Optics in composite and clustered plasmonic nanostructures and strong local field enhancement

We will show certain physical characteristics that leads to strong 
near-field field enhancement in plasmonic  nanostructures using 
collective resonances. The structures considered generally involve two 
or a collection of plasmonic nanosctarrers, that sometimes are arrayed 
or clustered to generate even stronger collective resonance.
Based on simulations, strong field enhancement will be related to 
possible enhancement of the excitation and emission rate of organic 
molecules besides clustered structures. The possibility to generate

Exploration of Sum-Frequency Generation Microscopy

Nanoscale Gold in Passive and Active Forms: Lessons and Prospects from Computational Studies

Nanoscale Gold in Passive and Active Forms: Lessons and Prospects from Computational Studies
Hannu Häkkinen
Departments of Physics and Chemistry, Nanoscience Center, University of Jyväskylä, FI-40014 Jyväskylä,
Finland, hannu.hakkinen@jyu.fi

Structure and Reactivity of Surface-Bound Peptides and Proteins

Proteins display a tremendous range of specific biological function. Applying this function to sensing, chemical catalysis, and biofuel generation would profoundly expand and change these traditional fields. This goal requires that the protein of interest be effectively integrated with inorganic materials such as a crystal surface in a controlled and oriented manner without altering its three-dimensional fold or compromising function, a challenging biomaterials problem.

Force detection: time-resolved imaging of optical excitations

Optical gain in a polymer-metal plasmonic waveguide

Building Nanostructured Materials with Photons

SERS on a dumbbell: Transition from field to charge transfer plasmons as the spheres fuse

Adsorption and vibration of small molecules on surfaces: Density functional studies

Static and dynamic charging at the solid-vacuum interface: Its role in surface phenomena

Static and dynamic charging of molecular films at interfaces is important in many diverse fields of science and technology. In this report our recent study of the static positive and negative charging of solid layers of water will be discussed. A very stable negative (electrons induced) charging at the water-vacuum interface has been recorded. It functions like a nano-capacitor, accumulating well defined amount of charges and develops electrical fields of more than 106 V/cm, near the discharge threshold.

UCI Department of Chemistry

CaSTL