On wednesday November 24th Waqqar Ahmed successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled:
Synthesis and field-control of non-spherical bare and coated gold nanoparticles
Summary
The study of noble metal nanoparticles is motivated by their interesting optical properties. Collective interaction of the free valence electrons with incident electromagnetic radiation gives rise to charge density fluctuations at the nanoparticle surface, generally referred to as ‘localized surface plasmon polaritons’, or surface plasmons in short. For application purposes mastering the synthesis of size and shape controlled nanoparticles, as well as controlling their orientation and spatial position in assembled two- and three-dimensional superstructures is very crucial. The work described in this thesis focuses on the development of synthesis methods for bare and magnetically coated gold nanoparticles with tunable optical and magnetic properties. Also, it addresses ways to achieve control over their orientation and spatial positions both in solution and during assembly at interfaces.
