Excitation-Transfer Plasmonic Nanosensors Based on Dynamical Phase Transitions

RAÚL A. BUSTOS-MARÚN; EDUARDO A. CORONADO; HORACIO M. PASTAWSKI

JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2012 vol. 116 p. 18937 - 18943

1932-7447

Excitation-Transfer Plasmonic Nanosensors Based on Dynamical Phase Transitions Raúl A. Bustos-Marún, Eduardo A. Coronado, and Horacio M. Pastawski The Journal of Chemical Physics C  2012, , pp –   http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp302176n ABSTRACT: Dynamical phase transitions (DPTs) describe  the abrupt change in the dynamical properties of open systems  when a single control parameter is slightly modified. Recently, we found that this phenomenon is also present in a simple  model of a linear array of metallic nanoparticles in the form of a localized−delocalized DPT. In this work we show how to  take advantage of DPTs to design a new kind of plasmonic  sensor which should own some unique characteristics. For example, if it were used as a plasmon ruler, it would not follow  the so-called universal plasmon ruler equation [Nano Letters  2007, 7, 2080−2088], exhibiting instead an on−of f switching  feature. This basically means that a signal should be observed only when the control/measured parameter, that is, a distance in  the case of plasmon rulers, has a very precise and predetermined value. Here, we demonstrate their feasibility and unique  characteristics, showing that they combine high sensibility with this on−off switching feature in terms of different distances and  local dielectric constants. This property has the potentiality to be used in the design of new plasmonic devices such as plasmonic  circuits activated only under certain environmental conditions.