Characterizing the dynamics of nanoparticle gel networks demands a spatiotemporal resolution that no single technique can provide. This Perspective describes the opportunities to address this challeng...

Salt modulates gelation in colloidal nanocrystal networks, revealing a universal pathway across time and length scales.

We achieve programmable gelation temperature and network structure in terpyridine-functionalized tin-doped indium oxide nanocrystals. This strategy leverages the tuning of competitive metal–terpyridi...

Multilayer assemblies of metal nanoparticles can act as photonic structures, where collective plasmon resonances hybridize with cavity modes to create plasmon-polariton states. For sufficiently strong coupling, plasmon polaritons qualitatively alter the optical properties of light-matter systems, with applications ranging from sensing to solar energy. However, results from experimental studies have raised questions about the role of nanoparticle structural disorder in plasmon-polariton formation and the strength of light-matter coupling in plasmonic assemblies. Understanding how disorder affects optical properties has practical implications since methods for assembling low-defect nanoparticle superlattices are slow and scale poorly. Modeling realistic disorder requires large system sizes, which is challenging using conventional electromagnetic simulations. We employ Brownian dynamics simulations to construct large-scale nanoparticle multilayers with controlled structural order. We investigate their far- and near-field optical response using a superposition T-matrix method with two-dimensional periodic boundary conditions. We find that while structural disorder broadens the polaritonic stop band and the near-field hot-spot distribution, the polariton dispersion and coupling strength remain unaltered. To understand the effects of nanoparticle composition, we consider assemblies with Drude model particles mimicking gold or tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) nanocrystals. Assemblies of ITO nanocrystals, which have lower carrier concentrations, exhibit ultrastrong coupling, in contrast to Au nanoparticle multilayers that display deep strong coupling. Finally, we demonstrate that while computationally efficient mutual polarization method calculations employing the quasistatic approximation modestly overestimate the strength of collective plasmon coupling in these assemblies, they reproduce the polariton dispersion relations determined by electrodynamic simulations.

US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

The importance of diversity in science is an unshakeable reality that the scientific community must stand by.

ALT: a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on

Electrolyte cations have been shown to have a strong impact on reactivity in electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. However, most studies have been performed in an aqueous environment. Here the effect of var...

The National Institutes of Health, the crown jewel of biomedical research in the U.S., could face big changes under the new Trump administration, some fueled by pandemic-era criticisms of the agency.

As an electorate besieged by disinformation turned to Trump, trust in traditional media has imploded. What comes next?

April 25, 2024 We, faculty members at the University of Texas at Austin, no longer have confidence in President Jay Hartzell. On April 2, President Hartzell capitulated to political pressure in shut...

Recent Ivy League dramas have made women leaders in academia wonder how far they’ve really come.

Opinion | Some strategies used by universities and other institutions to hire and retain women are not rooted in research.