In the last two decades, plasmon resonance in gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) has been the subject of intense research efforts. Plasmon physics is intriguing and its precise modelling proved to be challenging. In fact, plasmons are highly responsive to a multitude of factors, either intrinsic to the Au NPs or from the environment, and recently the need emerged for the correction of standard electromagnetic approaches with quantum effects. Applications related to plasmon absorption and scattering in Au NPs are impressively numerous, ranging from sensing to photothermal effects to cell imaging. Also, plasmon-enhanced phenomena are highly interesting for multiple purposes, including, for instance, Raman spectroscopy of nearby analytes, catalysis, or sunlight energy conversion. In addition, plasmon excitation is involved in a series of advanced physical processes such as non-linear optics, optical trapping, magneto-plasmonics, and optical activity. Here, we provide the general overview of the field and the background for appropriate modelling of the physical phenomena. Then, we report on the current state of the art and most recent applications of plasmon resonance in Au NPs.

Surface plasmon resonance in gold nanoparticles: a review.

We present an all-dielectric germanium nanosystem exhibiting a strong third order nonlinear response and efficient third harmonic generation in the optical regime. A thin germanium nanodisk shows a pronounced valley in its scattering cross section at the dark anapole mode, while the electric field energy inside the disk is maximized due to high confinement within the dielectric. We investigate the dependence of the third harmonic signal on disk size and pump wavelength to reveal the nature of the anapole mode. Each germanium nanodisk generates a high effective third order susceptibility of χ(3) = 4.3 × 10–9 esu, corresponding to an associated third harmonic conversion efficiency of 0.0001% at an excitation wavelength of 1650 nm, which is 4 orders of magnitude greater than the case of an unstructured germanium reference film. Furthermore, the nonlinear conversion via the anapole mode outperforms that via the radiative dipolar resonances by about 1 order of magnitude, which is consistent with our numerical ...

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Enhanced Third Harmonic Generation in Single Germanium Nanodisks Excited at the Anapole Mode.

Benefiting from large intrinsic nonlinearities, low absorption, and high field enhancement abilities, all-dielectric nanoantennas are considered essential for efficient nonlinear processes at subwavelength volumes. In particular, when the dielectric nanoantenna supports the nonradiating anapole mode, characterized by a minimum in the extinction cross section and a maximum electric energy within the material, third harmonic generation (THG) processes can be greatly enhanced. In this work, we demonstrate that a higher-order anapole mode in a 200 nm thick germanium nanodisk delivers the highest THG efficiency on the nanoscale at optical frequencies. By doubling the diameter of a disk supporting the fundamental anapole mode, we discover the emergence of an anapole mode of higher order, with a valley in the extinction cross section significantly narrower than that of the fundamental anapole. Under this condition, we observe a highly improved electric field confinement effect within the dielectric disk, leading...

Efficient Third Harmonic Generation and Nonlinear Subwavelength Imaging at a Higher-Order Anapole Mode in a Single Germanium Nanodisk

High refractive index dielectric nanoantennas are expected to become key elements for nonlinear nano-optics applications due to their large nonlinearities, low energy losses, and ability to produce high electric field enhancements in relatively large nanoscale volumes. In this work, we show that the nonlinear response from a high-index dielectric nanoantenna can be significantly improved by adding a metallic component to build a metal–dielectric hybrid nanostructure. We demonstrate that the plasmonic resonance of a Au nanoring can boost the anapole mode supported by a Si nanodisk, strongly enhancing the electric field inside the large third-order susceptibility dielectric. As a result, a high third harmonic conversion efficiency, which reaches 0.007% at a third harmonic wavelength of 440 nm, is obtained. In addition, by suitably modifying geometrical parameters of the hybrid nanoantenna, we tune the enhanced third harmonic emission throughout the optical regime. Coupling metallic and dielectric nanoantenn...

Efficient Third Harmonic Generation from Metal–Dielectric Hybrid Nanoantennas

Aerobic oxidation on a heterogeneous catalyst driven by visible light (λ >400 nm) at ambient temperature is a very important reaction for green organic synthesis. A metal particles/semiconductor system, driven by charge separation via an injection of "hot electrons (e(hot)(-))" from photoactivated metal particles to semiconductor, is one of the promising systems. These systems, however, suffer from low quantum yields for the reaction ( 373 K). Here we report that Pt nanoparticles (∼5 nm diameter), when supported on semiconductor Ta2O5, promote the reaction without e(hot)(-) injection at room temperature with significantly high quantum yields (∼25%). Strong Pt-Ta2O5 interaction increases the electron density of the Pt particles and enhances interband transition of Pt electrons by absorbing visible light. A large number of photogenerated e(hot)(-) directly activate O2 on the Pt surface and produce active oxygen species, thus promoting highly efficient aerobic oxidation at room temperature.

Hot-Electron-Induced Highly Efficient O2 Activation by Pt Nanoparticles Supported on Ta2O5 Driven by Visible Light.

Temperature dependence of the surface plasmon resonance in gold nanoparticles

Anomalous temperature dependence of surface plasmon enhanced photoluminescence from copper nanoparticles embedded in a silica host matrix has been observed. The quantum yield of photoluminescence increases as the temperature increases. The key role of such an effect is the interplay between the surface plasmon resonance and the interband transitions in the copper nanoparticles occurring at change of the temperature. Namely, the increase of temperature leads to the red shift of the resonance. The shift leads to increase of the spectral overlap of the resonance with photoluminescence band of copper as well as to the decrease of plasmon damping caused by interband transitions. Such mechanisms lead to the increase of surface plasmon enhancement factor and, consequently, to increase of the quantum yield of the photoluminescence.

Surface plasmon enhanced photoluminescence from copper nanoparticles: Influence of temperature

We established that metal–dielectric nanostructures (consisting of three stacked monolayers of silver nanoparticles incorporated into polymer cross-linked film) can demonstrate three different surface plasmon collective modes. The modes were detected when the extinction spectra of the nanostructures were studied as a function of the incident angle and polarization of the incident light. Two previously known surface plasmon collective modes, namely T and P, associated with particle dipoles parallel and perpendicular to plane of the layer were identified for the polymer films containing one, two, and three monolayers of the particles. The extinction bands of T and P modes exhibited different intensity and frequency dependences on the angle of incidence. More pronounced angular dependences for P mode band indicated the stronger coupling of dipoles for P mode than for T one. A new N mode was observed for the structures consisting of three nanoparticle layers. This mode originated from surface plasmon coupling between adjacent layers. The additional mode significantly increases amount of information that can be obtained from optical response of the nanostructures.

Surface Plasmon Modes of Sandwich-Like Metal–Dielectric Nanostructures

Strong temperature dependence of surface plasmon enhanced photoluminescence from silver nanoparticles embedded in a silica host matrix has been observed. The quantum yield of photoluminescence increases as the temperature decreases. Such an effect has been rationalized as being the result of an increase in the plasmonic enhancement factor as a consequence of the decrease in the plasmon damping constant. The decrease in the damping constant is due to a reduction in the electron–phonon scattering rate with the decrease in temperature. The temperature dependence of the photoluminescence quantum yield is stronger for small nanoparticles which reflects the strengthening of electron–phonon coupling in silver nanoparticles with a decrease of their size.

Illya S. Bondarchuk

Papers

Temperature dependence of the surface plasmon resonance in gold nanoparticles

Surface plasmon enhanced photoluminescence from copper nanoparticles: Influence of temperature

Surface Plasmon Modes of Sandwich-Like Metal–Dielectric Nanostructures

Temperature Dependence of Photoluminescence from Silver Nanoparticles

Photoluminescence of rhodamine 6G in plasmonic field of Au nanoparticles: Temperature effects