Condensed Matter Seminar Series

Electromagnetic Interaction of Nanostructures with Substrates: Applications to Defect Detection and Surface Monitoring

Fernando Moreno

Universidad de Cantabria, Spain

Thursday Nov 18,  11:00 am,  Room 298,  Physics Building

Abstract:  The sensitivity of localized plasmon resonances in metallic nanostructures to the optical properties of their environment, has opened the field of plasmonics by offering new possibilities for surface monitoring, microscopy, SERS, etc. [1]. In this talk we will review our recent research on the electromagnetic problem of light scattering by nanostructures either as contaminants or located on/above substrates. We present a numerical analysis, based on DDA (Discrete Dipole Approximation) [2], of the Physics involved in the interaction between a metallic particle and the surface underneath. Different scattering geometries will be considered and the influence of the parameters of the scattering configuration will be analyzed (optical properties of particle and substrate, particle size and shape, polarization, angle of incidence, etc.) [3,4]. Special attention will be paid to our current research on new materials, like Gallium, for manufacturing new plasmonic tools [5,6].

[1] T. Kalkbrenner, U. Hakanson, A. Schaedle, S. Burger, C. Henkel, V. Sandoghdar, Optical microscopy via spectral modifications of a nanoantenna, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 (2005), 200801
[2] Draine, B.T., The Discrete-Dipole Approximation and its Application to Interstellar Graphite Grains, Astroph. J., 333 (1988), 848-872
[3] P. Albella, F. Moreno, J.M. Saiz, F. Gonzalez, Surface inspection by spectral monitoring of localizad plasmon resonances, Opt. Express. 16 (2008), 12872-12879
[4] P. Albella, J. M. Saiz, J. M. Sanz, F. Gonzalez, F. Moreno, Nanoscopic surface inspection by analyzing the linear polarization degree of the scattered light, Opt. Lett. 34 (2009), 1906-1908
[5] Pae C. Wu, Tong-Ho Kim, April S. Brown, M. Losurdo, G. Bruno, H. O. Everitt, Real-time Plasmon resonance tuning of liquid Ga nanoparticles by in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry, Appl. Phys. Lett. 90 (2007), 103119
[6] This research is funded by USAITC-A (United States Army International Technology Center-Atlantic) in collaboration with Prof. H. Everitt, Prof. A. Brown and Dr. Pae C. Wu of Duke University (Durham, NC)