Author(s): Nicole M Nazario Bayon, Paula Fortuno, David Keene, Nithin Krisshna Gunasekaran, Natalia Noginova, Krishnan Prabhakaran and Govindarajan T Ramesh*
Titanium nitride (TiN) is a refractory material that possesses optical properties often compared to gold. In this study, we fabricate and study plasmonic TiN nanoparticles for potential use in biosensing applications. TiN nanoparticles of an average diameter of 154 nm are fabricated with chemical synthesis methods and then exposed to a pulsed laser illumination for 40 minutes. Exposure to laser radiation induced a color change from grey to blue associated with laser-induced breaking of large polycrystalline particles into smaller ones. UV-VIS transmission spectrum of the irradiated sample shows a well-defined dip at 635 nm, associated with surface plasmon resonance. Using various solvents, we demonstrate that the position of the dip is sensitive to the solvent, which presents interest for biosensing applications using TiN nanoparticles.
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