Preface

Materials properties depend to a large extent on their size. Especially relevant is the change in behavior when materials reach the nanoscale since a whole new world is accessed. In the past few years, scientists around the world have studied and used these particular properties in many applications, from sensors to new catalytic materials. In particular, the change of optical properties in the nanoscale has attracted the interest of the scientific community. Among these optical properties, one raising special attention these days is localized surface plasmon resonance. This property of certain nanomaterials has been defined and described in this book by excellent authors who have contributed their own experience and views to shed light on this important concept. Navigating through the different chapters, readers will find theoretical and practical works on different syntheses and applications of plasmonic nanostructures from nanoantennas to photodetectors, among other interesting topics. Many articles and books have been written dealing with the optical properties of nanomaterials, but since this field is growing very fast, we thought it would be of interest to write a book specifically dealing with nanoplasmonics. As a scientist, it has been a wonderful experience to participate in this book. It has given me the opportunity to interact with colleagues in a different and enriching way and I hope readers can be part of that experience.

I would like to acknowledge all my colleagues over the years for giving me the opportunity to learn from them. Also, I would like to thank the staff at IntechOpen for giving me the opportunity to edit this book, and in particular to Anja Filipovic, Katarina Pausic, and Marijana Francetic for their patience with me during the editing process.

**II**

**Chapter 9 157**

**Chapter 10 179**

Surface Plasmon Enhanced Chemical Reactions on Metal Nanostructures

*by Rajkumar Devasenathipathy, De-Yin Wu and Zhong-Qun Tian*

Thermal Collective Excitations in Novel Two-Dimensional

*by Andrii Iurov, Godfrey Gumbs and Danhong Huang*

Dirac-Cone Materials

**Carlos J. Bueno-Alejo** Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (IQTMA) and Institute of Nanoscience of Aragon (INA), University of Zaragoza, Spain

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

Nanoantennas

impedance of the receiving antennas.

power transmission

**1. Introduction**

nanoplasmonics [1, 2].

fabricated nanoantennas.

**1**

Wireless Optical Nanolinks with

Yagi-Uda and Dipoles Plasmonic

*Karlo Queiroz da Costa, Gleida Tayanna Conde de Sousa,*

In this work, we present a theoretical analysis of wireless optical nanolinks formed by plasmonic nanoantennas, where the antennas considered are Yagi-Uda and cylindrical nanodipoles made of Au. The numerical analysis is performed by the finite element method and linear method of moments, where the transmission power and the near electric field are investigated and optimized for three nanolinks: Yagi-Uda/Yagi-Uda, Yagi-Uda/dipole and dipole/dipole. The results show that all these case can operate with good transmission power at different frequencies by adjusting the impedance matching in the transmitting antennas and the load

The electromagnetic scattering of metals in optical frequency region possesses special characteristics. At these frequencies, there are electron oscillations in the metal called plasmons with distinct resonant frequencies, which produce strongly enhanced near fields at the metal surface. This effect can be analyzed using Lorentz-Drude model of the complex dielectric constant. The science of the electromagnetic optical response of metal nanostructures is known as plasmonics or

One subarea of nanoplasmonics is the field of optical nanoantennas, which are metal nanostructures used to transmit or receive optical fields [3–5]. This definition is similar to that of conventional radio frequency (RF) and microwave antennas. The main difference between these two regimes (RF-microwave and optical) is due to physical properties of the metals at optical frequencies where they cannot be considered as perfect conductors because of the plasmonic effects [2]. Comprehensive reviews on optical antennas have been presented in [6–11]. In these works, the authors described recent developments in calculation of such antennas, their applications and challenges in their design. In **Figure 1**, we present some examples of

*Tiago Dos Santos Garcia and Pitther Negrão dos Santos*

**Keywords:** nanoplasmonic, nanoantennas, wireless optical nanolink,

*Paulo Rodrigues Amaral, Janilson Leão Souza,*
