Phaneuf Article on Ag Nanopillars Selected for Online Compilation

An article published by Professor Phaneuf and his group in Applied Physics Letters, "Systematic study of the size and spacing dependence of Ag nanoparticle enhanced fluorescence using electron-beam lithography," has been selected for the March 27, 2006 issue of Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science and Technology. The Virtual Journal, which is published by the American Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society in cooperation with numerous other societies and publishers, is an edited compilation of links to articles from participating publishers, covering a focused area of frontier research. The article describes the use of Ag nanopillars whose size, shape and spacing is varied systematically using electron beam lithography to produce enhancements as large as a factor of ~20 in the fluorescence from molecules placed in close proximity. Biologists employ fluorescence to take advantage of the ability to attach tags to target molecules including proteins, and DNA, and reveal the presence of these target molecules. Passive enhancement of fluorescence, provided by proximity to noble metal nanoparticles is expected to allow the development of highly sensitive biomolecule detectors. Professor Phaneuf and his group find that the size, shape and spacing dependence is in qualitative agreement with a model based upon resonant coupling with particle plasmon polaritons.

Published March 27, 2006