Hybrids of carbon nanotube forests and gold nanoparticles for improved surface plasmon manipulation.

We report the fabrication and characterization of hybrids of vertically-aligned carbon nanotube forests and gold nanoparticles for improved manipulation of their plasmonic properties. Raman spectroscopy of nanotube forests performed at the separation area of nanotube-nanoparticles shows a scattering enhancement factor of the order of 1 × 10(6). The enhancement is related to the plasmonic coupling of the nanoparticles and is potentially applicable in high-resolution scanning near-field optical microscopy, plasmonics, and photovoltaics.

Heteroepitaxial gold (111) rings on mica substrates

Two-dimensionally arranged gold rings were prepared by depositing a polymeric membrane bearing a dense array of uniform pores onto a mica substrate, filling the pores with a solution of a gold precursor, evaporation of the solvent and calcinations. The epitaxy of gold rings is confirmed by x-ray diffraction measurements, and the epitaxial relationship between gold rings and the mica was found to be Au(111)[1-10]parallel to mica(001)[010]. The polar and azimuthal angular spreads are 0.3 degrees and 1 degrees, respectively, which is at least equal to or better than the quality of the corresponding epitaxial gold-film on mica. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Laser irradiation cell photothermal therapy assisted by gold nanoparticles

The strong absorption of gold nanoparticles in the visible spectral range allows the localized generation of heat in a volume of only a few tens of nanometer. The efficient conversion of strongly absorbed light by plasmonic gold nanoparticles to heat energy and their easy bioconjugation suggest that the gold nanoparticles can be used as selective photothermal agents in molecular cell targeting. The selective destruction of alkaline phosphatase, the permeabilization of the cell membrane and the selective killing of cells by laser irradiating gold nanoparticles were demonstrated. The potential of using this selective technique in molecularly targeted photothermal therapy and transfection is discussed.

Hybrid waveguide-plasmon resonances in gold pillar arrays on top of a dielectric waveguide

We propose a hybrid waveguide-plasmon system consisting of gold pillar arrays on top of a dielectric waveguide. The formation of extraordinary transmissions induced by the hybrid waveguide-plasmon resonances is investigated by rigorous coupled-wave analysis. The characteristics of the hybrid resonances can be predicted by introducing the photonic crystal slab theory. Extremely narrow absorption peaks and the electromagnetically induced transparency-like optical property are demonstrated in our hybrid system. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Measurement of 16O5+ Induced L X-Ray Production Cross Sections for Gold

The characteristic Ll, Lα, Lβ and Lγx-rays of Au and energy shifts produced by 20–50MeV 16O5+ beams on a thick Au ilm are measured with a Si (Li) detector. Cross-section ratios of σ(Ll)/σ(Lα), σ(Lβ)/σ(Lα) andσ(Lγ)/σ(Lα) versus O5+ energy show that consistent calculations yield considerably better agreements. Energy shifts Ll, Lα, Lβ and Lγ x-rays of Au target increase with more incidence energy. The main application for these measurements is multi-element trace analysis through particle induced x-ray emission.

Preparation and Optical Properties of Gold Nanowire Arrays

Gold nanowires with diameters (d) between,15 run and 200 urn and with length/diameter ratio of 700 were prepared in ion-track templates with electrode position method. The morphology and crystal structure of the gold nanowires were Studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The 200 nm (d) gold nanowires preferred orientation along the [100] direction were formed at the deposition voltage of 1.5 V (Without reference electrode). The optical properties of gold nanowire arrays embedded in ion-track templates were studied by UV-Vis spectrophotometer. There was a strong absorption peak at 539 nm for 45 nm (d) gold nanowire arrays. With the diameter of gold nanowires increasing, the absorption peak shifted to the longer wavelength. At last, the result was discussed combined with surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles.

Gold Nanoparticle-based Colorimetric Sensor for pH Sensing

We present a newly designed colormetric sensor sensitive to pH value based on a gold nanocomposite composed of gold nanoparticles and pH-sensitive polymer{dodecylthioether end functionalized poly[2-(diethlamino) ethyl methacrylate], poly(DEAEMA)-DDT}. We have shown that this design can produce stable GNP precipitate under weakly basic condition(pH=7.5) and this precipitate can be dispersed in acidic solution(pH=4.0), due to the 2-(diethylamino) ethyl methacrylate protonated by H+.

One-step preparation of hybrid materials of polyacrylamide networks and gold nanoparticles

Hybrid materials of polyacrylamide networks and gold nanoparticles were prepared by directly heating an aqueous solution containing HAuCl4, acrylamide, N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide, and sodium sulfite (Na2SO3). Acrylamide, N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide, and Na2SO3 were used as monomers, crosslinking agent, and initiator, respectively.