title: Pushing the high-energy limit of plasmonics.
abstract: The localized surface plasmon resonance of metal nanoparticles allows confining the eletromagnetic field in nanosized volumes, creating high-field "hot spots", most useful for enhanced nonlinear optical spectroscopies. The commonly employed metals, Au and Ag, yield plasmon resonances only spanning the visible/near-infrared range. Stretching upward, the useful energy range of plasmonics requires exploiting different materials. Deep-ultraviolet plasmon resonances happen to be achievable with one of the cheapest and most abundant materials available: aluminum indeed holds the promise of a broadly tunable plasmonic response, theoretically extending far into the deep-ultraviolet. Complex nanofabrication and the unavoidable Al oxidation have so far prevented the achievement of this ultimate high-energy response. A nanofabrication technique producing purely metallic Al nanoparticles has at last allowed to overcome these limits, pushing the plasmon resonance to 6.8 eV photon energy (≈180 nm) and thus significantly broadening the spectral range of plasmonics' numerous applications.
authors.affiliation: CNR-SPIN , C.so Perrone 24, I-16152 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bisio
authors.forename: Remo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Proietti Zaccaria
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moroni
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Maidecchi
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alabastri
authors.forename: Grazia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gonella
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giglia
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Andolfi
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nannarone
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mattera
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Canepa
keywords: aluminum; nanoparticle; plasmonics; self-organization; ultraviolet