Imaging Plasmon Modes in Metallic Nanostructures with Correlated Optical and Electron Microscopy

Abstract

The study of plasmons is at the core of Surface‐Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). Surface plasmons are generated from the interaction of light with the electrons on the surface of a metal and are responsible for the electromagnetic enhancement mechanism in SERS. It is believed that the different modes that are observed in plasmon resonances depend on the shape of the nanoparticles [1].The goal of this project is to correlate the optical measurements of nanostructures generated by the surface plasmons using Resonant Rayleigh Scattering, with high resolution structural information obtained by using Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM). This technique will also reveal the different localized surface plasmon modes in the nanostructure as well as the relationship between the optical surface plasmons and the plasmons generated from the inelastic scattering of the electron beam. The measurement of the surface plasmon excitations in a STEM is called Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS).The success of this project will provide new tools to study plasmons important in Single Molecule Surface‐Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SMSERS), bio/chemical sensing [2–4], and other forms of surface‐enhanced spectroscopy.