Drude relaxation rate in grained gold nanoantennas.
The effect of grain boundaries on the electron relaxation rate is significant even for large area noble metal films and more so for plasmonic nanostructures. Optical spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction show a substantial improvement in plasmon resonance quality for square-particle nanoantennas after annealing due to an enlarged grain size from 22 to 40 nm and improved grain boundaries described by the electron reflection coefficient. The electron relaxation rate due to the grains is shown to decrease by a factor of 3.2.
Chen
Kuo-Ping
KP
Birck Nanotechnology Center and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, 1205 West State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
Drachev
Vladimir P
VP
Borneman
Joshua D
JD
Kildishev
Alexander V
AV
Shalaev
Vladimir M
VM
D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*
D006046:Gold