LAUSR

Surface plasmon resonances (SPR) are coherent, collective oscillations of conduction electrons confined on the surface of conductive nanostructures. The behaviour of the SPR is determined by the shape, size, and composition of the nanostructure, as well as the surrounding dielectric environment. A given nanostructure may support many different SPRs, each defined by its energy and spatial field distribution. A nanostructure supporting SPR acts as a nano-antenna, interacting with light and paving the way for application of SPRs in areas such as metamaterials [1], sensitive sensors [2], or integrated nano-circuitry [3]. The design of the nanostructure is key to its performance in each application area; we are studying the behaviour of SPR modes in different nanostructures to build the toolbox to enable intelligent design of nanostructures for a given application.