MingLee TangAssociate Professor of ChemistryChemistry mltang@ucr.edu(951) 827-5964
CAREER: Tuning optical responses in artificial molecules of monovalent gold nanocrystals
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AWARD NUMBER
006712-004
FUND NUMBER
21244
STATUS
Closed
AWARD TYPE
3-Grant
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AWARD EXECUTION DATE
8/6/2014
BEGIN DATE
5/1/2014
END DATE
4/30/2019
AWARD AMOUNT
$334,044
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Sponsor Information
SPONSOR AWARD NUMBER
SPONSOR
SPONSOR TYPE
FUNCTION
Organized Research
PROGRAM NAME
Proposal Information
PROPOSAL NUMBER
14010007
PROPOSAL TYPE
New
ACTIVITY TYPE
Basic Research
PI Information
PI
Tang, MingLee
PI TITLE
Other
PI DEPTARTMENT
Chemistry
PI COLLEGE/SCHOOL
College of Nat & Agr Sciences
CO PIs
Project Information
ABSTRACT
Ming L. Tang of the University of California Riverside is supported by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry program in a CAREER award to link nanoparticles together in uniquely well-defined ways. Nanoparticles made of gold and other noble metals can exhibit surface plasmon modes that are particularly effective at absorbing or scattering light in specific regions of the visible spectrum. This research is to hook them together in selective ways, the goal being to expand our ability to control interactions of light with matter at the nanoscale level. The approach is by chemical means, so that one can readily scale up the synthesis of these assemblies. The education component of this CAREER project is to deliver to the greater public the excitement of the fascinating properties of plasmonic nanoparticles. It includes the creation of a nanomaterials-focused, discovery-based laboratory course, "Painting with Plasmons and Polymers," for first year undergraduate students. This represents a new addition to the University of California Riverside's (UCR's) Learning Community program, which has been shown to increase retention rates of STEM majors and push 4-year graduation rates from 24% to 40%. First year student leaders from this class are expected to engage local middle and high school students with scientific demonstrations and to inspire them with stories about their personal path towards a STEM degree. The PI mentors students and teachers from these schools by providing them an opportunity to work in her research laboratory along with graduate students and undergraduates.
The goal of controlling nanoscale light-matter interactions in nanoparticle assemblies is achieved by inducing strong electric and magnetic transitions, particularly the latter, which are especially weak in the visible frequencies. Supra-molecular chemistry and solid phase synthesis is being used to create "monovalent gold" building blocks, i.e., gold nanoparticles each with a single binding site, as a powerful alternative to the current state of the art DNA-based self-assembly. The self-assembly method aims to control particles from 5-100 nm in size and to engineer inter-particle distances on the order of 1-20 nm. First, precise control over the distance between two nanoparticles of different composition creates heterodimers employed to identify modes disallowed by symmetry arguments. Second, by virtue of an inter-particle geometry dictated by a molecular scaffold, both electric and magnetic dipoles are induced in the circulating currents within the artificial molecule. Strong, tunable magnetic dipoles allow introduction of Fano resonances with high quality factors that are useful for sensing. And third, 3-D tetrahedral constructs with core-shell nanoparticles predicted to have overlapping electric and magnetic dipoles are being investigated.(Abstract from NSF)
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