Size characterisation method and detection enhancement of plasmonic nanoparticles in a pump–probe system

Fuentes-Dom�nguez, Rafael; Smith, Richard J.; P�rez-Cota, Fernando; Marques, Leonel; Pe�a-Rodr�guez, Ovidio; Clark, Matt

Abstract

The optical resonance of metal nanoparticles can be used to enhance the generation and detection of their main vibrational mode. In this work, we show that this method allows the accurate characterisation of the particle’s size because the vibrational frequency of plasmonic nanoparticles only depends on their mechanical properties. Moreover, by a careful selection of the particle size and/or probe laser wavelength, the detected signal can be increased by a large factor (∼9 for the particles used in this work) under the same illumination conditions. Finally, we show experimentally that particles of different sizes inside the point spread function can be observed due to the differences in their vibrational states, which could provide a feasible route to super-resolution.

Citation

Fuentes-Domínguez, R., Smith, R. J., Pérez-Cota, F., Marques, L., Peña-Rodríguez, O., & Clark, M. (2017). Size characterisation method and detection enhancement of plasmonic nanoparticles in a pump–probe system. Applied Sciences, 7(8), Article 819. https://doi.org/10.3390/app7080819

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 7, 2017
• Publication Date: Aug 10, 2017
• Deposit Date: Aug 14, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 14, 2017
• Journal: Applied Sciences
• Electronic ISSN: 2076-3417
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 8
• Article Number: 819
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/app7080819
• Keywords: plasmonics; metal nanostructures; pulsed lasers
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/877138
• Publisher URL: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/7/8/819