Enhancement of a Two-Photon-Induced Reaction in Solution Using Light-Harvesting Gold Nanodimer Structures

J Phys Chem Lett. 2012 Jun 7;3(11):1443-7. doi: 10.1021/jz300370b. Epub 2012 May 14.

Abstract

We performed a quantitative analysis of plasmon-assisted two-photon photochromic reactions on light-harvesting gold nanodimer structures. Our strategy for the quantitative analysis of two-photon-induced photochemical reactions on gold nanostructures is using not only a confined photochemical reaction chamber but also a solution system. The strong intensification of near-field light at the nanogap positions on gold nanodimer pairs promoted two-photon absorption by a closed-form diarylethene derivative, resulting in highly efficient photochromic conversion to the open-form structure.

Keywords: gold nanoparticles; localized surface plasmon resonance; nanogap; photochromic reaction; two-photon-induced reaction.