Sum-Frequency Generation Spectroscopy of Plasmonic Nanomaterials: A Review

Abstract

We report on the recent scientific research contribution of non-linear optics based on Sum-Frequency Generation (SFG) spectroscopy as a surface probe of the plasmonic properties of materials. In this review, we present a general introduction to the fundamentals of SFG spectroscopy, a well-established optical surface probe used in various domains of physical chemistry, when applied to plasmonic materials. The interest of using SFG spectroscopy as a complementary tool to surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy in order to probe the surface chemistry of metallic nanoparticles is illustrated by taking advantage of the optical amplification induced by the coupling to the localized surface plasmon resonance. A short review of the first developments of SFG applications in nanomaterials is presented to span the previous emergent literature on the subject. Afterwards, the emphasis is put on the recent developments and applications of the technique over the five last years in order to illustrate that SFG spectroscopy coupled to plasmonic nanomaterials is now mature enough to be considered a promising research field of non-linear plasmonics.

Plasmonics and its Applications

“…In the second and last part, the discussed topics are devoted to chemistry and sensing, such as surface-enhanced fluorescence, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy, and electrocatalysis by using plasmonics [34,35,36,37,38,39,40]. Concerning the surface-enhanced fluorescence, Lu et al numerically demonstrated a high enhancement effect of the fluorescence signal obtained with a hybrid metal-dielectric nano-aperture antenna consisting of silicon and gold layers [34].…”

“…In this review, the authors introduced the fundamentals of SFG spectroscopy. Then, they presented an overview of studies of plasmonic nanomaterials by this SFG spectroscopy over the last five years [39]. To conclude this part, as well as this special issue dedicated to “ Plasmonics and its Applications ”, Subramanian et al presented a review on the electrocatalysis induced by plasmon with multi-component nanostructures.…”

Momentum Relaxed, Plasmon-Resonant Vibrational Sum Frequency Generation of Electrochemical Interfaces: Direct Observation of Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction on Gold

“…To improve signal-to-noise in this backside approach, a variation to the second method has been reported where a thicker electrode is employed to produce an SPR enhancement of the Fresnel factor. 1,18,[20][21][22] This has been shown to significantly improve signal-to-noise and has promise for electrocatalysis since the thicker metal film can also sustain higher current densities necessary to study electrocatalytic processes.…”

Plasmonic Gold Nanohole Arrays for Surface-Enhanced Sum Frequency Generation Detection

“…To improve the SFG signal at interfaces, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) supported on various nanostructures have been used to enhance the SFG responses of interfacial materials [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Baldelli et al observed 10 4 times SFG enhancement of CO adsorbed on platinum nanoparticles (NPs) arrays [10].…”