Nanostructures are known to exhibit fascinating properties, both quantized and classical in nature. For example, a coulomb blockade to electron transfer can be observed in pairs of metal nanoparticles, while chains of nanoparticles can propagate light according to the laws of classical electrodynamics. Many of these properties are of both fundamental scientific interest and also offer promise of contributing to new nanoscale technology. Our goal is to understand how nanoscale structure controls the static and dynamic properties of bioinorganic materials and to use this knowledge to design nanostructures and materials with useful properties. We are developing theoretical methods that make it possible to predict properties of nanostructures from properties of the components and are pursuing experimental studies of nanoscale structure. We are interested as well in the forces that control nanostructure assembly and we work closely with groups that have pioneered new strategies for making novel nanostructures. Several of these collaborative activities are outlined below.

DNA-linked nanoparticle materials : Recently, methods have been developed for preparing nanostructured materials from common inorganic building blocks and DNA interconnect molecules. The materials have been shown to have optical and electrical properties that make them useful as biomolecule sensors and are highly dependent upon the underlying nanoscale structure. We have performed X-ray scattering experiments at the Advanced Photon Source that show that duplex DNA provides predictable control of particle separations when used as a linker molecule. We currently are engaged in an ongoing program to learn more about the nanoscale structure of this extremely interesting family of materials and the forces that guide the assembly. We are developing computational methods based upon classical electrodynamics that will help us understand the optical properties of these materials, and, in particular, the structural dependence of these unusual and useful properties.

Energy transport in surface-bound nanoparticle systems : Several groups at Duke have developed novel methods of assembling nanoparticles on surfaces with resolutions of several nanometers. These systems have significant potential utility as components in nanoscale molecular sensors partly by virtue of their largely unexplored ability to function as sub-wavelength waveguides. We are interested in understanding how these 1- and 2-D systems propagate and scatter light. We are pursuing both analytical and computational approaches to this problem and will be collaborating in near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) studies of these systems. The high level of structural control afforded by the new assembly schemes combined with our ongoing theoretical studies of the effects of nanoscale structure on the nature of interparticle interactions will enable us to pursue detailed, coupled experimental and theoretical studies of fundamental issues such as the sensitivity of energy transport to particle placement and nanoscale order.

Contact Info:

Office Location:	3395 CIEMAS
Office Phone:	(919) 660-5483
Email Address:
Web Page:

Education:

PhD, Princeton University, 1997

BS, Yale University, 1978

Research Interests:

Understanding how nanoscale structure controls the static and dynamic properties of bioinorganic materials and using this knowledge to design nanostructures and materials with useful properties. Developing theoretical methods that make it possible to predict properties of nanostructures from properties of the components and are pursuing experimental studies of nanoscale structure.

Specialties:

Nanomaterial manufacturing and characterization
Plasmonics
Nanoscience
Computational Materials

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

Best Paper Award, Nanofunctional Materials, Nanostructures, and Novel Devices for Biological and Chemical Detection, Materials Research Society, 2006

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. S. Y. Chen and A. A. Lazarides, Quantitative Amplification of Cy5 SERS in 'Warm Spots' Created by Plasmonic Coupling in Nanoparticle Assemblies of Controlled Structure, Journal Of Physical Chemistry C, vol. 113 no. 28 (July, 2009), pp. 12167 -- 12175  [abs].
2. D. S. Sebba and A. A. Lazarides, Robust Detection of Plasmon Coupling in Core-Satellite Nanoassemblies Linked by DNA, Journal Of Physical Chemistry C, vol. 112 no. 47 (November, 2008), pp. 18331 -- 18339  [abs].
3. D. S. Sebba and T. H. Labean and A. A. Lazarides, Plasmon coupling in binary metal core-satellite assemblies, Applied Physics B-lasers And Optics, vol. 93 no. 1 (October, 2008), pp. 69 -- 78  [abs].
4. U. C. Coskun and H. Mebrahtu and P. B. Huang and J. Huang and D. Sebba and A. Biasco and A. Makarovski and A. Lazarides and T. H. Labean and G. Finkelstein, Single-electron transistors made by chemical patterning of silicon dioxide substrates and selective deposition of gold nanoparticles, Applied Physics Letters, vol. 93 no. 12 (September, 2008)  [abs].
5. D. S. Sebba and J. J. Mock and D. R. Smith and T. H. Labean and A. A. Lazarides, Reconfigurable core-satellite nanoassemblies as molecularly-driven plasmonic switches, Nano Letters, vol. 8 no. 7 (July, 2008), pp. 1803 -- 1808  [abs].