Editorial Cite This: Chem. Rev. 2018, 118, 2863−2864
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Introduction: Plasmonics in Chemistry
T
he brilliant colors of stained glass, luster of jewelry, and reflection of images in mirrors all owe their unique visual properties to the free electron gas character of the noble metals. It is the ease of mobility of these carriers that enables such materials to respond so readily to light, even when the materials are shrunk down to nanoscopic dimension (i.e., one billionth of a meter) into individual nanoparticles and their assemblies. At this length scale, collective disturbances of the electron density known as surface plasmons can arise and have been implicated in a variety of applications ranging from surface-enhanced molecular spectroscopy and sensing to photothermal cancer therapy and plasmon-driven photochemistry. Surrounding these efforts an entire field called Plasmonics has emerged and expanded to encompass researchers across the natural sciences, engineering, and even medicine. Central to all studies is the plasmon’s remarkable ability to process light, capturing and converting it into intense near fields, heat, and even energetic carriers at the nanoscale. Such properties are strongly influenced by nanoparticle shape, size, material composition, organization, and local environment. The past decade has witnessed major advances in the control and optimization of these degrees of freedom, thanks largely to chemists who have pioneered this progress. Using imaginative chemical synthesis techniques, not only can complex nanostructures be assembled and actively manipulated from the far-field, but chemists have also discovered how to create and tune plasmonic excitations in nanomaterials that are ordinarily not even metallic. Characterization of the chemical and physical properties of these novel materials with advanced optical, electron beam, and scanning-probe techniques combine to span the UV to terahertz regime with nanometer-scale spatial resolution and femtosecond time resolution. And a variety of novel applications ranging from plasmon-enhanced photochemistry and solar-energy conversion to plasmonic lasers and waveguides are emerging and finding utility in engineering and medicine. It is the purpose of this thematic issue of Chemical Reviews to highlight areas at the intersection of the chemical sciences and plasmonics where researchers in chemistry have made significant impact. Almost a dozen review articles have been prepared by a worldwide group of experts that span the following topical areas: • Plasmon nanolasers (Odom) and waveguides (Xu) • Plasmonic photochemistry (Wei) and solar cells (Misawa) • Electron energy-loss spectroscopy (Camden) • DNA assembly (Liedl), active plasmonics (Wang), and plasmonic nanocomposites (Tao) • Semiconductor plasmons (Milliron) We wish to thank all of the authors for their contributions as well as the staff at Chemical Reviews for their assistance with this thematic issue. It is our hope that the depth and breadth of these articles showcase the impact of plasmonics in chemistry and stimulate new ideas and directions of future scientific pursuit. © 2018 American Chemical Society
Stephan Link* Rice University
David J. Masiello* University of Washington
AUTHOR INFORMATION Corresponding Authors
*Email:
[email protected] (S.L.). *Email:
[email protected] (D.J.M.). ORCID
Stephan Link: 0000-0002-4781-930X David J. Masiello: 0000-0002-1187-0920 Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS. Biographies
Stephan Link is Professor of Chemistry and of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University in Houston. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 2000 from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he worked for Professor Mostafa A. El-Sayed. In 2006, he joined the Rice Chemistry Department after postdoctoral positions at Georgia Tech and the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked for Professor Paul F. Barbara. His main research interests include the optical properties of single and assembled metallic nanoparticles. Special Issue: Plasmonics in Chemistry Published: March 28, 2018 2863
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00146 Chem. Rev. 2018, 118, 2863−2864
Chemical Reviews
Editorial
David J. Masiello is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Washington. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical chemical physics with Prof. Yngve Ohrn at the University of Florida’s Quantum Theory Project in 2004 and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Washington from 2004 to 2006 with Prof. William P. Reinhardt and Northwestern University from 2006 to 2009 with Prof. George C. Schatz. In 2010, he began his independent career at the University of Washington working in the fields of plasmonics and nanophotonics theory, and he is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00146 Chem. Rev. 2018, 118, 2863−2864
