title: Dimerization of Colloidal Particles through Controlled Aggregation for Enhanced Properties and Applications.
abstract: Devising syntheses capable of precisely manipulating matter on the nanoscale is central to many areas of research. The underlying motivation is fueled by the fact that at the nanometer scale, the property has a strong correlation with the structure. One such nanostructure that has accrued much attention is the dimer-a structure composed of two colloidal particles separated by a small gap. This Focus Review discusses how colloidal stability can be strategically manipulated to induce dimerization, together with effective purification steps to further improve yields. We conclude the article by providing representative examples for how dimers composed of plasmonic nanoparticles leads to structures with tunable optical properties and strong electric near-fields, ideal for application in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.
authors.affiliation: The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30332 (USA).
authors.forename: Kyle D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Gilroy
authors.affiliation: The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30332 (USA). younan.xia@bme.gatech.edu.|School of Chemistry&Biochemistry, School of Chemical&Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA. younan.xia@bme.gatech.edu.
authors.forename: Younan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
keywords: Raman spectroscopy; colloidal nanoparticles; dimers; separation; surface-enhanced Raman scattering