Using DNA to Design Plasmonic Metamaterials with Tunable Optical Properties
Abstract
Due to their potential for creating designer materials, the 3D assembly of nanoparticle building blocks into macroscopic structures with well-defined order and symmetry remains one of the most important challenges in materials science. [ 1 5 ] Furthermore, superlattices consisting of noble-metal nanoparticles have emerged as a new platform for the bottom-up design of plasmonic metamaterials. [ 6 8 ] The allure of optical metamaterials is that they provide a means for altering the temporal and spatial propagation of electromagnetic fields, resulting in materials that exhibit many properties that do not exist in nature. [ 9 13 ] With the vast array of nanostructures now synthetically realizable, computational methods play a crucial role in identifying the assemblies that exhibit the most exciting properties. [ 14 ] Once target assemblies are identified, the synthesis of nanometer-scale structures for use at optical and IR wavelengths must be taken into account. Many of the current methods to fabricate metamaterials in the optical range use serial lithographic-based approaches. [ 6 ] The challenge of controlled assembly into well-defined architectures has kept bottom-up methods that rely on the self-organization of colloidal metal nanoparticles from being fully explored for metamaterial applications. [ 8 ] DNA-mediated assembly of nanoparticles has the potential to help overcome this challenge. The predictability and programmability of DNA makes it a powerful tool for the rational assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles with tunable nearest-neighbor distances and symmetries. [ 1,15 18 ] Herein, we combine theory and experiment to study a new class of plasmonic superlattices first using electrodynamics simulations to identify that superlattices of spherical silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have the potential to exhibit emergent metamaterial properties, including epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) behavior, [ 13 ] and a region with an optically metallic response.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA604294
Entities
People
- Andrew J. Senesi
- Byeongdu Lee
- Chad Mirkin
- Chuan Zhang
- George C. Schatz
- Kaylie L. Young
- Martin G. Blaber
- Matthew R. Jones
- Matthew Rycenga
- Michael B Ross
Organizations
- Argonne National Laboratory