Drude relaxation rate in grained gold nanoantennas

Nano Lett. 2010 Mar 10;10(3):916-22. doi: 10.1021/nl9037246.

Abstract

The effect of grain boundaries on the electron relaxation rate is significant even for large area noble metal films and more so for plasmonic nanostructures. Optical spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction show a substantial improvement in plasmon resonance quality for square-particle nanoantennas after annealing due to an enlarged grain size from 22 to 40 nm and improved grain boundaries described by the electron reflection coefficient. The electron relaxation rate due to the grains is shown to decrease by a factor of 3.2.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Crystallization / methods*
  • Gold / chemistry*
  • Materials Testing
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Nanostructures / ultrastructure*
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Particle Size
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / methods*

Substances

  • Gold