Possibilities and limitations of advanced transmission electron microscopy for carbon-based nanomaterials

• Xiaoxing Ke,
• Carla Bittencourt and
• Gustaaf Van Tendeloo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1541–1557, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.158

• as π and π+σ surface plasmons, respectively, as confirmed both theoretically and experimentally in free-standing monolayer graphene [100][101]. Zhou et al. have demonstrated the surface plasmon resonances in monolayer graphene down to the atomic scale [102]. It is further revealed that a single point

• ], claimed that the commonly referred π and π+σ peaks are not surface plasmons but single-particle interband excitations. Nevertheless, VEELS on graphene has opened up a venue to both the fundamental study and further applications in optoelectronics, plasmonics and transformative optics using carbon-based

Growth and morphological analysis of segmented AuAg alloy nanowires created by pulsed electrodeposition in ion-track etched membranes

• Ina Schubert,
• Loic Burr,
• Christina Trautmann and
• Maria Eugenia Toimil-Molares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1272–1280, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.131

• synthesised by electrodeposition in membranes, and are ideal model systems for investigation of surface plasmons. Keywords: AuAg alloy; cyclic voltammetry; electrodeposition; ion-track technology; nanogaps; segmented nanowires; Introduction The synthesis of multicomponent heterostructure nanowires is

Surface excitations in the modelling of electron transport for electron-beam-induced deposition experiments

• Francesc Salvat-Pujol,
• Roser Valentí and
• Wolfgang S. Werner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1260–1267, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.129

• a primary energy of 1 keV surface excitations account for (1) additional features, i.e. the excitation of surface plasmons, in the low-energy-loss part of the REELS that are not accounted for by a bulk-only description of the energy losses of charged projectiles in the material and (2) a sizeable

• displays the REELS of 100 eV from Si, where the energy-loss peaks corresponding to the excitation of one surface plasmon, one bulk plasmon, and two surface plasmons are indicated by vertical red dashed lines and labeled, respectively, 1s, 1b, 2s as a guideline for the abscissae scale in the other plots of

• surface excitations (see Figure 2), so that an increase in the simulated deposition rate might be expected (at least for primary energies in the 1–2 keV regime and below). On the other hand, more slow (≤50 eV) secondary electrons will be available from the decay of surface plasmons [56] excited by either

Attenuation, dispersion and nonlinearity effects in graphene-based waveguides

• Almir Wirth Lima Jr.,
• João Cesar Moura Mota and
• Antonio Sergio Bezerra Sombra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1221–1228, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.125

• ]. Recent reports showed that it is possible to couple the radiation emitted by a transmitter (located above and to the side, but in the same plane of the graphene sheet) with the surface plasmons (SPs) present on a graphene sheet [9]. Other experiments showed the characteristics of GSPP guided modes, with

• . Similarly, the dispersion relation for the TE modes is given by: Since the wave vectors of the surface plasmons polaritons in a graphene/dielectric surface (GSPPs) have high values, we can conclude that these modes are very well confined in the graphene nanoribbon. Previous studies have shown that GSPPs can

Polymer blend lithography for metal films: large-area patterning with over 1 billion holes/inch²

• Cheng Huang,
• Alexander Förste,
• Stefan Walheim and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1205–1211, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.123

• plasmons; Introduction Research on micro-/nano-sized island arrays and perforated films has drawn wide interest due to their applications in various fields, such as optical devices [1][2], DNA or protein electrophoresis [3][4], and catalysis [5][6]. Varieties of techniques have been developed to achieve

• lithography can be used as wavelength-selective optical filters [25]. The photons couple to surface plasmons on the incident side of a nanohole film. These surface plasmons convert back to photons after they propagate through the holes to the opposite side of the film [26]. In recent years, also the colloidal

Electronic interaction in composites of a conjugated polymer and carbon nanotubes: first-principles calculation and photophysical approaches

• Florian Massuyeau,
• Jany Wéry,
• Jean-Luc Duvail,
• Serge Lefrant,
• Abu Yaya,
• Chris Ewels and
• Eric Faulques

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1138–1144, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.115

• of SWNTs which is due to the π plasmons. In this way, only the contribution of SC and metallic tubes is clearly displayed. These experiments show that there is substantial spectral overlap of PL and optical absorption of SWNTs which could, in principle, favor the occurrence of Förster energy transfer

Superluminescence from an optically pumped molecular tunneling junction by injection of plasmon induced hot electrons

• Kai Braun,
• Xiao Wang,
• Andreas M. Kern,
• Hilmar Adler,
• Heiko Peisert,
• Thomas Chassé,
• Dai Zhang and
• Alfred J. Meixner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1100–1106, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.111

• resolution [3]. For pure metal surfaces [4][5] or organic monolayers adsorbed directly on a metal surface [6], the emission of light originates predominantly from the radiative decay of localized surface plasmons (LSP) excited by inelastic electron tunneling (IET) as the direct luminescence of the molecules

Patterning technique for gold nanoparticles on substrates using a focused electron beam

• Takahiro Noriki,
• Shogo Abe,
• Kotaro Kajikawa and
• Masayuki Shimojo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1010–1015, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.104

• plasmons in silver nanowires and the emission of photons at the end of the nanowires. Branching is considered necessary to make integrated photonic/plasmonic circuits. The plasmon propagation on branched silver nanowires was also experimentally demonstrated [4]. However, most of these experiments were

Applications of three-dimensional carbon nanotube networks

• Manuela Scarselli,
• Paola Castrucci,
• Francesco De Nicola,
• Ilaria Cacciotti,
• Francesca Nanni,
• Emanuela Gatto,
• Mariano Venanzi and
• Maurizio De Crescenzi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 792–798, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.82

• , as indicated by the electron microscopy studies. In fact, the spectrum in Figure 3, displays two peaks at 6 eV and 24.5 eV. These are contributions coming from the π and π + σ plasmons, respectively, of the sp2 lattice [17]. In particular, the energy positions of both features are downshifted in

• junctions between CNTs. Electron energy loss spectra (Ep = 300 eV) obtained on the CNT-sponge. The π and π + σ plasmons have been emphasized for better view (red line). Photographs of water droplets of different volumes (a) and contact angle profile of a single drop (b) on the bulk material. Stability of

Synergic combination of the sol–gel method with dip coating for plasmonic devices

• Cristiana Figus,
• Maddalena Patrini,
• Francesco Floris,
• Lucia Fornasari,
• Paola Pellacani,
• Gerardo Marchesini,
• Andrea Valsesia,
• Flavia Artizzu,
• Daniela Marongiu,
• Michele Saba,
• Franco Marabelli,
• Andrea Mura,
• Giovanni Bongiovanni and
• Francesco Quochi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 500–507, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.52

• at a metal–dielectric interface [1][2][3][4][5]. Recently, due to such remarkable properties, biosensing technologies based on plasmonic nanostructures have attracted significant attention, particularly in the development of label-free sensors [6][7][8]. It is well known that surface plasmons (SPs

• ) are extremely sensitive to the refractive index of the dielectric medium [1][2][9] and the two plasmons modes, surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) and localized surface plasmons (LSPs), can be used for sensor applications [8][10][11]. However, in order to use this technology for sensing of a specific

Hollow plasmonic antennas for broadband SERS spectroscopy

• Gabriele C. Messina,
• Mario Malerba,
• Pierfrancesco Zilio,
• Ermanno Miele,
• Michele Dipalo,
• Lorenzo Ferrara and
• Francesco De Angelis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 492–498, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.50

• components [21]. It is well known that plasmons offer a great potential innovation in this regard because of their ability to capture and confine incident radiation in the so-called hotspots. To maximize this capability, plasmonic antennas can be designed to resonate at the desired excitation wavelength. As

Inorganic Janus particles for biomedical applications

• Isabel Schick,
• Steffen Lorenz,
• Dominik Gehrig,
• Stefan Tenzer,
• Wiebke Storck,
• Karl Fischer,
• Dennis Strand,
• Frédéric Laquai and
• Wolfgang Tremel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2346–2362, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.244

• nanoparticles is shifted to more negative potentials, thus, enabling the engineering of the Fermi level of photocatalysts dependent on the size of the conjugated metal domain [49]. Recently, Au@TiO2 Janus particles were proven useful for visible-light hydrogen generation due to the strong coupling of plasmons

Hybrid spin-crossover nanostructures

• Carlos M. Quintero,
• Gautier Félix,
• Iurii Suleimanov,
• José Sánchez Costa,
• Gábor Molnár,
• Lionel Salmon,
• William Nicolazzi and
• Azzedine Bousseksou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2230–2239, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.232

• of the probe at fixed wavelengths. Active plasmonic devices Currently, one of the most dynamic research area in the nanosciences is plasmonics. Surface plasmons provide unprecedented capabilities for manipulating electromagnetic waves at the nanoscale and have opened the door to unique photonic

Properties of plasmonic arrays produced by pulsed-laser nanostructuring of thin Au films

• Katarzyna Grochowska,
• Katarzyna Siuzdak,
• Peter A. Atanasov,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Anna Dikovska,
• Nikolay N. Nedyalkov and
• Gerard Śliwiński

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2102–2112, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.219

• property of the plasmon resonance, namely its dephasing. As stated by Link and El-Sayed [40] there are two main decay mechanisms of the coherent electron motion postulated and discussed in the literature. The first one assumes that plasmons can decay by “pure” dephasing, which means a decay of the fixed

Growth and characterization of CNT–TiO₂ heterostructures

• Yucheng Zhang,
• Ivo Utke,
• Johann Michler,
• Gabriele Ilari,
• Marta D. Rossell and
• Rolf Erni

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 946–955, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.108

• region, in which ∆E is above 50 eV. The physical principles of the inelastic scattering processes in EELS are schematically illustrated in Figure 4. The low-loss region reflects a collective excitation of electrons in the conduction band, known as plasmons, as well as single electron excitations in the

• extracted from the low-loss region by using a Kramers–Kronig analysis and its energy dependence can be measured at wavelengths beyond optical methods. However, the low-loss signals are complicated by other inelastic processes such as surface plasmons and retardation loss due to the Čerenkov emission, such

Nanostructure sensitization of transition metal oxides for visible-light photocatalysis

• Hongjun Chen and
• Lianzhou Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 696–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.82

• nanoparticles–Fe2O3 [69][82][83], gold nanoparticle–ZnO nanorods [68], gold nanorod–TiO2 [70][71][84], gold nanoparticles–TiO2 nanotube [66][72]. For more details, readers may refer to recent excellent reviews for basic principle and detailed effects of localized surface plasmons on transition metal oxides [85

Hole-mask colloidal nanolithography combined with tilted-angle-rotation evaporation: A versatile method for fabrication of low-cost and large-area complex plasmonic nanostructures and metamaterials

• Jun Zhao,
• Bettina Frank,
• Frank Neubrech,
• Chunjie Zhang,
• Paul V. Braun and
• Harald Giessen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 577–586, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.68

• interest over the last few years. The resonant excitation of particle plasmons and their ability to concentrate light on subwavelength scales has led to a plethora of fundamental investigations. Initially, investigations on the tuning of single and simple plasmonic nanostructures were carried out, which

• surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), in particular when the particle plasmon resonance was tuned to the pump laser wavelength. Novel applications such as coupling of plasmons to atomic gases are on the horizon [14]. Most of these fundamental effects as well as the early applications have been

• plasmons around 690 and 630 nm parallel (0°) and perpendicular (90°) to the long structure axes. The concentration of PDDA was 0.2 wt % and the PS concentration was 0.02 wt %. In principle, elongated nano-antennas can be also fabricated by the variation of the angle θ around the normal incidence position

Optical near-fields & nearfield optics

• Alfred J. Meixner and
• Paul Leiderer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 186–187, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.19

• , because they support surface plasmons, i.e., collective excitations of the electron gas, which couple strongly to light. As a result, the optical near-field around such plasmonic structures can be enhanced by orders of magnitude compared to the incident light intensity, and can be localized in “hot spots

• interaction of plasmonic structures with dielectric material that is doped with fluorescent molecules: when the emission line of the dye and the absorption resonance of the nanostructures coincide, the damping of the plasmons can be compensated by the gain in the dielectric material, so that laser-like

Dye-doped spheres with plasmonic semi-shells: Lasing modes and scattering at realistic gain levels

• Nikita Arnold,
• Boyang Ding,
• Calin Hrelescu and
• Thomas A. Klar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 974–987, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.110

• only lifts this degeneracy, but also introduces a further mode splitting via the coupling of the shell plasmons with the rim plasmon modes of the circular opening [11]. The excitability of the localized plasmon modes depends on the polar and azimuthal angles of the direction of illumination and on the

• used for important applications such as biosensing [18], plasmon-enhanced solar cells [19][20], or as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering [21][22] and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering [23]. A severe problem for all plasmonic applications is the damping of plasmons due to Ohmic losses

• in the metal and due to radiative losses. However, a solution for this dilemma is possible because plasmons are Bosons and can hence be emitted via stimulated emission [24]. This might be used to minimize losses in metamaterials [25][26] and it has also been proposed for the compensation of losses in

Probing the plasmonic near-field by one- and two-photon excited surface enhanced Raman scattering

• Katrin Kneipp and
• Harald Kneipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 834–842, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.94

• . Keywords: near-field; plasmonics; silver nanoaggregates; single molecule; surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS); Introduction The resonance frequencies of collective oscillations of the electrons in the conduction band in metal nanostructures, which are called surface plasmons, fall in the optical

• range of the electromagnetic spectrum. This results in a strong coupling between incident light and surface plasmons. The interaction gives rise not only to beautifully colored glass windows in old cathedrals but also to strongly enhanced and spatially highly confined local fields in the vicinity of

• variations. However, surface plasmons can be also excited by low energy [12] and high energy electrons [13][14]. Therefore, as an alternative to optical methods, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is emerging as a novel tool to probe plasmonic near-fields of metal nanostructures at nanometer

k-space imaging of the eigenmodes of sharp gold tapers for scanning near-field optical microscopy

• Martin Esmann,
• Simon F. Becker,
• Bernard B. da Cunha,
• Jens H. Brauer,
• Ralf Vogelgesang,
• Petra Groß and
• Christoph Lienau

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 603–610, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.67

• -subwavelength radius of curvature, these modes tend to be spatially confined and are called localized surface plasmons (LSPs). During recent years, experimental realizations of SPP guiding in sub-wavelength dimensions [1] and the transformation of propagating SPPs into LSPs have drawn tremendous attention

Mapping of plasmonic resonances in nanotriangles

• Simon Dickreuter,
• Julia Gleixner,
• Andreas Kolloch,
• Johannes Boneberg,
• Elke Scheer and
• Paul Leiderer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 588–602, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.66

• . Keywords: ablation; FDTD simulations; field enhancement; nanotriangles; near field; surface plasmons; Introduction Considering classical optics, light cannot be focused to a scale much smaller than half its wavelength. This phenomenon, commonly known as “diffraction limit”, represents a major obstacle in

Plasmonic oligomers in cylindrical vector light beams

• Mario Hentschel,
• Jens Dorfmüller,
• Harald Giessen,
• Sebastian Jäger,
• Andreas M. Kern,
• Kai Braun,
• Dai Zhang and
• Alfred J. Meixner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 57–65, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.6

• , a project which has, to the best of our knowledge, not been attempted so far. Keywords: near-field microscopy; oligomers; plasmons; radial and azimuthal polarization; Introduction Plasmonics is the optics of metal nanoparticles. If an external light field impinges on a metal nanoparticle

• satellite nanoparticles, the dipolar plasmon of the central nanoparticle hybridizes with the hexamer dipolar plasmon, giving rise to the formation of a bright super-radiant collective mode and a dark subradiant collective mode. For the super-radiant mode, the oscillating plasmons in the seven nanoparticles

• relative to the external exciting field strength. It is notable that at spectral position 5 in the heptamer, similar yet opposite oscillating plasmons are excited in the central nanoparticle and the ringlike hexamer, thus leading to a subradiant mode. The destructive interference between the subradiant

Characterization and properties of micro- and nanowires of controlled size, composition, and geometry fabricated by electrodeposition and ion-track technology

• Maria Eugenia Toimil-Molares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 860–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.97

Revealing thermal effects in the electronic transport through irradiated atomic metal point contacts

• Bastian Kopp,
• Zhiwei Yi,
• Daniel Benner,
• Fang-Qing Xie,
• Christian Obermair,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Johannes Boneberg,
• Paul Leiderer and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 703–711, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.80

• G0 (where G0 is the conductance quantum, 2e2/h ≈ 77.6 µS = (12.9 kΩ)−1) can indeed be influenced by irradiation with light [16][17][18]. The observed modification in the conductivity has in this case been assigned to photo-assisted transport (PAT), partly mediated by plasmons, as the dominating