Plasmonic Circular Dichroism in Chiral Gold Nanowire Dimers

We report a computational study at the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) level of the chiro-optical spectra of chiral gold nanowires coupled in dimers. Our goal is to explore whether it is possible to overcome destructive interference in single nanowires that damp chiral response in these systems and to achieve intense plasmonic circular dichroism (CD) through a coupling between the nanostructures. We predict a huge enhancement of circular dichroism at the plasmon resonance when two chiral nanowires are intimately coupled in an achiral relative arrangement. Such an effect is even more pronounced when two chiral nanowires are coupled in a chiral relative arrangement. Individual component maps of rotator strength, partial contributions according to the magnetic dipole component, and induced densities allow us to fully rationalize these findings, thus opening the way to the field of plasmonic CD and its rational design.

Raman Activity of HS-(CH2 ) –NH-Coumarin Molecule Adsorbed on the Surface of Gold Nanostructures with various Morphologies

Synthesis of gold nanowires with an average diameter of 10 nm and length of up to 20 µm was achieved through a three-step heterogeneous nucleation process. Gold nanowires were formed through coalescence of spherical nanocrystals leading to grain growth and subsequently uneven nanowires. Furthermore, the uneven gold nanowires experienced thinning driven by thermodynamics to form relatively even nanowires with smaller diameters. Gold nanowires showed enhanced Raman activity in respect to enhancement factor than respective spherical gold nanoparticles with average particle sizes of 14 nm, 30 nm and 40 nm. The better Raman activity of gold nanowires with respect to spherical morphology was attributed to how they adsorb Raman active molecules, which are surface adsorption and network entanglement.

Effect of size and shape on the elastic modulus of metal nanowires

Size effects decisively influence the properties of materials at small length scales. In the context of mechanical properties, the trend of ‘smaller is stronger’ has been well established. This statement refers to an almost universal trend of increased strength with decreasing size. A strong influence of size on the elastic properties has also been widely reported, albeit without a clear trend. However, the influence of nanostructure shape on the mechanical properties has been critically neglected. Here, we demonstrate a profound influence of shape and size on the elastic properties of materials on the example of gold nanowires. The elastic properties are determined using in-situ mechanical testing in scanning and transmission electron microscopy by means of resonance excitation and uniaxial tension. The combination of bending and tensile load types allows for an independent and correlative calculation of the Young's modulus. We find both cases of softening as well as stiffening, depending critically on the interplay between size and shape of the wires. Graphic abstract