Fabrication and optical spectral characterization of linked plasmonic nanostructures and nanodevices

Abstract

Linked plasmonic nanoparticles made of noble metal materials exhibit significant enhancement of the amplitude of electromagnetic-field and strongly frequency-selective response at visible ranges which are distinct from that of individual nanoparicles. We introduce recent progress in the fabrication processes to achieve linked plasmonic nanostructures with various configurations. It includes the synthesis of ultrathin gold nanosheets composed of steadily linked nanoparticles using magnetron sputtering and lift-off processes, shaped gold nanopartocles films linked by surfactant, self-assembled silver nanoparticle films at water-organic interface assisted by phase transfer catalysts, large scale silver nanoplate films using self-assembly method, and silver nano-flags fabricated by chemical two-step synthesis methods. The morphologies and optical characteristics of these nanostructures are shown, respectively. These plasmonic nanostructures with special optical responses show a great potential in the applications of optical communications, photovoltaics and biochemical sensing. © 2013 The Japan Institute of Metals and Materials.