Absolute Scattering Cross Sections of Titanium Nitride Nanoparticles Determined by Single-Particle Spectroscopy: Implications for Plasmonic Nanoantennas

Titanium nitride (TiN) nanostructures are promising building blocks for photothermal applications because of the surface plasmon-induced light absorption. However, compared to noble metal nanostructures, detailed analyses of the plasmonic responses of TiN nanostructures have been limited. In this work, by combining transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and single-particle spectroscopy, we determine absolute scattering cross sections of individual TiN nanocubes (NCs). The key aspect of the developed methodology is placing a TiN NC on an ultrathin SiO2 membrane and performing the precise structural analysis and the scattering spectrum measurement on the same TiN NCs. Furthermore, by employing Au nanospheres as references, we quantitatively compare the scattering spectra with those obtained for TiN NCs and determine the absolute scattering cross section as a function of NC size.