Internship/Master project: Quantifying Surface Chemistry with Single-Particle Plasmonic Sensing
Plasmonic nanoparticles are highly sensitive to their local environment. Small changes within a few nanometers of the particle surface can already lead to measurable shifts in their optical response, making them promising nanoscale sensors. In this project, you will use a single-particle dark-field scattering setup to measure the optical spectra of individual gold nanoparticles. By correlating these measurements with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the exact shape of the same particle can be determined, enabling accurate modeling of the optical response and therefore precise determination of the particle’s local environment. To test the sensitivity of this approach, you will systematically modify the surface chemistry of the nanoparticles by varying and exchanging surface molecules. By correlating controlled surface molecule densities with the ...