Overlap allows nanoparticles to enhance light-based detection

Scientists at Rice University have demonstrated how to optimize a method that can sense small concentrations of molecules by amplifying the light they emit when their spectral frequencies overlap with those of nearby plasmonic nanoparticles. These nanoparticles emit coherent electron waves that ripple across the surfaces of the nanoparticles, act as antennas, and enhance the molecules’ emitted light up to 10 times when they are in the “sweet spot” near a given nanoparticle.