title: Long-range plasmophore rulers.
abstract: Using on-wire lithography, we studied the emission properties of nanostructures made of a polythiophene disk separated by fixed nanoscopic distances from a plasmonic gold nanorod. The intense plasmonic field generated by the nanorod modifies the shape of the polythiophene emission spectrum, and the strong distance dependence of this modulation forms the basis for a new type of "plasmophore ruler". Simulations using the discrete dipole approximation (DDA) quantitatively support our experimental results. Importantly, this plasmophore ruler is independent of signal intensity and is effective up to 100 nm, which is more than two times larger than any reported value for rulers based on photoluminescence processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Gilles R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Bourret
authors.forename: Tuncay
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ozel
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blaber
authors.forename: Chad M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Shade
authors.forename: George C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Schatz
authors.forename: Chad A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Mirkin