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Polarization-Dependent Optical Response in Anisotropic Nanoparticle–DNA Superlattices

Journal Article · · Nano Letters

DNA-programmable assembly has been used to prepare superlattices composed of octahedral and spherical nanoparticles, respectively. These superlattices have the same body-centered cubic lattice symmetry and macroscopic rhombic dodecahedron crystal habit but tunable lattice parameters by virtue of the DNA length, allowing one to study and determine the effect of nanoscale structure and lattice parameter on the light-matter interactions in the superlattices. Backscattering measurements and finite-difference time-domain simulations have been used to characterize these two classes of superlattices. Superlattices composed of octahedral nanoparticles exhibit polarization-dependent backscattering but via a trend that is opposite to that observed in the polarization dependence for analogous superlattices composed of spherical nanoparticles. Electrodynamics simulations show that this polarization dependence is mainly due to the anisotropy of the nanoparticles and is observed only if the octahedral nanoparticles are well-aligned within the superlattices. Both plasmonic and photonic modes are identified in such structures, both of which can be tuned by controlling the size and shape of the nanoparticle building blocks, the lattice parameters, and the overall size of the three-dimensional superlattices (without changing habit).

Research Organization:
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC), Washington, D.C. (United States). Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0000989
OSTI ID:
1470205
Journal Information:
Nano Letters, Journal Name: Nano Letters Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 17; ISSN 1530-6984
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (4)

Controlled growth and shape-directed self-assembly of gold nanoarrows journal October 2017
Programmable Atom Equivalents: Atomic Crystallization as a Framework for Synthesizing Nanoparticle Superlattices journal February 2019
Crystal engineering with DNA journal February 2019
Assembly of three-dimensional binary superlattices from multi-flavored particles journal January 2018