Over the last twenty years, in the field of nanoplasmonics, tremendous advancements have been made in the synthesis of plasmonic nanomaterials, the discovery of new plasmonic behaviors, and the exploration of plasmon-enabled technological applications. With the rapid progress in the field itself and in other fields, many new and exciting phenomena and applications in nanoplasmonics are expected to discovered or invented.

Metallic nanoparticles, used since antiquity to impart intense, vibrant color into materials, then brought to scientific attention in the 19th century as “Faraday’s colloid”, have more recently become a central tool in the nanoscale manipulation of light.

Plasmons can serve as efficient generators of hot electrons and holes that can be exploited in light harvesting applications.The physical mechanism for plasmon-induced hot carrier generation is plasmon decay.