Nanoplasmonics: Physics and Applications

When light interacts with metallic nanostructures, it can excite free-electron near the metal surface. The electromagnetic resonances associated with these surface plasmons depend on the details of the nanostructure, opening up numerous ways to control and manipulate light at nanoscale dimensions. This has stimulated the development of novel optical materials, deeper theoretical insight, innovation novel devices, and applications in biosensing.

In this talk, I present how the optical properties of nanoparticles can be tuned by changing size and geometry, and interparticle distance when assembled. Then I discuss a number of interesting plasmonic effects such as Fano resonance, nonlinear plasmonics, fluorescence enhancement, and show how electromagnetic theory can be used to understand these phenomena. Finally, I demonstrate some applications, which could directly benefit from plasmonics, including the novel class of optical materials and cancer detection.