Photophysics of Surface

Metallic nanostructures is one of the most interesting objects developed by humans. Similar to the wheel that is absent in wildlife but is common to the everyday life of humans, metallic nanostructure have been found neither in the butterfly wings nor in the armour of an ancient dinosaur. At the same time, optics and its numerous application rely heavily on the metallic nanostructures. Everybody knows the color of the ruby glass of the Kremlin stars. This color is due to the gold nanoparticle developed in the glass volume during glass melting. Silver nanoparticles preserve for us the images of the last two centuries. Even such ordinary laboratory equipment as diffraction grating and wire polarizer are the metallic nanostructures. In our laboratory we study different properties of the metallic nanostructures. Among them are such amazing ones as the capability to concentrate the energy of the incident radiation in their close proximity, to remember the value of the applied voltage, and to enhance the photoelectron emission.