Plasmonic nanorod metamaterials for biosensing.

Label-free plasmonic biosensors rely either on surface plasmon polaritons or on localized surface plasmons on continuous or nanostructured noble-metal surfaces to detect molecular-binding events(1-4). Despite undisputed advantages, including spectral tunability(3), strong enhancement of the local electric field(5,6) and much better adaptability to modern nanobiotechnology architectures(7), localized plasmons demonstrate orders of magnitude lower sensitivity compared with their guided counterparts(3). Here, we demonstrate an improvement in biosensing technology using a plasmonic metamaterial that is capable of supporting a guided mode in a porous nanorod layer. Benefiting from a substantial overlap between the probing field and the active biological substance incorporated between the nanorods and a strong plasmon-mediated energy confinement inside the layer, this metamaterial provides an enhanced sensitivity to refractive-index variations of the medium between the rods (more than 30,000nm per refractive-index unit). We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach using a standard streptavidin-biotin affinity model and record considerable improvement in the detection limit of small analytes compared with conventional label-free plasmonic devices.

Optical Nonlocalities and Additional Waves in Epsilon-Near-Zero Metamaterials

We analyze the optical properties of plasmonic nanorod metamaterials in the epsilon-near-zero regime and show, both theoretically and experimentally, that the performance of these composites is strongly affected by nonlocal response of the effective permittivity tensor. We provide the evidence of interference between main and additional waves propagating in the room-temperature nanorod metamaterials and develop an analytical description of this phenomenon. Additional waves are present in the majority of low-loss epsilon-near-zero structures and should be explicitly considered when designing applications of epsilon-near-zero composites, as they represent a separate communication channel.

Electronically controlled surface plasmon dispersion and optical transmission through metallic hole arrays using liquid crystal.

The enhanced optical properties of metal films periodically perforated with an array of sub-wavelength size holes have recently been widely studied in the field of surface plasmon optics. The ability to design the optical transmission of such nanostructures, which act as plasmonic crystals, by varying their geometrical parameters gives them great flexibility for numerous applications in photonics, opto-electronics, and sensing. Transforming these passive optical elements into devices that may be actively controlled has presented a new challenge. Here, we report on the realization of an electrically controlled nanostructured optical system based on the unique properties of surface plasmon polaritonic crystals in contact with a liquid crystal (LC) layer. We discuss the effect of LC layer modulation on the surface plasmon dispersion, the related optical transmission and the underlying mechanism. The reported effect may be used to achieve active spectral tuneability and switching in a wide range of applications.

Optical transmission properties and electric field distribution of interacting 2D silver nanorod Arrays

Silver nanorods have been grown by electrodeposition into thin film porous alumina templates (AAO). Optical transmission measurements using p-polarized incident white light shows clear plasmon resonance extinction peaks. We successfully model the dependence on angle in incidence of extinction peak height and position using a multiple-multipoles (MMP) approach with the different spectral features being clearly associated with the effective electric field distribution and coupling between individual nanorods.

Wavelength Dependence of Raman Enhancement from Gold Nanorod Arrays: Quantitative Experiment and Modeling of a Hot Spot Dominated System

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra from molecules adsorbed on the surface of vertically aligned gold nanorod arrays exhibit a variation in enhancement factor (EF) as a function of excitation wavelength that displays little correlation with the elastic optical properties of the surface. The key to understanding this lack of correlation and to obtaining agreement between experimental and calculated EF spectra lies with consideration of randomly distributed, sub-10 nm gaps between nanorods forming the substrate. Intense fields in these enhancement “hot spots” make a dominant contribution to the Raman scattering and have a very different spectral profile to that of the elastic optical response. Detailed modeling of the electric field enhancement at both excitation and scattering wavelengths was used to quantitatively predict both the spectral profile and the magnitude of the observed EF.

Hypoglycaemia, liver necrosis and perinatal death in mice lacking all isoforms of phosphoinositide 3-kinase p85 alpha

Phosphoinositide 3-kinases produce 3'-phosphorylated phosphoinositides that act as second messengers to recruit other signalling proteins to the membrane(1). Pi3ks are activated by many extracellular stimuli and have been implicated in a variety of cellular responses(1). The Pi3k gene family is complex and the physiological roles of different classes and isoforms are not clear. The gene Pik3r1 encodes three proteins (p85 alpha, p55 alpha and p50 alpha) that serve as regulatory subunits of class I-A Pi3ks (ref. 2). Mice lacking only the p85a isoform are viable but display hypoglycaemia and increased insulin sensitivity correlating with upregulation of the p55 alpha and p50 alpha variants(3). Here we report that loss of all protein products of Pik3r1 results in perinatal lethality. We observed, among other abnormalities, extensive hepatocyte necrosis and chylous ascites, We also noted enlarged skeletal muscle fibres, brown fat necrosis and calcification of cardiac tissue. In liver and muscle, loss of the major regulatory isoform caused a great decrease in expression and activity of class I-A Pi3k catalytic subunits: nevertheless, homozygous mice still displayed hypoglycaemia, lower insulin levels and increased glucose tolerance. Our findings reveal that p55 alpha and/or p50 alpha are required for survival, but not for development of hypoglycaemia, in mice lacking p85 alpha.

Designed ultrafast optical nonlinearity in a plasmonic nanorod metamaterial enhanced by nonlocality

All-optical signal processing enables modulation and transmission speeds not achievable using electronics alone(1,2). However, its practical applications are limited by the inherently weak nonlinear effects that govern photon-photon interactions in conventional materials, particularly at high switching rates(3). Here, we show that the recently discovered nonlocal optical behaviour of plasmonic nanorod metamaterials(4) enables an enhanced, ultrafast, nonlinear optical response. We observe a large (80%) change of transmission through a subwavelength thick slab of metamaterial subjected to a low control light fluence of 7 mJ cm(-2), with switching frequencies in the terahertz range. We show that both the response time and the nonlinearity can be engineered by appropriate design of the metamaterial nanostructure. The use of nonlocality to enhance the nonlinear optical response of metamaterials, demonstrated here in plasmonic nanorod composites, could lead to ultrafast, low-power all-optical information processing in subwavelength-scale devices.

High-Performance Biosensing Using Arrays of Plasmonic Nanotubes

We show that aligned gold nanotube arrays capable of supporting plasmonic resonances can be used as high performance refractive index sensors in biomolecular binding reactions. A methodology to examine the sensing ability of the inside and outside walls of the nanotube structures is presented. The sensitivity of the plasmonic nanotubes is found to increase as the nanotube walls are exposed, and the sensing characteristic of the inside and outside walls is shown to be different. Finite element simulations showed good qualitative agreement with the observed behavior. Free standing gold nanotubes displayed bulk sensitivities in the region of 250 nm per refractive index unit and a signal-to-noise ratio better than 1000 upon protein binding which is highly competitive with state-of-the-art label-free sensors.

Directed self-assembly of nanorod networks: bringing the top down to the bottom up

Self-assembled electrodeposited nanorod materials have been shown to offer an exciting landscape for a wide array of research ranging from nanophotonics through to biosening and magnetics. However, until now, the scope for site-specific preparation of the nanorods on wafers is limited to local area definition. Further there is little or no lateral control of nanorod height. In this work we present a scalable method for controlling the growth of the nanorods in the vertical direction as well as their lateral position. A focused ion beam (FIB) pre-patterns the Au cathode layer prior to the creation of the Anodized Aluminium Oxide (AAO) template on top. When the pre-patterning is of the same dimension to the pore spacing of the AAO template, lines of single nanorods are successfully grown. Further, for sub-200 nm wide features a relationship between the nanorod height and distance from non-patterned cathode can be seen to follow a quadratic growth rate obeying Faradays law of electrodeposition. This facilitates lateral control of nanorod height combined with localised growth of the nanorods.

Logic feels so good-I like it! Evidence for intuitive detection of logicality in syllogistic reasoning

When people evaluate syllogisms, their judgments of validity are often biased by the believability of the conclusions of the problems. Thus, it has been suggested that syllogistic reasoning performance is based on an interplay between a conscious and effortful evaluation of logicality and an intuitive appreciation of the believability of the conclusions (e.g., Evans, Newstead, Allen, & Pollard, 1994). However, logic effects in syllogistic reasoning emerge even when participants are unlikely to carry out a full logical analysis of the problems (e.g., Shynkaruk & Thompson, 2006). There is also evidence that people can implicitly detect the conflict between their beliefs and the validity of the problems, even if they are unable to consciously produce a logical response (e.g., De Neys, Moyens, & Vansteenwegen, 2010). In 4 experiments we demonstrate that people intuitively detect the logicality of syllogisms, and this effect emerges independently of participants' conscious mindset and their cognitive capacity. This logic effect is also unrelated to the superficial structure of the problems. Additionally, we provide evidence that the logicality of the syllogisms is detected through slight changes in participants' affective states. In fact, subliminal affective priming had an effect on participants' subjective evaluations of the problems. Finally, when participants misattributed their emotional reactions to background music, this significantly reduced the logic effect.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering from Metallic Nanostructures: Bridging the Gap between the Near-Field and Far-Field Responses

We present here a detailed study of the complex relationship between the electromagnetic near-field and far-field responses of "real" nanostructured metallic surfaces. The near-field and far-field responses are specified in terms of (spectra of) the surface-enhanced Raman-scattering enhancement factor (SERS EF) and optical extinction, respectively. First, it is shown that gold nanorod- and nanotube-array substrates exhibit three distinct localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs): a longitudinal, a transverse, and a cavity mode. The cavity mode simultaneously has the largest impact on the near-field behavior (as observed through the SERS EF) and the weakest optical interaction: It has a "near-field-type" character. The transverse and longitudinal modes have a significant impact on the far-field behavior but very little impact on SERS: They have a "far-field-type" character. We confirm the presence of the cavity mode using a combination of SERS EF spectra, electron microscopy, and electromagnetic modeling and thus clearly illustrate and explain the (lack of) correlation between the SERS EF spectra and the optical response in terms of the contrasting character of the three LSPRs. In doing so, we experimentally demonstrate that, for a surface that supports multiple LSPRs, the near-field and far-field properties can in fact be tuned almost independently. It is further demonstrated that small changes in geometrical parameters that tune the spectral location of the LPSRs can also drastically influence the character of these modes, resulting in certain unusual behavior, such as the far-field resonance redshift as the near-field resonance blueshifts. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.3.011001

Structural and magnetic properties of Ni1-xZnxFe2O4 (x=0, 0.5 and 1) nanopowders prepared by sol-gel method

A series of nanostructured Ni-Zn ferrites Ni1-xZnxFe2O4 (x=0, 0.5 and 1) with a grain size from 24 to 65 nm have been prepared with a sol-gel method. The effect of composition and sintering temperature on morphology, magnetic properties, Curie temperature, specific heating rate at 295 kHz and hysteresis loss have been studied. The highest coercivity of 50 and 40 Oe, were obtained for NiFe2O4 and Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 samples with the grain size of 35 and 29 nm, respectively. The coercivity of Ni and Ni-Zn mixed ferrites decreased with temperature. The Bloch exponent was 1.5 for all samples. As the grain size increased, the Curie temperature of NiFe2O4 increased from 849 to 859 K. The highest saturation magnetization of 70 emu/g at 298 K and the highest specific heating rate of 1.6 K/s under radiofrequency heating at 295 kHz were observed over NiFe2O4 calcined at 1073 K. Both the magnitude of the hysteresis loss and the temperature dependence of the loss are influenced by the sintering temperature and composition.