Plasmonics of non-noble metals

Abstract

Localized surface plasmon resonances are self-sustained, collective oscillations of free electrons in metallic nanostructures. They have a wide range of applications. The most common plasmonic metals are noble metals, such as gold and silver. However, there are applications, such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, in which using non-noble metals is advantageous. This review summarizes the investigation of localized surface plasmons in non-noble metal nanoparticles, providing an overview of the plasmonic properties of non-noble metals. We cover the following metals: aluminium (Al), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), gallium (Ga), indium (In), lead (Pb), magnesium (Mg), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), potassium (K), selenium (Se), sodium (Na), tellurium (Te), tin (Sn), titanium (Ti), tungsten (W), and zinc (Zn). Our summary therefore compares the plasmonic properties of non-noble metals and briefly introduces their potential to the readers.

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: Noble (a) and non-noble (b) metals used in plasmonic applications. In the following, we focus mostly of the non-noble metals marked by green color as they are commonly used in plasmonic applications, whereas the non-noble metals marked by orange color are less employed in plasmonic applications. In addition, plasmonic activity of non-noble metals marked by red color was just predicted with no reported experimetal applications.
• Figure 2: Aluminium plasmonics: (a) Experimental dielectric functions of aluminium by Rakić 10.1364/AO.34.004755, McPeak et al. 10.1021/ph5004237, and Palik 10.1016/c2009-0-20920-2. The real part $(\epsilon_1)$ is plotted by filled circles connected with a solid line and the imaginary part $(\epsilon_2)$ by empty circles connected with a dashed line. (b) Theoretical quality factors of LSPRs derived from these dielectric functions as $Q_\mathrm{LSPR}=-\epsilon_1/\epsilon_2$. (c) LSPR energy as a function of size of aluminium nanostructures, namely longitudinal dipole mode in aluminium nanorods 10.1021/nl303517v, in-plane dipole mode in aluminium nanodisks 10.1021/nn405495q, and dipole mode in aluminium nanocubes 10.1021/acsnano.9b05277.
• Figure 3: Bismuth plasmonics: (a) Experimental dielectric functions of bismuth by Werner et al. 10.1063/1.3243762, Hagemann et al. 10.1364/JOSA.65.000742, and for the liquid bismuth by Dogel et al. 10.1103/PhysRevB.72.085403. The real part $(\epsilon_1)$ is plotted by filled circles connected with a solid line and the imaginary part $(\epsilon_2)$ by empty circles connected with a dashed line. (b) Theoretical quality factors of LSPRs derived from these dielectric functions as $Q_\mathrm{LSPR}=-\epsilon_1/\epsilon_2$. (c) LSPR energy as a function of size of bismuth nanostructures, namely dipole mode in bismuth nanoparticles on silicon dioxide membrane 10.1021/acs.jpclett.5c02531, transverse dipole (TD) and longitudinal antibonding dipole (LDA) mode in bowties on sillicon nitride membrane manufactured by focused ion beam lithography 10.1021/acsnano.5c07482.
• Figure 4: Copper plasmonics: (a) Experimental dielectric functions of copper by Babar and Weaver 10.1364/AO.54.000477, Johnson and Christy 10.1103/PhysRevB.6.4370, and McPeak et al. 10.1021/ph5004237. The real part $(\epsilon_1)$ is plotted by filled circles connected with a solid line and the imaginary part $(\epsilon_2)$ by empty circles connected with a dashed line. (b) Theoretical quality factors of LSPRs derived from these dielectric functions as $Q_\mathrm{LSPR}=-\epsilon_1/\epsilon_2$. (c) LSPR energy as a function of size of copper nanoparticles, namely longitudinal dipole mode in copper nanorods dispersed in tetrachloroethylene 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02648.
• Figure 5: Gallium plasmonics: (a) Experimental dielectric functions of liquid gallium by Knight et al. 10.1021/nn5072254 and Dogel et al. 10.1103/PhysRevB.72.085403, and solid gallium by Knight et al. 10.1021/nn5072254 and McMahon et al. 10.1039/c3cp43856b. The real part $(\epsilon_1)$ is plotted by filled circles connected with a solid line and the imaginary part $(\epsilon_2)$ by empty circles connected with a dashed line. (b) Theoretical quality factors of LSPRs derived from these dielectric functions as $Q_\mathrm{LSPR}=-\epsilon_1/\epsilon_2$. (c) LSPR energy as a function of size of gallium nanoparticles, namely in-plane dipole mode in liquid 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c00094 and liquid and solid 10.1021/acs.jpclett.5c02035 gallium nanoparticles on a silicon nitride membrane.