Nonspherical Gold Nanoparticles as Bright Light Scattering Labels with Narrow Plasmon Lines

摘要

In this paper we discuss the potential of nonspherical gold nanoparticles to serve as extremely bright light scattering labels for the detection of disease through several centimeters of tissue in humans in vivo. However, attempts to realize this important potential of gold nanoparticles have been limited by the broad spectroscopic linewidths usually observed. We identify the origin of this broadening as inhomogeneous broadening due to the extreme sensitivity of the surface plasmon resonance to the nanoparticle aspect ratio.