Plasmonic-enhanced two-photon fluorescence with single gold nanoshell

Single gold nanoshell with mutilpolar plasmon resonances is proposed to enhance two-photon fluorescence efficiently.The single emitter single nanoshell configuration is studied systematically by employing the finite-difference time-domain method.The emitter located inside or outside the nanoshell at various positions leads to a significantly different enhancement effect.The fluorescent emitter placed outside the nanoshell can achieve large fluorescence intensity given that both the position and orientation of the emission dipole are optimally controlled.In contrast,for the case of the emitter placed inside the nanoshell,it can experience substantial two-photon fluorescence enhancement without strict requirements upon the position and dipole orientations.Metallic nanoshell encapsulating many fluorescent emitters should be a promising nanocomposite configuration for bright two-photon fluorescence label.The results provide a comprehensive understanding about the plasmonic-enhanced two-photon fluorescence behaviors,and the nanocomposite configuration has great potential for optical detecting,imaging and sensing in biological applications.     

Theoretical Studies of Optical Properties of Silver Nanoparticles

Optical properties of silver nanoparticles such as extinction, absorption and scattering efficiencies are studied based on Green＇s function theory. The numerical simulation results show that optical properties of silver nanoparticles are mainly dependent on their sizes and geometries; the localized plasmon resonance peak is red shifted when the dielectric constant of the particle＇s surrounding medium increases or when a substrate is presented. The influences of wave polarizations, the incident angles of light, the composite silver and multiply-layers on the plasmon resonance are also reported. The numerical simulation of optical spectra is a very useful tool for nanoparticle growth and characterization.     

Distributed optical fiber surface plasmon resonance sensors

The relationships of the resonant wavelength of optical fiber surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors to the modulation layer refractive index, thickness and the refractive index of the bulk medium are obtained by using theoretical calculation model of optical fiber SPR sensors under certain conditions, which indicates that resonant wavelength of the sensors is approximately linear with modulation layer thickness. Based on the linear relationship, multiple SPR sensors with different resonant wavelengths can be fabricated in a single optical fiber named as distributed optical fiber surface plasmon resonance sensors (DOFSPRSs). Experimental results are presented, showing that it is practical to fabricate more than one SPR sensors in a single optical fiber.     

Distributed optical fiber surface plasmon resonance sensors

The relationships of the resonant wavelength of optical fiber surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors to the modulation layer refractive index, thickness and the refractive index of the bulk medium are obtained by using theoretical calculation model of optical fiber SPR sensors under certain conditions, which indicates that resonant wavelength of the sensors is approximately linear with modulation layer thickness. Based on the linear relationship, multiple SPR sensors with different resonant wavelengths can be fabricated in a single optical fiber named as distributed optical fiber surface plasmon resonance sensors (DOFSPRSs).Experimental results are presented, showing that it is practical to fabricate more than one SPR sensors in a single optical fiber.     

Influence of structural defects on the optical properties of strongly coupled Au nanoshell arrays

The effects of different defects on optical properties and plasmon resonances properties of Au nanoshell arrays were investigated by using the finite-difference time-domain(FDTD) theory.It is found that the optical properties of the nanoshell arrays are strongly influenced by different defects.We show that when the hollow Au nanoshell arrays are placed in air,there is a wide photonic band gap(PBG) in the infrared region,but the band gap becomes narrower as we introduced different defects.Based on the distributions of electric field component E z and the total energy distribution of the electric and the magnetic field,we show that there exhibit dipoles field distributions for the plasmon mode at the long-wavelength edge of the band gap,but composite higher order modes are excited at the short-wavelength edge of the band gap.The plasmon resonant modes also can be controlled by introducing defects.     

Effect of Emitter Position on Emission Intensity in an Organic Planar Microcavity

We have fabricated a λ/2-length planar microcavity between two silver mirrors that had the same thickness and consisted of a sandwich structure LiF1/Alq3/LiF2.By altering the relative thickness of the two LiF layers,the adjustment of the position of thin layer Alq3 in the microcavity was achieved and the apparent photoluminescence (PL) intensity change was observed.The maximal emission intensity device,corresponding to the luminescence layer located at antinode,is four times that of the minimal one whose luminescence layer is near a silver mirror that is close to a node.This indicates that the coupling between vacuum electric field and dipole strongly affects the emission intensity in the forward direction of the microcavity plane.Comparing the PL intensity between the microcavity and the non-cavity devices with the same sandwith structure LiF1/Alq3/LiF2 in free space,at the resonance wavelength a maximal enhancement factor of nine is obtained.     

Electric Field Enhancement of Nano Gap of Silver Prisms

Using numerical calculation, we examine the effects of gap distance of a pair of nano gap silver prisms with rounded corners on the local light intensity enhancement. Two peaks due to localized surface plasmon （LSP） excitation are observed in a wavelength range from 900nm to 300nm. The results demonstrate that peaks at a longer and a shorter wavelength corresponded to dipole-like and quadrupole-like LSP resonances, respectively. It is found that a gap distance up to 20 nm provides larger light intensity enhancement than that of a single silver nano prism with rounded corners. Furthermore, nano gap silver prisms are fabricated by direct focused ion beam processing, and we measure the scattering light spectrum of a pair of nano prisms by a confocal optical system. However, the two LSP peaks are not observed in visible range because the sizes of the nano gap and prisms are too large.     

Research of photolithography technology based on surface plasmon

This paper demonstrates a new process of the photolithography technology,used to fabricate simply fine patterns,by employing surface plasmon character.The sub-wavelength periodic silica structures with uniform silver film are used as the exposure mask.According to the traditional semiconductor process,the grating structures are fabricated at exposing wavelength of 436 nm.At the same time,it provides additional and quantitative support of this technique based on the finite-difference time-domain method.The results of the research show that surface plasmon characteristics of metals can be used to increase the optical field energy distribution differences through the silica structures with silver film,which directly impact on the exposure of following photosensitive layer in different regions.     

Enhanced light emission from InGaN/GaN quantum wells by using surface plasmonic resonances of silver nanoparticle array

The effect of silver nanostructures prepared by nanosphere lithography on the photoluminescence（PL） properties of blue-emitting In Ga N/Ga N quantum wells（QWs） is studied. Arrays of silver nanoparticles are fabricated to yield a collective surface plasmonic resonance（SPR） near to the QWs emission wavelength. A large enhancement in peak PL intensity is observed, when the induced SPR wavelength of the nanoparticles on the QWs sample matches the QWs emission wavelength. The study proves that the SPRs could enhance the light emission efficiency of semiconductor material.     

Magnetic plasmon mode resonance and power transmission in a nanosandwich waveguide

The magnetic plasmon (MP) modes in the metal-dielectric-metal nanosandwich structure are investigated nu-merically,and the principle of energy resonance in such a resonator is proposed.An equivalent inductance capacitance circuit analysis method is proposed and the results are in agreement with the numerical simulations.Based on the MP resonance in such a structure,a nanosandwich chain waveguide is designed.Gold and silver are chosen as the metal materials.The power transmission efficiency of the nanosandwich waveguide can be as high as 0.546 in a specific nanosandwich unit cell,even when the metal absorption loss is large,which is the perspective of the new waveguides and lasers based on MP modes.     

Optimization of ultrathin carbon film coated silver nanoshell for biomedical applications in vivo

The extinction spectroscopy and near-field enhancement of dielectric-silver nanoshell coated by tetrahedral amorphous carbon [ta-C] layer (DSC) have been calculated by using Mie theory. With decreasing the Ag layer thickness, the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of DSC nanoshell moves from the visible region into the near-infrared region and the corresponding local field factor (LFF) increases first and then decreases. In addition, the increase of ta-C shell thickness leads to red-shift of LSPR and the decrease of LFF in DSC nanoshell. We further find that the increase of the dielectric constant for the outer shell can induce a significant enhancement of near-field. Based on the simulation analysis, we show that the DSC nanoshell can provide strong near-field in near-infrared region and may be suitable for the biomedical applications in vivo.     

内嵌圆饼空心方形银纳米结构的光学性质

采用离散偶极子近似方法计算了内嵌圆饼空心方形银纳米结构的消光光谱以及其近场的电场强度分布,并进一步与空心方形纳米结构的消光光谱和表面电场做比较.结果表明,在耦合作用下内嵌圆饼空心方形银纳米结构不仅产生了新的共振模式,而且新的共振模式在传统表面增强拉曼散射的激发波长范围内,进而可以弥补由于实验上运用纳米切片法所制备的空心方形纳米结构尺寸较大导致其共振吸收峰在远红外波长范围的不足.此外,可以通过改变内嵌圆饼空心方形银纳米结构的形貌参数调节其表面等离子体共振峰的共振波长,以满足在表面增强拉曼散射、生物分子或化学分子探测上的应用.     

Numerical study of optical properties of single silver nanobowtie with anisotropic topology

Optical properties of silver nanobowtie with anisotropic topology, which is separated with nanogap that is horizontal (Y direction) and vertical (Z direction) to the line between the two constituent triangles (i.e., the bowtie axis), are studied. A discrete dipole approximation (DDA) method is used to determine the extinction efficiency and the electric field (E-field) distribution, then the corresponding enhancement factor (EF) and the full width half maximum (FWHM) of the E-field are obtained and analyzed. Our results show that the wavelength of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-induced blue-shifts and the maximum EF decrease were observed with increasing gap size for the parallel polarized (Z-polarized) excitation. It is also found that the light spot at the “hot spot” in the gap becomes larger and deviates from the rectangular pattern with the increase of the gap in the Z direction (Z-gap), and the FWHM in the Z direction of the localized E-field in the gap broadens with either an increase in the gap in the Y direction (Y-gap) or the Z-gap. These behaviors are due to the decrease of the coupling efficiency of near-field plasmon coupling. In contrast, the wavelength of the LSPR and the maximum EF excited by the perpendicularly polarized (Y-polarized) light show less dependence on the gap size than that of the Y-polarized light. PACS  73.20.Mf; 78.67.-n     

Local field enhancement of pair arrays of silver nanospheres

Local field surface plasmon excitation of pair arrays of silver nanospheres was studied using three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method. The near-field enhancement was associated with the radius of nanosphere and the incident wavelength, the highest of which always appeared in the penultimate gaps, regardless of the number of the pairs. The surface plasmon resonance could be controlled and tuned by radius of nanosphere and incident wavelength.     

Comparison investigation of near- and far-field properties for plasmon resonance of silver nanosphere dimers

Near- and far-field plasmon resonance properties of silver nanospheres dimers are calculated and compared based on the Generalized Multiparticle Mie-solution method. Greater differences between near- and far-field plasmon resonances are found than those of silver single nanoparticle, while the dimer of strongest near-field electric field amplitude and the dimer of highest far-field extinction coefficient almost have the same geometry parameter value under the illumination with fixed wavelength and polarization.     

数值模拟探针诱导表面等离子体共振耦合纳米光刻

采用有损耗介质和色散介质的二维时域有限差分方法，数值模拟了以光波长514.5nm的p偏振基模高斯光束为入射光源，激发Kretschmann型表面等离子体共振，并通过探针的局域场增强效应实现纳米光刻的新方法——探针诱导表面等离子体共振耦合纳米光刻.分别就探针与记录层的间距以及探针针尖大小，模拟分析了不同情况下探针的局域场增强效应和记录层表面的相对电场强度振幅分布.结果表明，探针工作在接触模式时，探针的局域场增强效应最明显，记录层表面的相对电场强度振幅的对比度最大；当探针针尖距记录层5nm时，针尖下方记录层表面的相对电场强度振幅大于光刻临界值的分布宽度与针尖尺寸相近. 关键词： 纳米光刻 表面等离子体共振 时域有限差分方法     

Three-dimensional analysis of silver nano-particles doping effects on super resolution near-field structure

The super resolution near-field structure which incorporates a AgOx thin film was studied through the calculation using three-dimensional (3D) finite-difference time-domain method. The influences of the optical field distribution generate by some factors, e.g., the polarization direction, the wavelength of incident light and the size of silver nano-particles, which are sensitive to the surface plasmon resonance are discussed in detail. The goal of this study is to explain the physical mechanisms responsible for the super-resolution near-field structure phenomena in 3D model and give a better understanding of the optical properties between AgOx layer and incident light.     

Optical properties of the Au–Ag alloy nanowire coated with an anisotropic shell

The optical properties of the Au–Ag alloy nanowire coated with a cylindrical shell with radial dielectric anisotropy are investigated based on quasistatic theory. Numerical results show that the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak is redshifted with increasing the component ratio of Au in the alloy, while the intensity of extinction section at the SPR increases with increasing the component ratio of Ag in the alloy. In addition, as the extent of anisotropy of the shell increases, the extinction section at SPR wavelength decreases and the SPR wavelength is redshifted, but compared with the isotropic shell consisting of comparable dielectric constant materials, the SPR has a distinct blueshift for anisotropic shell. We also find that the field enhancement can be completely concentrated inside the anisotropic shell and the electromagnetic transparency can be exhibited.     

Comparing the interparticle coupling effect on sensitivities of silver and gold nanoparticles

The wavelength shift of surface plasmon resonance peak resulting from the electromagnetic coupling noble metal nanoparticle increases with the increase in the dielectric constant of the medium and the decrease in the interparticle separation distance. In this work, the discrete dipole approximation method was used to calculate the extinction efficiency spectra of the silver–silver and gold–gold nanoparticle pairs. This work shows that the silver coupled-particle system has higher plasmon resonance sensitivity as compared to the gold coupled-particle system. However, the silver coupled-particle system has lower and a faster near-exponential decay of sensitivity enhancement factor than the gold coupled-particle system. Thus, the silver coupled-particle may be more suited for sensing applications as compared to the gold coupled-particle, but the interparticle coupling effect displays more pronounced effect on the gold coupled-particle system as compared to the silver coupled-particle system.     

Nanosphere Templated Metallic Grating Assisted Enhanced Fluorescence

In this paper, enhanced fluorescence from a silver film coated nanosphere templated grating is presented. Initially, numerical simulation was performed to determine the plasmon resonance wavelength by varying the thickness of the silver film on top of a monolayer of 400 nm nanospheres. The simulation results are verified experimentally and tested for enhancing fluorescence from fluorescein isothiocyanate whose excitation wavelength closely matches with the plasmon resonance wavelength of the substrate with 100 nm silver film over nanosphere. The 12 times enhancement in the intensity is attributed to the local field enhancement in addition to the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons along the surface.