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Rice University

Chemistry Department

Welcome to Stephan Link's research lab

Noble metal particles in the size range of 2-100 nm have long fascinated scientists because of their intense color, which led to their application in stained glass windows as early as the Middle Ages. The color of colloidal metal particles is caused by the surface plasmon resonance, which can be thought of as the coherent motion of the conduction band electrons induced by interaction with light. The excitation of a nanoparticle surface plasmon also creates a strong local electromagnetic field around the metal nanoparticle surface. These unique optical properties have caused a tremendous interest in building improved and new devices from novel materials that consist of metal nanoparticles and are designed in a bottoms-up approach.

My research is concerned with the critical, but poorly understood role of the local environment in the optical (plasmonic), photophysical and photochemical processes of photoexcited metal nanoparticles. These processes are of particular interest when they are influenced by anisotropy in either a nanostructure’s shape or its surroundings. My research addresses the following issues:

1. The chemical and physical mechanisms of the coupling of non-spherical nanoparticles to their environment (including other nanoparticles);
2. The development of single particle spectroscopic techniques for determining local order using nanorod probes, and the photo-induced and thermal stability of surfaced attached molecules to metal probes;
3. The mechanisms for anisotropic solvation and alignment of shaped nanostructures in liquid crystalline solvents.

Understanding these critical chemical and physical issues promises to lead to major enhancements of fundamental technologies, such as medical imaging, laser therapy, bio-sensors, optical communication, energy conversion, and liquid crystal displays. Primarily, single particle spectroscopic techniques are used in my research and are further developed in order to adapt to current problems in nanoscience.

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