NIST researchers measured subatomic-scale motion in a gold nanoparticle
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NIST researchers measured subatomic-scale motion in a gold nanoparticle
Looks like Plasmons may be a manifestation of particular Charge Field effects. There isn't a firm definition of these at the moment.
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NIST Device for Detecting Subatomic-Scale Motion Has Potential Robotics, Homeland Security Applications
December 15, 2016
https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2016/12/nist-device-detecting-subatomic-scale-motion-has-potential-robotics
NIST physicists Brian Roxworthy and Vladimir Aksyuk describe their work (link is external) in the Dec. 6, 2016, Nature Communications.
The researchers measured subatomic-scale motion in a gold nanoparticle. They did this by engineering a small air gap, about 15 nanometers in width, between the gold nanoparticle and a gold sheet. This gap is so small that laser light cannot penetrate it.
However, the light energized surface plasmons—the collective, wave-like motion of groups of electrons confined to travel along the boundary between the gold surface and the air.
The researchers exploited the light’s wavelength, the distance between successive peaks of the light wave. With the right choice of wavelength, or equivalently, its frequency, the laser light causes plasmons of a particular frequency to oscillate back and forth, or resonate, along the gap, like the reverberations of a plucked guitar string. Meanwhile, as the nanoparticle moves, it changes the width of the gap and, like tuning a guitar string, changes the frequency at which the plasmons resonate.
These optical micrographs provide a top-down view of several plasmonic gap resonators and zoom in on a single device. Bottom right shows schematic of a single device.
Credit: Brian Roxworthy, NIST/CNST
The interaction between the laser light and the plasmons is critical for sensing tiny displacements from nanoscale particles, notes Aksyuk. Light can’t easily detect the location or motion of an object smaller than the wavelength of the laser, but converting the light to plasmons overcomes this limitation. Because the plasmons are confined to the tiny gap, they are more sensitive than light is for sensing the motion of small objects like the gold nanoparticle.
---
NIST Device for Detecting Subatomic-Scale Motion Has Potential Robotics, Homeland Security Applications
December 15, 2016
https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2016/12/nist-device-detecting-subatomic-scale-motion-has-potential-robotics
NIST physicists Brian Roxworthy and Vladimir Aksyuk describe their work (link is external) in the Dec. 6, 2016, Nature Communications.
The researchers measured subatomic-scale motion in a gold nanoparticle. They did this by engineering a small air gap, about 15 nanometers in width, between the gold nanoparticle and a gold sheet. This gap is so small that laser light cannot penetrate it.
However, the light energized surface plasmons—the collective, wave-like motion of groups of electrons confined to travel along the boundary between the gold surface and the air.
The researchers exploited the light’s wavelength, the distance between successive peaks of the light wave. With the right choice of wavelength, or equivalently, its frequency, the laser light causes plasmons of a particular frequency to oscillate back and forth, or resonate, along the gap, like the reverberations of a plucked guitar string. Meanwhile, as the nanoparticle moves, it changes the width of the gap and, like tuning a guitar string, changes the frequency at which the plasmons resonate.
These optical micrographs provide a top-down view of several plasmonic gap resonators and zoom in on a single device. Bottom right shows schematic of a single device.
Credit: Brian Roxworthy, NIST/CNST
The interaction between the laser light and the plasmons is critical for sensing tiny displacements from nanoscale particles, notes Aksyuk. Light can’t easily detect the location or motion of an object smaller than the wavelength of the laser, but converting the light to plasmons overcomes this limitation. Because the plasmons are confined to the tiny gap, they are more sensitive than light is for sensing the motion of small objects like the gold nanoparticle.
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