Title
Preparation and Optical Characterization of Plasmonic and Dielectric Nanoparticle Films
Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
April 2010
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Jeunghoon Lee
Abstract
The focus of this research is to investigate the effect of dielectric particles on the optical properties of plasmonic metal nanoparticles. The ultimate goal is to combine anti-reflective properties of silica particles and strong plasmonic scattering of gold nanoparticles by assembling a hybrid film with the two materials. Such hybrid films could enhance the efficiencies of solar cells. Layers of gold particles were assembled on glass substrates using a layer-by-layer assembly technique, which involves employing polyelectrolytes such as poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS), and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). A single layer of silica nanoparticles was applied over the assembled nanoparticle layer, and their optical properties were examined using UV-Vis spectroscopy. Our results so far indicate that high ratio of gold nanoparticles to silica particles are necessary to detect plasmonic resonance of gold nanoparticles. We will present results obtained from films with separate gold and silica particle layers and a mixed gold and silica layer.