This presentation will describe our efforts in developing single-molecule approaches to study catalysis, focusing on two stories. The first story will be about our work in using redox-selective super-resolution reaction imaging and sub-particle photocurrent measurements to determine the relation between charge-carrier surface activity and water oxidation efficiency on a semiconductor photoanode during photoelectrochemical water oxidation.

Intense laser-plasma interactions are a robust source of light which is both on the fastest timescales imaginable and capable of imaging down to single atoms. Experiments showcasing the use of short-pulse lasers to create bright soft x-rays with circular helicity, white-light spectrum radiation suitable for near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) radiography, and next generation attosecond sources will be presented.
 

With advances in nanofabrication combined and increased understanding of plasmonic properties of nanomaterials, SERS has been transformed into a powerful analytic technique for determining structural properties about a system. Although SERS was discovered several decades ago, a complete picture of the enhancement mechanism is very active area of research. With the discovery of single molecule SERS which gives rise to the possibility of 10^10 enhancement factors or more.

In this talk, novel instrumentation techniques recently developed in Argonne National Laboratory to investigate quantum properties of individual nanoparticles, single molecules, and single atoms on surfaces as well as new quantum phenomena discovered by using these techniques will be presented. At the first part, the latest results of our synchrotron X-rays scanning tunneling microscope (SX-STM) will be shown. To date, synchrotron measurements vital for the characterization of materials at the nanoscale are performed by using conventional detectors.

I will give a brief introduction chiral symmetry and how broken symmetries are realized in a variety of assemblies. Among some interested assemblies are plasmonic superlattices that are able to break rotational and translational symmetries in a controlled manner. I will highlight some recent efforts into using plasmon hybridization to describe the plasmonic response of self-assembled superlattices.