Thermal induced tunability of surface plasmon resonance in Au-VO2 nano-photonics

A new class of nano-photonics for possible Z(3)(omega) applications have been synthesized by pulsed laser ablation and optically characterized. Compared to standard nano-composites exhibiting an exalted effective Z(3)(omega) due to the enhancement of the local electric field, these Au VO2, nano-composites display m additional reversibly tunable surface plasmon frequency under external temperature stimuli. This is due to the semi-conducting/metallie first order transition of the host VO2, matrix. The nano-gold surface plasmon wavelength shifts reversibly from 645 to 598 nm when the Au-VO2 nano-composites temperature varies from 25 to 120 degrees C. Even if the spectral shift is not extensively large. such a tunability is positively genuine. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.