January 30, 2014

Rice lab clocks ‘hot’ electrons



Researchers time plasmon-generated electrons moving from nanorods to graphene

Plasmonic nanoparticles developed at Rice University are becoming known for their ability to turn light into heat, but how to use them to generate electricity is not nearly as well understood.

Scientists at Rice are working on that, too. They suggest that the extraction of electrons generated by surface plasmons in metal nanoparticles may be optimized.