Consortium project of the NanoBioMedical Centre AMU, Kaunas University of Technology, Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba and the Nanoversa company.

Metal nanostructures support local oscillations of conduction electrons. When excited by an external electromagnetic field with a matching resonant frequency, they generate a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). The resonant frequency depends on the size, shape, material and the dielectric environment of the nanostructure. Use of the selective response of nanoparticles has found multiple applications in the field of optics and contributed to the development of the evolving field of plasmonics. Current applications of LSPR can be categorized into three areas: (i) LSPR sensing and detection, (ii) concentration of light to enhance or manipulate the optical response of nearby molecules and (iii) manipulation of light with plasmonic circuitry. New type LSPR-based nanostructures enable creation of innovative products, such as photovoltaic components, active plasmonics, lasers, metamaterials, dichroic filters, multidimensional data storage, 2nd and 3rd order nonlinearity enhancing materials, structural coloring, etc. Devices based on plasmonics are usually created by employing self-organization (bottom-up) or nanolithography (top-down) techniques. Such applications dictate extremely high requirements for spatial resolution of lithography, therefore, up-scalable nano-patterning methods based on self-organization and controlled nanostructure formation are highly desirable. 1-D and 2-D nanostructures, including nanoparticles, may be used as building blocks for sophisticated optical devices.

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