Over the past decade, plasmonic nanoparticles have been the subject of extensive research, owing to their remarkable optical properties. These properties arise from a collective oscillation of the conductive electrons at the nanoparticle surface under light irradiation, known as localized surface plasmon (LSP). LSP is characterized by (i) a strong absorption and scattering of the light depending on the geometrical parameters of the nanoparticles and (ii) a strong amplification of the local field in the vicinity of the nanoparticles. Quite recently, it was shown that the activation and the initiation of chemical reactions or physical processes can be facilitated using LSP excitation. Such exploitation presents two main advantages: an enhanced yield and a fine control of chemical reactions at the nanoscale. These topics have become very active and are in line with molecular plasmonics. This book explores this new field and provides a broad view on the exploitation of plasmonics in chemical and biological fields.

World Scientific Reference on Plasmonic Nanomaterials: Principles, Design and Bio-applications is a book collection that encompasses multiple aspects of the exciting and timely field of nanoplasmonics, under the coordination of international plasmonic nanomaterials expert, Dr Luis Liz-Marzán. Plasmonics has a long history, from stained glass in ancient cathedrals, through pioneering investigations by Michael Faraday, all the way into the nanotechnology era, where it blossomed into an extremely active field of research with potential applications in a wide variety of technologies.Given the breadth of the materials, phenomena and applications related to plasmonics, this Reference Set offers a collection of chapters within dedicated volumes, focusing on the description of selected phenomena, with an emphasis in chemistry as an enabling tool for the fabrication of, often sophisticated, plasmonic nanoarchitectures and biomedicine as the target application.Basic principles of surface plasmon resonances are described, as well as those mechanisms related to related phenomena such as surface-enhanced spectroscopies or plasmonic chirality. Under the guidance of theoretical models, wet chemistry methods have been implemented toward the synthesis of a wide variety of nanoparticles with different compositions and tailored morphology. But often the optimal nanoarchitecture requires post-synthesis treatments, including functionalization of nanoparticle surfaces, application of external stimuli toward self-assembly into well-defined supraparticle structures and so-called supercrystals. All such nanomaterials can find applications in various biomedical aspects, most often in relation to diagnosis, through either the detection of disease biomarkers at extremely low concentrations or the design of bioimaging methods for in vivo monitoring. Additionally, novel therapeutic tools can also profit from plasmonic nanomaterials, such as photothermal therapy or nanocatalysis.The reference set thus offers comprehensive information of an extremely active subset within the world of plasmonic nanomaterials and their applications, which aims at not just collecting existing knowledge but also promoting further research and technology transfer into the market and the clinic.

Focusing on control and manipulation of plasmons at nanometer dimensions, nanoplasmonics combines the strength of electronics and photonics, and is predicted to replace existing integrated circuits and photonic devices. It is one of the fastest growing fields of science, with applications in telecommunication, consumer electronics, data storage, medical diagnostics, and energy. Nanoplasmonics: Advanced Device Applications provides a scientific and technological background of a particular nanoplasmonic application and outlines the progress and challenges of the application. It reviews the latest developments in nanoplasmonic applications, such as optical storage, photovoltaics, photocatalysts, integrated chips, optical elements, and sensing. The areas of application were chosen for their practicality, and each chapter provides a balanced scientific review and technological progress of how these areas of application are shaping the future.

This book is meant as an introduction to graphene plasmonics and aims at the advanced undergraduate and graduate students entering the field of plasmonics in graphene. In it different theoretical methods are introduced, starting with an elementary description of graphene plasmonics and evolving towards more advanced topics. This book is essentially self-contained and brings together a number of different topics about the field that are scattered in the vast literature. The text is composed of eleven chapters and of a set of detailed appendices. It can be read in two different ways: Reading only the chapters to get acquainted with the field of plasmonics in graphene or reading the chapters and studying the appendices to get a working knowledge of the topic. The study of the material in this book will bring the students to the forefront of the research in this field.

This book summarizes the results of studies of molecules and molecular complexes using techniques based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in a novel scientific direction called molecular plasmonics. It presents the current state of investigations in the field of molecular plasmonics and discusses its two main physical phenomena: surface plasmon–polariton resonance (SPPR) and localized SPR (LSPR). Among the mathematical methods for the calculation of plasmonic systems response, the book emphasizes models based on the transfer-matrix method, Green function formalism, Mie scattering theory, and numerical methods. It considers the possibilities of the SPPR technique for registering conformational changes, surface plasmon–mediated photopolymerization, electrochemical processes, as well as reversible optoelectronic and physicochemical properties during investigation of molecular systems. It describes applications of the LSPR method, including creation of metamaterials, surface-enhanced fluorescence, and bio- and chemosensing using noble metal nanoparticles in colloidal, array, and composite polymeric film formats. It also highlights the development and applications of plasmonic nanochips.