Olivier Pluchery

Olivier Pluchery

Biography:

Olivier Pluchery received his PhD in laser physics in 2000 from the University of Paris-Saclay in France. Quickly after, he moved as a post-doc to the Bell-Labs in Murry-Hill (New-Jersey, USA). In 2002 he obtained a position in France as associate professor at Sorbonne University (known as Université Pierre et Marie Curie at that time). He was appointed a full professor in 2017 in this same university, in the Physics department. He develops his research at the Institute of Nanosciences in Paris.

His interests focus presently on the electronic and electrical properties of gold nanoparticles and their relation to their optical and plasmonic properties. In particular he launched a research program on the coupling between the hot electron generation of gold nanoparticles under plasmonic excitation, and the molecular adsorption on the nanoparticle surface. Besides, he has developed for his students a complete course on plasmonics with dedicated lab works and a devoted textbook. He has authored some 70 research papers and two books. He is the founder and the director of the Or-nano research network that gathers several hundreds of researchers in France, dealing with research topics related to gold nanoparticles. He has filed one patent, which is the foundation of the start-up company named Bichromatics, that creates new pigments based on the plasmonic colors and addresses the luxury market. He has developed numerous relationships with companies and is a member of the steering committee of Systematic, a French industrial network in optics and photonics. Details here: http://www.insp.jussieu.fr/olivier-pluchery.html

Plenary presentation: 
Gold nanoparticles and plasmonics: let’s make the electrons dance!

Gold nanoparticles are famous for their ruby-red color due to the localized surface plasmon resonance. This color is the visible manifestation of an intimate coupling between an optical wave and the electrons, that takes place at the nanometer scale well below the diffraction limit. This dance of electrons occurs at a very high tempo set by the optical frequency (1015 Hz). The resonance is the visible sign of local electric field amplification that has been scrutinized for two decades and used for biosensing, for controlling photothermal effects, or for innovative thermo-therapies. This talk will first review the fundaments of plasmonics with a didactic approach, and also highlights a few of these applications.1-4

When the tempo of the electron dance is slowed down to zero, phenomena are described by electrostatics, a domain where local charges play a crucial role. These charges may enhance chemical reactivity or they create Schottky contacts between a metal particle and a semiconducting layer. Gold nanoparticles are versatile nano-objects that allow investigating fundamental questions linked to this local charge reorganization. In particular we will discuss one key property of surfaces using the concept of work function (WF). WF is clearly defined for a pure material with a planar and infinite interface but becomes unclear when surfaces are rough, when they accommodate local charges or when they are functionalized with molecules. Indeed, molecules induce charge transfer and dipolar moments. All these effects greatly influence the nanoscale chemistry and also the electric transport behavior at scales below 5 nm. The second part of the talk will show how local charges are measured and discuss consequences in nanoelectronics and chemical reactivity.5-7

Finally, combining these two tempo help understand key aspects of the recent topic of hot-electron physics.8 Plasmonic structures are able to concentrate the optical electromagnetic field and act as hot carrier sources. We will review some fascinating recent results related to hot electrons.

References

  1. Pluchery, O.; Bryche, J.-F., Plasmonics: An Introduction. World Scientific Publishing: London, 2022; p 340.
  2. Dileseigres, A. S.;  Prado, Y.; Pluchery, O., How to Use Localized Surface Plasmon for Monitoring the Adsorption of Thiol Molecules on Gold Nanoparticles? Nanomaterials 2022, 12 (2), 292.
  3. Pluchery, O.;  Schaming, D.; Remita, H. Patent: Packaging with two-color visual effect for decoration or identification. WO2017013373A1. 27-Jan-2017, 2017.
  4. Snegir, S.;  Huhn, T.;  Boneberg, J.;  Haus, S.;  Pluchery, O.; Scheer, E., Ultraviolet Deactivation of Silane-Functionalized Surfaces: A Scalable Approach for Patterned Nanoparticle Assembly. J. Phys. Chem. C 2020, 124 (35), 19259-19266.
  5. Zhang, Y.;  Kang, J.;  Pluchery, O.;  Caillard, L.;  Chabal, Y. J.;  Wang, L.-W.;  Sanz, J. F.; Salmeron, M., Nanoimaging of Organic Charge Retention Effects: Implications for Nonvolatile Memory, Neuromorphic Computing, and High Dielectric Breakdown Devices. ACS Applied Nano Materials 2019, 2 (8), 4711-4716.
  6. Pluchery, O.;  Caillard, L.;  Dollfus, P.; Chabal, Y. J., Gold nanoparticles on functionalized silicon substrate under Coulomb blockade regime: an experimental and theoretical investigation. J. Phys. Chem. B 2018, 122 (2), 897-903.
  7. Zhang, Y.;  Pluchery, O.;  Caillard, L.;  Lamic-Humblot, A.-F.;  Casale, S.;  Chabal, Y. J.; Salmeron, M., Sensing the Charge State of Single Gold Nanoparticles via Work Function Measurements. Nano Letters 2015, 15 (1), 51-55.
  8. Halas, N. J., Spiers Memorial Lecture Introductory lecture: Hot-electron science and microscopic processes in plasmonics and catalysis. Faraday Discussions 2019, 214 (0), 13-33.

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