Self-assembled nanoparticles were formed after annealing ultrathin Ag films, which were grown on glass and quartz by direct current magnetron sputtering, in a furnace in air at 420 °C, 500 °C, or 600 °C. Intense localized surface plasmon resonances were observed for these samples in the entire range of visible light spectrum depending on the annealing time and nanoparticle size. Prolonged annealing resulted in the formation of nanorings and the change of the position and shape of resonances. The nanoring formation is attributed to partial evaporation of silver due to trapping of electromagnetic field by the larger nanoparticles despite the relatively low annealing temperature. Finally, in order to gain a further physical insight, the experimental results are compared with respect to rigorous theoretical calculations.

Ultrathin Ag and Ni/NiO films are sequentially produced on Corning glass and silicon substrates by means of magnetron sputtering. Post annealing treatment in a furnace with air at [Formula: see text]C and [Formula: see text]C may lead to the formation of Ag nanostructures in NiO environment. Some of these samples present local surface plasmon resonances (SPRs). The sequence in which each layer is deposited, as well as, the state of the structure on which the layer is deposited, appears to play a pivotal role in the optical properties of these nanostructures, which are attributed to the growth properties of the nanocomposite thin films. Ultimately, rigorous theoretical calculations have been made for comparison and discussion with the experimental results.

Plasmonic materials currently have a plethora of applications. How would a dielectric matrix, such as diblock copolymers, tune plasmonic properties? In this work, self-assembled gold nanoparticles were fabricated in medium vacuum conditions on heated Corning glass substrates (kept at 440 °C) under the coexistence of argon and air by means of DC magnetron sputtering. These samples were compared structurally and optically to samples deposited at room temperature and post annealed. Subsequently, the better of the two preparations, those deposited on heated glass, were covered with three different polymers, namely: Polystyrene-block-polybutadiene-block-polystyrene (PS-b-PBD-b-PS); Polystyrene-co-methyl methacrylate (PS-co-PMMA); and Polystyrene-block-polyisoprene-block-polystyrene (PS-b-PI-b-PS), by means of spin coating. Localized surface plasmon resonances were recorded and analyzed, respectively, for polymer-covered gold nanoparticles, with the width, intensity, and position of the resonances changing according to multiple factors, such as the nanoparticles size and the refractive index of each polymer. Lastly, for purposes of justification and comparison with the experimental results, rigorous theoretical calculations have been carried out.

Nanorods and nanodisks of Be, Mg, and Ca with different shapes and sizes have been theoretically studied.

The present article examined the influence of size and periodicity of simulated gold (Au) nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in Nickel Oxide (NiO) matrix on localized plasmonic resonances (LSPRs). The scope of this work is to comparatively study the theoretical outcomes exhibited against the experimental results delivered from previous works, including a significant number of simulations and testing of numerous NPs diameter values. A comparison between Au and NiO NPs over silver (Ag) and NiO NPs is also reported to investigate whether the nature of noble metal affects its behavior in terms of LSPRs. The computational results strongly support that the appearance and intensity of LSPRs is straightforward to the increase in the diameter of NPs. The simulation results are in a good agreement with the literature of small NPs, offering the opportunity to further understand the LSPR phenomenon and its more effective implementation to opto-electronic applications. Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA) is performed to stimulate the justification and knowledge of the theoretical conclusions.