Start of funding 01.01.2015

Probing magnetic and electronic transitions of upconverting nanoparticles with plasmonic bowtie and diabolo nanoantenna arrays

Dr. Theobald Lohmüller
Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich
Fakultät für Physik - Photonik und Optoelektronik

Dr. James P. Schuck
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Molecular Foundry



Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNP's) have recently attracted much attention due to their ability of photon upconversion in which they emit anti-Stokes type luminescence upon irradiation with infrared light. Furthermore, these particles display a range of attractive properties, e.g. they are hard to bleach, non-blinking, and emit light efficiently enough to perform spectroscopic measurements at a single-particle level. One of the main challenges to fully exploit the capabilities of UCNPs today depends on the realization of tunable emission spectra from single particles.

In this project, we want to study in detail how the spectral properties of Er/Yb doped UCNPs can be tuned on a single particle level by precisely positioning them in close proximity of plasmonic nanoantennas.