{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/30111"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/30111","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Self-organization on Nanoparticle Surfaces for Plasmonic and Nonlinear Optical Applications","abstract":"This dissertation is about fabrication and functionalization of metal nanoparticles for use in plasmonic and nonlinear optical (NLO) applications. In the first two chapters, I describe a series of experiments, where I combined silver nanoparticles fabricated by nanosphere lithography with ionic self-assembled multilayer (ISAM) films, tuning the geometry of the particles to make their plasmonic resonances overlap with the frequency of optical excitation. The designed hybrid metallic/organic nanostructures exhibited large enhancements of the efficiency of second harmonic generation (SHG) compared to conventional ISAM films, causing a modified film with just 3 bilayers to be optically equivalent to a conventional 700-1000 bilayer film. SHG responses from Ag nanoparticle-decorated hybrid-covalent ISAM (HCISAM) films were investigated as the next logical step towards high-Ï ²⁺ ISAM films. I found that the plasmonic enhancement primarily stems from interface SHG. Interface effects were characterized by direct comparison of SHG signals from PAH/PCBS ISAM films and PAH/PB HCISAM films. Though interface &chi²⁺ is substantially smaller in PAH/PCBS than in PAH/PB, plasmonically enhanced PAH/PCBS films exhibit stronger NLO response. I propose that the structure of PAH/PB film makes its interface more susceptible to disruptions in the nanoparticle deposition process, which explains our observations. During the fabrication of monolayer crystals for nanosphere lithography, I developed a variation of the technique of convective self-assembly, where the drying meniscus is restricted by a straight-edge located approximately 100 μM above the substrate adjacent to the drying zone. This technique can yield colloidal crystals at roughly twice the growth rate compared to the standard technique. I attribute this to different evaporation rates in the thin wet films in the two cases. I also found that the crystal growth rate depends strongly on the ambient relative humidity. Finally, dithiocarbamate (DTC)-grafted polymers were synthesized and employed to functionalize surfaces of Au nanopartciles. PAH-DTC shows greater stability in different environments than PEI-DTC. I also investigated the stability of PAH-DTC coated particles in suspensions with UV-Vis spectroscopy and autotitration. The covalently bonded PAH-DTC enhances the colloidal stability of the Au nanoparticles and enables subsequent ISAM film deposition onto the particles.","abstract_html":"This dissertation is about fabrication and functionalization of metal nanoparticles for use in plasmonic and nonlinear optical (NLO) applications. In the first two chapters, I describe a series of experiments, where I combined silver nanoparticles fabricated by nanosphere lithography with ionic self-assembled multilayer (ISAM) films, tuning the geometry of the particles to make their plasmonic resonances overlap with the frequency of optical excitation. The designed hybrid metallic/organic nanostructures exhibited large enhancements of the efficiency of second harmonic generation (SHG) compared to conventional ISAM films, causing a modified film with just 3 bilayers to be optically equivalent to a conventional 700-1000 bilayer film. SHG responses from Ag nanoparticle-decorated hybrid-covalent ISAM (HCISAM) films were investigated as the next logical step towards high-Ï ²⁺ ISAM films. I found that the plasmonic enhancement primarily stems from interface SHG. Interface effects were characterized by direct comparison of SHG signals from PAH/PCBS ISAM films and PAH/PB HCISAM films. Though interface &amp;chi²⁺ is substantially smaller in PAH/PCBS than in PAH/PB, plasmonically enhanced PAH/PCBS films exhibit stronger NLO response. I propose that the structure of PAH/PB film makes its interface more susceptible to disruptions in the nanoparticle deposition process, which explains our observations. During the fabrication of monolayer crystals for nanosphere lithography, I developed a variation of the technique of convective self-assembly, where the drying meniscus is restricted by a straight-edge located approximately 100 μM above the substrate adjacent to the drying zone. This technique can yield colloidal crystals at roughly twice the growth rate compared to the standard technique. I attribute this to different evaporation rates in the thin wet films in the two cases. I also found that the crystal growth rate depends strongly on the ambient relative humidity. Finally, dithiocarbamate (DTC)-grafted polymers were synthesized and employed to functionalize surfaces of Au nanopartciles. PAH-DTC shows greater stability in different environments than PEI-DTC. I also investigated the stability of PAH-DTC coated particles in suspensions with UV-Vis spectroscopy and autotitration. The covalently bonded PAH-DTC enhances the colloidal stability of the Au nanoparticles and enables subsequent ISAM film deposition onto the particles.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Chen, Kai"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Ph. D.","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":"Physics","degree_department":"Physics","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Robinson, Hans D."],"committee_members":["Davis, Richey M.","Khodaparast, Giti A.","Heflin, James R."],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-12-02","date_published":"2009-12-02","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:21Z","subjects":["ionic self-assembly multilayer (ISAM) film","dithiocarbamate","convective self-assembly","surface functionalization","localized surface plasmon resonance"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-12152009-191229"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-12152009-191229","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30111","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Robinson, Hans D."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Davis, Richey M.","Khodaparast, Giti A.","Heflin, James R."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Physics"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Chen, Kai"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:20:45Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:20:45Z","2012-06-22"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009-12-02"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph. 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In the first two chapters, I describe a series of experiments, where I combined silver nanoparticles fabricated by nanosphere lithography with ionic self-assembled multilayer (ISAM) films, tuning the geometry of the particles to make their plasmonic resonances overlap with the frequency of optical excitation. The designed hybrid metallic/organic nanostructures exhibited large enhancements of the efficiency of second harmonic generation (SHG) compared to conventional ISAM films, causing a modified film with just 3 bilayers to be optically equivalent to a conventional 700-1000 bilayer film. SHG responses from Ag nanoparticle-decorated hybrid-covalent ISAM (HCISAM) films were investigated as the next logical step towards high-Ï ²⁺ ISAM films. I found that the plasmonic enhancement primarily stems from interface SHG. Interface effects were characterized by direct comparison of SHG signals from PAH/PCBS ISAM films and PAH/PB HCISAM films. Though interface &chi²⁺ is substantially smaller in PAH/PCBS than in PAH/PB, plasmonically enhanced PAH/PCBS films exhibit stronger NLO response. I propose that the structure of PAH/PB film makes its interface more susceptible to disruptions in the nanoparticle deposition process, which explains our observations. During the fabrication of monolayer crystals for nanosphere lithography, I developed a variation of the technique of convective self-assembly, where the drying meniscus is restricted by a straight-edge located approximately 100 μM above the substrate adjacent to the drying zone. This technique can yield colloidal crystals at roughly twice the growth rate compared to the standard technique. I attribute this to different evaporation rates in the thin wet films in the two cases. I also found that the crystal growth rate depends strongly on the ambient relative humidity. Finally, dithiocarbamate (DTC)-grafted polymers were synthesized and employed to functionalize surfaces of Au nanopartciles. PAH-DTC shows greater stability in different environments than PEI-DTC. I also investigated the stability of PAH-DTC coated particles in suspensions with UV-Vis spectroscopy and autotitration. The covalently bonded PAH-DTC enhances the colloidal stability of the Au nanoparticles and enables subsequent ISAM film deposition onto the particles."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph. D."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Self-organization on Nanoparticle Surfaces for Plasmonic and Nonlinear Optical Applications"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Robinson, Hans D."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Davis, Richey M.","Khodaparast, Giti A.","Heflin, James R."],"dc:contributor.department":["Physics"],"dc:creator":["Chen, Kai"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:20:45Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:20:45Z","2012-06-22"],"dc:date.issued":["2009-12-02"],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation is about fabrication and functionalization of metal nanoparticles for use in plasmonic and nonlinear optical (NLO) applications. In the first two chapters, I describe a series of experiments, where I combined silver nanoparticles fabricated by nanosphere lithography with ionic self-assembled multilayer (ISAM) films, tuning the geometry of the particles to make their plasmonic resonances overlap with the frequency of optical excitation. The designed hybrid metallic/organic nanostructures exhibited large enhancements of the efficiency of second harmonic generation (SHG) compared to conventional ISAM films, causing a modified film with just 3 bilayers to be optically equivalent to a conventional 700-1000 bilayer film. SHG responses from Ag nanoparticle-decorated hybrid-covalent ISAM (HCISAM) films were investigated as the next logical step towards high-Ï ²⁺ ISAM films. I found that the plasmonic enhancement primarily stems from interface SHG. Interface effects were characterized by direct comparison of SHG signals from PAH/PCBS ISAM films and PAH/PB HCISAM films. Though interface &chi²⁺ is substantially smaller in PAH/PCBS than in PAH/PB, plasmonically enhanced PAH/PCBS films exhibit stronger NLO response. I propose that the structure of PAH/PB film makes its interface more susceptible to disruptions in the nanoparticle deposition process, which explains our observations. During the fabrication of monolayer crystals for nanosphere lithography, I developed a variation of the technique of convective self-assembly, where the drying meniscus is restricted by a straight-edge located approximately 100 μM above the substrate adjacent to the drying zone. This technique can yield colloidal crystals at roughly twice the growth rate compared to the standard technique. I attribute this to different evaporation rates in the thin wet films in the two cases. I also found that the crystal growth rate depends strongly on the ambient relative humidity. Finally, dithiocarbamate (DTC)-grafted polymers were synthesized and employed to functionalize surfaces of Au nanopartciles. PAH-DTC shows greater stability in different environments than PEI-DTC. I also investigated the stability of PAH-DTC coated particles in suspensions with UV-Vis spectroscopy and autotitration. The covalently bonded PAH-DTC enhances the colloidal stability of the Au nanoparticles and enables subsequent ISAM film deposition onto the particles."],"dc:description.degree":["Ph. D."],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-12152009-191229"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30111"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["ionic self-assembly multilayer (ISAM) film","dithiocarbamate","convective self-assembly","surface functionalization","localized surface plasmon resonance"],"dc:title":["Self-organization on Nanoparticle Surfaces for Plasmonic and Nonlinear Optical Applications"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Physics"],"thesis:degree_level":["doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph. D."],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:21Z"}