Complex Plasmonic Nanostructures for Materials Science and Catalysis

Abstract

Fabrication of arrays of identical nanoparticles in an efficient way using self-aligning systems is important to be able to scale up the production of nanoparticle based systems, for example for nanoplasmonics applications. In this thesis the possibility to use Shrinking Hole Colloidal Lithography (SHCL) as a method to fabricate complex nanoplasmonic structures using a wide set of materials has been explored. It is shown that SHCL can be used for fabricating complex structures with the ability to fine-tune details down to a size of a few nm. As case studies to demonstrate the functionalities of the obtained structures, the method has been used to measure the plasmonic response to hydride formation in sub-15 nm Pd nanoparticles, and the behaviour of Cu nanoparticles when exposed to different gas environments. The ability to use indirect plasmonic sensing as a probe for oxidation and reduction in Cu has been demonstrated both at the ensemble and single nanoparticle level.