The field of plasmonics and metamaterials has attracted a great deal of interest over the past two decades, but despite the many fundamental breakthroughs and exciting science it has produced, it is yet to deliver on the applications that were initially targeted as most promising. This focus examines the primary fundamental hurdles in the physics of plasmons that have been hampering practical applications and highlights some of the promising areas in which the field of plasmonics and metamaterials can realistically deliver.
Nature Nanotechnology looks at What practical applications can the field of plasmonics and metamaterials deliver?
“Scientists are coming to terms with certain fundamental limitations in the physics of plasmons.”
The prospect of controlling the properties of light with nanometre-scale precision by coupling electromagnetic fields to the oscillation of free electrons in metals has driven the field of plasmonics for around the past two decades. Through a merging of nanotechnology and optics, this has led to remarkable fundamental insights into the interaction between light and matter at the nanoscale; allowed the diffraction limit to be beaten and novel imaging techniques to be created; produced ways to modify the properties of light emitters; and enabled materials with optical properties with no counterpart in nature to be developed1. However, the initial expectations of the field, which were in part linked to potential practical applications in photovoltaics and optical computing, have not yet been met, and scientists are coming to terms with certain fundamental limitations in the physics of plasmons. In this issue of Nature Nanotechnology, in a focus on plasmonics applications, we explore what can, and cannot, be realistically achieved in the field.
Photoexcitation and relaxation of metallic nanoparticles.
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