Dr. Wiebke Albrecht

AMOLF Amsterdam

Plasmonic nanoparticles have drawn tremendous interest in the scientific community due to their unique ability to interact with light via localized surface plasmons. Understanding the delicate interplay between particle morphology, composition and optical properties is of utmost importance in optimizing particle design for numerous applications. While single-particle spectrally-resolved measurements can reveal insights into the optical properties, electron microscopy (EM) can be utilized to study structural features. With the advances in complex nanoparticles' geometries, however, 2D EM techniques are no longer sufficient and the need for determining the 3D structure arises. In this talk, I will show examples of different strategies for correlating the optical properties of single plasmonic nanoparticles with their 3D morphology obtained from electron tomography. In particular, next to utilizing electron-based spectroscopies, I will highlight how the combination with single-particle optical techniques opens up pathways for additional information inaccessible to electron-based techniques. Finally, I will discuss how quantified electron tomography is indispensable in unravelling structural changes in plasmonic nanoparticles driven by pulsed laser irradiation and our recent progress towards studying these modifications in situ inside the electron microscope.