Condensed Matter Physics Seminar

2 p.m., Thursday, April 13, 2006
Room 1201, Physics Building

Understanding and Exploiting the Nanooptics of Metallic Nanoparticles

Garnett W. Bryant

(Atomic Physics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg)

Abstract: Metallic nanoparticles are now being extensively investigated as a new nanotechnology when intense local optical fields are needed for metrology, sensors, near-field imaging, nanoantennas for nanooptical communication and medical therapies, and in new metamaterials. In all of these applications, the large local optical response is provided by excited surface plasmons (charge oscillations) in these nanoparticles. In this talk, I discuss how the plasmonics of metallic nanoparticles can be exploited to provide wide tunability, intense response, and environmental sensitivity. Calculations of the electromagnetic response of metallic nanoparticles and comparison with experiment are described to provide a simple intuitive picture of the plasmonics of these nanoparticles.

Host: Yakovenko
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