Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photovoltaics, Nanoheating and Sensors

The main property of metal and semiconductor nanoparticles is their resonant responses as a reaction on external optical fields, concentrating energy inside and around the particles and making them very attractive for different practical applications, e.g. sensor technology, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, and efficiency enhancement in photovoltaic devices. Additionally, Joule heating of plasmonic nanostructures by the induced currents leads to localized heat sources on the nanometer scale, enabling new concepts for nanoscale medicine and chemistry. These topics attract great attention from both experimental and theoretical points of view in the last two years. In this work, metal and semiconductor nanoparticles with adjustable diameters in the range of 40 – 200 nm and periodic nanoparticle structures will be generated by use of femtosecond lasers systems. The nanoparticle structures and their applications for sensing, photovoltaics, and nanoheating will be studied.