LASER-PLASMON · LASER manipulation of PLASMONic nanostructures

The ability of metal nanostructures to manipulate light at the nanoscale has resulted in an emerging research area called plasmonics. Plasmonics has developed into a rapidly maturing and broad research field, and it is progressively becoming an enabling technology for a number of forefront research areas like photovoltaics, chemical and biological sensing, medical therapy, information technology etc. However the fabrication of plasmonic devices is technically challenged because: there has not been developed yet a technique for precise control over the plasmon features, there is an engineering difficulty of delivering sharp nano-sized interfaces between metal and dielectrics, there is up to now no compatibility with large scale plasmonic applications and finally an experimental systematic study misses currently from the literature, which in turn provides a lack of feedback to technology for successful plasmonic large-scale applications. This proposal aims to address the hurdles mentioned above, through a wise implementation of a process technique that can be easily adopted by industry. This technique is Laser Annealing (LA), which can be a promising innovation in the field of plasmonics. The objectives of the present proposal are: 1. To develop and optimize seed materials for plasmonic nanostructures, 2. To identify the most appropriate LA system design and LA processing parameters, 3. To investigate the underlying mechanisms that govern the alteration of the NPs and their surrounding environment’s structure and opto-electronic properties, 4. To deliver the currently missing link between materials, deposition techniques and LA process parameters, by means of an experimental library that would facilitate the future development of plasmonic applications.""