization of plasmonic materials characterized by tunable optical features [22]. Similar methods can be developed for the realization of non-close-packed distributions of

• their possible applications in plasmonic and magnonic fields. In both cases, nanoparticle size, distribution and nanostructure mesospacing are key parameters for the control of the electric or magnetic field distribution and intensity on the investigated area. Concerning plasmonic applications, the

• on the enhancement of the absorption cross-section (ACS) require the fabrication of plasmonic nanoparticles characterized by relatively small dimensions (e.g. ≈40 nm). On the contrary, applications based on the strong enhancement of the scattering cross-section (SCS), are generally associated to the

Optical near-field mapping of plasmonic nanostructures prepared by nanosphere lithography

• Gitanjali Kolhatkar,
• Alexandre Merlen,
• Jiawei Zhang,
• Chahinez Dab,
• Gregory Q. Wallace,
• François Lagugné-Labarthet and
• Andreas Ruediger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1536–1543, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.144

• Department and Centre for Materials and Biomaterials, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON, N6A5B7, Canada 10.3762/bjnano.9.144 Abstract We introduce a simple, fast, efficient and non-destructive method to study the optical near-field properties of plasmonic nanotriangles prepared by nanosphere lithography

• : apertureless scanning near-field optical microscopy; diffuse signal; nanosphere lithography; photomultiplier tube; plasmonic nanostructures; Introduction SNOM (scanning near-field optical microscopy) is an imaging technique based on an optical near-field probe for high spatial resolution [1][2]. A version of

• analysis with the high spatial resolution of scanning probe microscopy [3][4][5]. This method has been applied to various fields of research such as plasmonic analysis [6][7], Raman spectroscopy (tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, TERS) [8][9], or infrared analysis [10]. In this microscopy technique, a laser

Cathodoluminescence as a probe of the optical properties of resonant apertures in a metallic film

• Kalpana Singh,
• Evgeniy Panchenko,
• Babak Nasr,
• Amelia Liu,
• Lukas Wesemann,
• Timothy J. Davis and
• Ann Roberts

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1491–1500, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.140

• nanogratings [15], plasmonic oligomers [16], dolmen arrangements of nanorods [17] and ring–disk dimers [18]. Fano resonances have also been observed in nanoholes such as coaxial apertures [19] and dolmen nanocavities [18]. The performance of an array of double split-ring cavities [20] as biosensors using Fano

• apertures. The high sensitivity of the resonant modes of the apertures to the refractive index of the surrounding media underpins significant potential in realizing highly efficient ultra-compact biological and chemical sensors [26][27][28][29][30][31], plasmonic electrochemical sensors [32] and as SERS

• optical investigations of isolated holes are, however, challenging since the throughput and reflectance are low despite the enhanced localized fields. Furthermore, plasmonic cavities exhibit a wide range of modes, many of which are “dark” to normally incident plane waves and challenging to excite using

Excitation of nonradiating magnetic anapole states with azimuthally polarized vector beams

• Aristeidis G. Lamprianidis and
• Andrey E. Miroshnichenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1478–1490, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.139

• Figure 1a we plot the normalized total scattered power, (Psca/Pinc), at a wavelength of λ0 = 500 nm, for golden spheres of various sizes, placed at the focal point of a vector beam like the one described above. As shown there, in such a way, we can even achieve a purely magnetic response by a plasmonic

• quality factor of the supported anti-resonances is quite low as well. A plasmonic nanoparticle can only provide us with a very poor (anti-)resonant spectrum to work with. So, we resort to high-index silicon nanoparticles as a platform to excite a nonradiating anapole state of magnetic type. Silicon

• Figure 1b, we plot the normalized total scattered power (Psca/Pinc) at a wavelength of λ0 = 1550 nm, for spheres of various sizes. As we can see, its resonant multipolar content is much richer than the previous case of the plasmonic nanoparticle. We can observe a steep dip of the scattered power for a

Cr(VI) remediation from aqueous environment through modified-TiO₂-mediated photocatalytic reduction

• Rashmi Acharya,
• Brundabana Naik and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1448–1470, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.137

• , nonmetals and co-doping [85][86][87][88], (ii) coupling of photosensitized nanomaterials [89], (iii) combination of heterojunction materials [90] and (iv) introduction of plasmonic photocatalysts for hot electron generation [62][76]. The modification of TiO2 induces the enhancement of photocatalytic

A novel copper precursor for electron beam induced deposition

• Caspar Haverkamp,
• George Sarau,
• Mikhail N. Polyakov,
• Ivo Utke,
• Marcos V. Puydinger dos Santos,
• Silke Christiansen and
• Katja Höflich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1220–1227, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.113

• measured from deposited pads was used to simulate the optical response of tip arrays fabricated out of the same precursor and showed good agreement with measurements. This paves the way for future plasmonic applications with copper-FEBID. Keywords: copper; Cu(tbaoac)2; focused electron beam induced

Circular dichroism of chiral Majorana states

• Javier Osca and
• Llorenç Serra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1194–1199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.110

• achieve a combined signal of sufficient intensity. Alternatively, techniques such as those developed for single plasmonic nanoparticle sensing [28] might be applied to an isolated chiral Majorana device. Particularly, among the latter we stress the techniques for single-particle absorption that have

Facile chemical routes to mesoporous silver substrates for SERS analysis

• Elina A. Tastekova,
• Alexander Y. Polyakov,
• Anastasia E. Goldt,
• Alexander V. Sidorov,
• Alexandra A. Oshmyanskaya,
• Irina V. Sukhorukova,
• Dmitry V. Shtansky,
• Wolgang Grünert and
• Anastasia V. Grigorieva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 880–889, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.82

• technically complicated approaches were proposed elsewhere [20][21][22] while synthesis of mesoporous materials could be an alternative and easier solution [23]. Porous silver or gold materials of large specific surface area could be regarded as new metal plasmonic systems with complex architecture [24]. Pore

Towards the third dimension in direct electron beam writing of silver

• Katja Höflich,
• Jakub Mateusz Jurczyk,
• Katarzyna Madajska,
• Maximilian Götz,
• Luisa Berger,
• Carlos Guerra-Nuñez,
• Caspar Haverkamp,
• Iwona Szymanska and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 842–849, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.78

• towards the direct electron beam writing of three-dimensional plasmonic device parts from the gas phase. Keywords: carboxylate; electron beam induced deposition; silver; three-dimensional nanostructures; vertical growth rate; Introduction Focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID) is a resistless

• ]. The identification of such novel precursor compounds for FEBID is a subject of intense research since direct writing of 3D materials and nanodevices can advance diverse applications, for example in the field of plasmonics [17][18][19]. One ideal plasmonic material is silver, which exhibits strongly

• scattering being the most popular plasmonic application serves as benchmark. Indeed, the carbon signal intensity for the Raman spectra in Figure 3e is strongly enhanced due to the plasmonic excitation of the silver particles in both deposits [9][27]. The observed enhancement proves the existence of elemental

Noble metal-modified titania with visible-light activity for the decomposition of microorganisms

• Maya Endo,
• Zhishun Wei,
• Kunlei Wang,
• Baris Karabiyik,
• Kenta Yoshiiri,
• Paulina Rokicka,
• Bunsho Ohtani,
• Agata Markowska-Szczupak and
• Ewa Kowalska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 829–841, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.77

• -light irradiation suggested that the mechanism of bacteria inactivation was initiated by plasmonic excitation of titania by localized surface plasmon resonance of gold. The antifungal activity tests showed efficient suppression of mycelium growth by bare titania, and suppression of mycotoxin generation

• and sporulation by gold-modified titania. Although, the growth of fungi was hardly inhibited through disc diffusion (inhibition zones around discs), it indicates that gold does not penetrate into the media, and thus, a good stability of plasmonic photocatalysts has been confirmed. In summary, it was

• ; antimicrobial properties; bactericidal effect; noble-metal nanoparticles; plasmonic photocatalysis; Introduction Environmental pollution and the lack of clean potable water are main issues facing human development. Although, various methods of efficient control and monitoring of waste management have been

Valley-selective directional emission from a transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayer mediated by a plasmonic nanoantenna

• Haitao Chen,
• Mingkai Liu,
• Lei Xu and
• Dragomir N. Neshev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 780–788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.71

• WSe2 as a chiral point-dipole emitter, we demonstrate numerically that the emission from different valleys is directed into opposite directions when coupling to a double-bar plasmonic nanoantenna. The directionality derives from the interference between the dipole and quadrupole modes excited in the

• structure. Conclusion: The scheme we propose here can potentially serve as an important component for valley-based applications, such as non-volatile information storage and processing. Keywords: 2D materials, multipolar emission; nanoantenna; plasmonic; transition-metal dichalcogenides; valley

• nanostructures, referred to as plasmonic nanoantenna, have shown great flexibility and capability for manipulation of the radiation of closely placed emitters [1][3][28]. Plasmonic nanoantenna could significantly modify the emission rate, the radiation pattern and the polarization of emission when their

Surface-plasmon-enhanced ultraviolet emission of Au-decorated ZnO structures for gas sensing and photocatalytic devices

• T. Anh Thu Do,
• Truong Giang Ho,
• Thu Hoai Bui,
• Quang Ngan Pham,
• Hong Thai Giang,
• Thi Thu Do,
• Duc Van Nguyen and
• Dai Lam Tran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 771–779, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.70

• of plasmonic Au nanoparticles (NPs) on the ZnO film. Time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) spectra indicated that a surface plasmonic effect exists with a fast rate of charge transfer from Au nanoparticles to the sub-micrometer ZnO sphere, which suggested the strong possibility of the use of the

• material for the design of efficient catalytic devices. The NO2 sensing ability of as-deposited ZnO films was investigated with different gas concentrations at an optimized sensing temperature of 120 °C. Surface decoration of plasmonic Au nanoparticles provided an enhanced sensitivity (141 times) with

• improved response (τRes = 9 s) and recovery time (τRec = 39 s). The enhanced gas sensing performance and photocatalytic degradation processes are suggested to be attributed to not only the surface plasmon resonance effect, but also due to a Schottky barrier between plasmonic Au and ZnO structures

Mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts in utilizing visible light

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Azrina Abd Aziz,
• Lan Ching Sim,
• Pichiah Saravanan,
• Min Jang and
• Detlef Bahnemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 628–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.59

• sustainable photocatalysts that can collectively harvest visible light. However, the bottleneck in utilising the low energy photons has led to the discovery of plasmonic photocatalysts. The presence of noble metal on the plasmonic photocatalyst enables the harvesting of visible light through the unique

• characteristic features of the noble metal nanomaterials. Moreover, the formation of interfaces between noble metal particles and semiconductor materials further results in the formation of a Schottky junction. Thereby, the plasmonic characteristics have opened up a new direction in promoting an alternative path

• that can be of value to the society through sustainable development derived through energy available for all for diverse applications. We have comprehensively prepared this review to specifically focus on fundamental insights into plasmonic photocatalysts, various synthesis routes, together with their

Facile phase transfer of gold nanorods and nanospheres stabilized with block copolymers

• Yaroslav I. Derikov,
• Georgiy A. Shandryuk,
• Raisa V. Talroze,
• Alexander A. Ezhov and
• Yaroslav V. Kudryavtsev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 616–627, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.58

• copolymers doped with noble metal nanoparticles are considered as promising hybrid materials that combine the plasmonic, catalytic or other functionality of nanoparticles, their periodic spatial arrangement in the microphase separated copolymer domains and the general processability of polymer matrices [3][4

High-contrast and reversible scattering switching via hybrid metal-dielectric metasurfaces

• Jonathan Ward,
• Khosro Zangeneh Kamali,
• Lei Xu,
• Guoquan Zhang,
• Andrey E. Miroshnichenko and
• Mohsen Rahmani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 460–467, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.44

• properties can be adapted to a diverse set of applications along the electromagnetic spectrum [3] including dispersion engineering [4], polarization manipulation [5][6], pulse shaping [7], sensing [8][9] and tuning [10]. The first generation of metasurfaces mostly consisted of plasmonic nanostructures [11

• remarkable advantages in controlling optical responses [14][15][16][17][18]. All-dielectric, high refractive index metasurfaces are the second generation of metasurfaces [19]. Besides their CMOS compatibility and low optical losses compared with plasmonic metasurfaces, all-dielectric metasurfaces offer

• optical components that are adjustable, like beam shapers and lenses [29]. Importantly, thermal tuning is only applicable to dielectric metasurfaces, as the low thermo-optical coefficient of most of noble metals, such as gold [38], makes plasmonic metasurfaces insensitive to variation in temperature

Gas-assisted silver deposition with a focused electron beam

• Luisa Berger,
• Katarzyna Madajska,
• Iwona B. Szymanska,
• Katja Höflich,
• Mikhail N. Polyakov,
• Jakub Jurczyk,
• Carlos Guerra-Nuñez and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 224–232, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.24

• such as plasmonics, suitable precursors which allow the deposition of desired materials have to be identified. Well known for its plasmonic properties, silver represents an interesting candidate for FEBID. For this purpose the carboxylate complex silver(I) pentafluoropropionate (AgO2CC2F5) was used for

• to the electron beam of the scanning electron microscope; this limits further integration into plasmonic applications. Liquid silver FEBID using a freely accessible low volatile liquid on a bulk substrate supplied by electrospraying was reported by Fisher et al., but a relatively low lateral

Comparative study of post-growth annealing of Cu(hfac)₂, Co₂(CO)₈ and Me₂Au(acac) metal precursors deposited by FEBID

• Marcos V. Puydinger dos Santos,
• Aleksandra Szkudlarek,
• Artur Rydosz,
• Carlos Guerra-Nuñez,
• Fanny Béron,
• Kleber R. Pirota,
• Stanislav Moshkalev,
• José Alexandre Diniz and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 91–101, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.11

• applications, such as gas [14][15], strain [16], magnetic [12][17] and thermal sensors [18], besides nano-antennas as probes for scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) [19]. Other applications comprising superconducting [20] and plasmonic [21] structures, nanoalloys for nanoelectronic applications [22

Growth model and structure evolution of Ag layers deposited on Ge films

• Arkadiusz Ciesielski,
• Lukasz Skowronski,
• Ewa Górecka,
• Jakub Kierdaszuk and
• Tomasz Szoplik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 66–76, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.9

• -assembly; silver; thin films; Introduction Silver is a noble metal with lowest loss in the visible to the near-infrared wavelengths; therefore, the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) wave propagation length crucial for plasmonic devices is greatest at Ag/dielectric interfaces [1][2][3]. A pure Ag layer of 35

• nm thickness has an imaginary part of permittivity lower than 1 within the 315–827 nm range [4]. Therefore, silver is widely used in plasmonic sensors [5][6][7], as substrates for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) [8][9], as inclusion in solar cells [10][11][12] and in other plasmonic devices

• stated earlier, the segregation-induced band in the permittivity spectrum is a plasmonic one [4], so the signal from Ge clusters in the voids between silver grains is most likely enhanced by localized plasmons excited on the silver grains, in a similar way as SERS or TERS, hence only the slight drop in

Nematic liquid crystal alignment on subwavelength metal gratings

• Irina V. Kasyanova,
• Artur R. Geivandov,
• Vladimir V. Artemov,
• Maxim V. Gorkunov and
• Serguei P. Palto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 42–47, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.6

• ]. Meanwhile, these gratings can also be used as nanoelectrodes, which allow the LC to be driven by an electric field, enabling a very fast electro-optical effect due to the influence of the adjacent liquid crystal layer on the plasmonic resonance [10]. In all of these effects, the alignment of LC molecules on

Review on optofluidic microreactors for artificial photosynthesis

• Xiaowen Huang,
• Jianchun Wang,
• Tenghao Li,
• Jianmei Wang,
• Min Xu,
• Weixing Yu,
• Abdel El Abed and
• Xuming Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 30–41, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.5

• catalytic materials, modification of the existed catalytic materials (e.g., noble-gas doping, co-catalyst impregnation, noble-metal loading, plasmonic sensitization and Z-scheme systems), and optofluidics (or microfluidics) based APS. It should be noted that many efforts have been made to develop bio

Facile synthesis of silver/silver thiocyanate (Ag@AgSCN) plasmonic nanostructures with enhanced photocatalytic performance

• Xinfu Zhao,
• Dairong Chen,
• Abdul Qayum,
• Bo Chen and
• Xiuling Jiao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2781–2789, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.277

• nanostructured plasmonic photocatalyst, silver/silver thiocyanate (Ag@AgSCN), has been prepared by a simple precipitation method followed by UV-light-induced reduction. The ratio of Ag to silver thiocyanate (AgSCN) can be controlled by simply adjusting the photo-induced reduction time. The formation mechanism of

• . Keywords: Ag@AgSCN; degradation of oxytetracycline; plasmonic photocatalyst; stability; Introduction In the past decade, water decontamination technology has attracted great attention due to the increasing health risk that water contamination poses to humankind. The removal of pollutants has been

• improve the visible-light catalytic performance of Ag-based materials [8][9][10]. Among them, plasmonic photocatalysts consisting of Ag/AgX (X = Cl, Br, I) have exhibited improvement in separation of photogenerated electrons and holes [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. However, these Ag-based

Impact of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on purification and contamination of nematic liquid crystals

• Dmitrii Pavlovich Shcherbinin and
• Elena A. Konshina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2766–2770, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.275

• rapidly growing. The application of LCs includes metamaterials [4], photonic crystals [5], plasmonic structures [6], THz devices [7], sensors [8], diffractive optics [9], adaptive lens technologies [10] and vision correction [11], as well as tunable filters [12] and dispersion for imaging [13]. In