Using Highly Accurate 3D Nanometrology to Model the Optical Properties of Highly Irregular Nanoparticles: A Powerful Tool for Rational Design of Plasmonic Devices

EDUARDO M. PERASSI; JUAN. C. HERNANDEZ-GARRIDO; M. SERGIO MORENO; EZEQUIEL R. ENCINA; EDUARDO A. CORONADO; PAUL A. MIDGLEY

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Año: 2010 vol. 10 p. 2097 - 2097

The realization of materials at the nanometer scale creates new challenges for quantitative characterization and modelingas many physical and chemical properties at the nanoscale are highly size and shape-dependent. In particular, the accuratenanometrological characterization of noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) is crucial for understanding their optical response that isdetermined by the collective excitation of conduction electrons, known as localized surface plasmons. Its manipulation gives place toa variety of applications in ultrasensitive spectroscopies, photonics, improved photovoltaics, imaging, and cancer therapy. Here weshow that by combining electron tomography with electrodynamic simulations an accurate optical model of a highly irregular goldNP synthesized by chemical methods could be achieved. This constitutes a novel and rigorous tool for understanding the plasmonicproperties of real three-dimensional nano-objects.