Volume 55, Issue 2 pp. 583-587
Communication

Plasmonic/Nonlinear Optical Material Core/Shell Nanorods as Nanoscale Plasmon Modulators and Optical Voltage Sensors

Dr. Anxiang Yin

Dr. Anxiang Yin

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

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Dr. Qiyuan He

Dr. Qiyuan He

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

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Zhaoyang Lin

Zhaoyang Lin

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

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Dr. Liang Luo

Dr. Liang Luo

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

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Yuan Liu

Yuan Liu

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

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Sen Yang

Sen Yang

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

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Hao Wu

Hao Wu

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

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Dr. Mengning Ding

Dr. Mengning Ding

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

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Prof. Yu Huang

Prof. Yu Huang

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

California Nanosystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

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Prof. Xiangfeng Duan

Corresponding Author

Prof. Xiangfeng Duan

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

California Nanosystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (USA)Search for more papers by this author
First published: 24 November 2015
Citations: 21

Graphical Abstract

Nanoscale optical voltage sensors: The nanoscale integration of plasmonic and nonlinear optical materials can enable the creation of a new generation of sub-wavelength “electric-plasmonic-optical” modulators and nanoscale optical voltage sensors.

Abstract

Herein, we report the design and synthesis of plasmonic/non-linear optical (NLO) material core/shell nanostructures that can allow dynamic manipulation of light signals using an external electrical field and enable a new generation of nanoscale optical voltage sensors. We show that gold nanorods (Au NRs) can be synthesized with tunable plasmonic properties and function as the nucleation seeds for continued growth of a shell of NLO materials (such as polyaniline, PANI) with variable thickness. The formation of a PANI nanoshell allows dynamic modulation of the dielectric environment of the plasmonic Au NRs, and therefore the plasmonic resonance characteristics, by an external electrical field. The finite element simulation confirms that such modulation is originated from the field-induced modulation of the dielectric constant of the NLO shell. This approach is general, and the coating of the Au NRs with other NLO materials (such as barium titanate, BTO) is found to produce a similar effect. These findings can not only open a new pathway to active modulation of plasmonic resonance at the sub-wavelength scale but also enable the creation of a new generation of nanoscale optical voltage sensors (NOVS).

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