Enhancing LSPR sensitivity of Au gratings through graphene coupling to Au film

A particular interesting plasmonic system is that of metallic nanostructures interacting with metal films. As the LSPR behavior of gold nanostructures (Au NPs) on the top of a gold thin film is exquisitely sensitive to the spacer distance of the film-Au NPs, we investigate in the present work the influence of a few-layered graphene spacer on the LSPR behavior of the NPs. The idea is to evidence the role of few-layered graphene as one of the thinnest possible spacer. We first show that the coupling to the Au film induces a strong lowering at around 507nm and sharpening of the main LSPR of the Au NPs. Moreover, a blue shift in the main LSP resonance of about 13 nm is observed in the presence of a few-layered graphene spacer when compared to the case where gold nanostructures are directly linked to a gold thin film. Numerical simulations suggest that this LSP mode is dipolar and that the hot spots of the electric field are pushed to the top corners of the NPs, which makes it very sensitive to surrounding medium optical index changes and thus appealing for sensing applications. A figure of merit (FoM) of such a system (gold/graphene/ Au NPs) is 2.8, as compared to 2.1 for gold/Au NPs either a 33% sensitivity gain and opens up new sensing strategies.

Optical determination and identification of organic shells around nanoparticles: application to silver nanoparticles

We present a simple method to prove the presence of an organic shell around silver nanoparticles. This method is based on the comparison between optical extinction measurements of isolated nanoparticles and Mie calculations predicting the expected wavelength of the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance of the nanoparticles with and without the presence of an organic layer. This method was applied to silver nanoparticles which seemed to be well protected from oxidation. Further experimental characterization via Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) measurements allowed to identify this protective shell as ethylene glycol. Combining LSPR and SERS measurements could thus give proof of both presence and identification for other plasmonic nanoparticles surrounded by organic shells.

Axial charges of excited nucleons from CI-fermions

We report lattice QCD results on the axial charges of ground and excited nucleon states of both parities. This is the first study of these quantities with approximately chiral (CI) fermions. Two energy levels in the range of the negative parity resonances N*(1535) and N*(1650) are observed and we determine the axial charge for both. We obtain a small axial charge for one of them, which is consistent with the chiral symmetry restoration in this state as well as with the small axial charge of the N*(1535) predicted within the quark model. This result agrees with the findings of Takahashi et al. obtained with Wilson quarks which violate chiral symmetry for finite lattice spacing. At the same time for the other observed negative parity state we obtain a large axial charge, that is close to the axial charge of the nucleon. This is in disagreement both with the quark model prediction as well as with the chiral restoration but allows for an interpretation as an s-wave {pi} N state.