Interpretation of Localized Surface Plasmonic Resonances of Gold Nanoparticles Covered by Polymeric Coatings

Plasmonic materials currently have a plethora of applications. How would a dielectric matrix, such as diblock copolymers, tune plasmonic properties? In this work, self-assembled gold nanoparticles were fabricated in medium vacuum conditions on heated Corning glass substrates (kept at 440 degrees C) under the coexistence of argon and air by means of DC magnetron sputtering. These samples were compared structurally and optically to samples deposited at room temperature and post annealed. Subsequently, the better of the two preparations, those deposited on heated glass, were covered with three different polymers, namely: Polystyrene-block-polybutadiene-block-polystyrene (PS-b-PBD-b-PS); Polystyrene-co-methyl methacrylate (PS-co-PMMA); and Polystyrene-block-polyisoprene-block-polystyrene (PS-b-PI-b-PS), by means of spin coating. Localized surface plasmon resonances were recorded and analyzed, respectively, for polymer-covered gold nanoparticles, with the width, intensity, and position of the resonances changing according to multiple factors, such as the nanoparticles size and the refractive index of each polymer. Lastly, for purposes of justification and comparison with the experimental results, rigorous theoretical calculations have been carried out.