Controlled texturing modifies the surface topography and plasmonic properties of au nanoshells

We report a facile and controllable method for the postfabrication texturing of the surface topography of An nanoshells based on site-selective chemical etching of the polycrystalline An nanoshell surface by a bifunctional alkanethiol molecule, cysteamine. This nanoscale surface texturing process systematically introduces dramatic changes to the plasmonic properties of the An nanoshells. The modification of the plasmon resonant properties of nanoshells as a function of increased surface roughness was examined experimentally and modeled theoretically using three-dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations.