This proposal addresses the use of metal nanoshells and metal-dielectric nanoparticles assemblies for the "nanoengineering" of a wide variety of unique and potentially technologically important optical properties into both materials and devices. The central goal is to apply these enhancement of existing materials and the development of new materials and devices. This is a multidisciplinary effort composed of nanopartical synthesis, film and device preparation, a variety of optical and physical spectroscopies and measurements, the theoretical analysis. The specific topics of focus are:
- the development of metal nanoshell-based materials as infrared absorbers and NLO materials, and as solar absorbing/scattering materials;
- the incorporation of metal nanoshells into conducting polymers where the metal nanoshell resonances are judiciously placed in interact selectively with specific excitations of the material;
- the addition of photoluminescent species into the dielectric core of metal nanoshells, to characterize the effect of the metallic "nanocavity" on the optically active species inside;
- the fabrication of layered device structures incorporating metal nanoshells, to characterize plasmon-induced hot electron-based photoconductivity in these devices;
- to exploit the intense local field of the metal nanoshell plasmon by incorporating the nanostructure at the apex of a Scanning Tunneling Microscop tip, for optically addressable probe tip applications;
- to develop nanoparticle assemblies as terahertz-resonant materials and as an experimental testbed for studying and controlling plasmon-plasmon interactions in well-characterized geometries.
Although highly multidisciplinary in scope, the work described in this proposal is consistent with the demonstrated expertise of the Principal Investigator, her research group, and her current collaborators. This integrated combination of chemical synthesis, optical and electron spectroscopies, scanning probe microscopies, and theory defines and exciting research atmosphere in which graduate students propsper and provides a successful, innovative paradigm for applied research. ***
