Abstract
Development of methodologies for the controlled chemical assembly of nanoparticles into plasmonic molecules of predictable spatial geometry is vital in order to harness novel properties arising from the combination of the individual components constituting the resulting superstructures. This paper presents a route for fabrication of gold plasmonic structures of controlled stoichiometry obtained by the use of a di-rhenium thio-isocyanide complex as linker molecule for gold nanocrystals. Correlated scanning electron microscopy (SEM)—dark-field spectroscopy was used to characterize obtained discrete monomer, dimer and trimer plasmonic molecules. Polarization-dependent scattering spectra of dimer structures showed highly polarized scattering response, due to their highly asymmetric D∞h geometry. In contrast, some trimer structures displayed symmetric geometry (D3h), which showed small polarization dependent response. Theoretical calculations were used to further understand and attribute the origin of plasmonic bands arising during linker-induced formation of plasmonic molecules. Theoretical data matched well with experimentally calculated data. These results confirm that obtained gold superstructures possess properties which are a combination of the properties arising from single components and can, therefore, be classified as plasmonic molecules.
Highlights
The field of plasmonics has grown in the last two decades, driven by the prospect of controlling the properties of light with nanometre-scale precision by coupling electromagnetic fields to the oscillation of free electrons in metals
The real interest in the last decade has concentrated on development of methodologies for the controlled chemical assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles into well-defined superstructures with predictable spatial geometry
Another approach for fabrication of plasmonic structures of controlled dimension and geometry is the bottom-up assembly of chemically synthesized metal nanocrystals into higher-order structures [6,7]
Summary
The field of plasmonics has grown in the last two decades, driven by the prospect of controlling the properties of light with nanometre-scale precision by coupling electromagnetic fields to the oscillation of free electrons in metals. This has led to gain fundamental understanding into the interaction between light and matter at the nanoscale, allowed the diffraction limit to be beaten, produced ways to modify the properties of light emitters and enabled materials with optical properties with no counterpart in nature to be developed [1,2]. Another approach for fabrication of plasmonic structures of controlled dimension and geometry is the bottom-up assembly of chemically synthesized metal nanocrystals into higher-order structures [6,7]
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