Tailoring Surface Plasmon Resonance Wavelengths and Sensoric Potential of Core–Shell Metal Nanoparticles

An optimum configuration of Ag–Au and Cu–Au core–shell nanorods is proposed for biological sensing applications. The analysis of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in metal nanoparticles by means of extended Gans theory reveals that the sensitivity of the nanorod is controlled by three main factors: composition, aspect ratio of the core, and the thickness of shell layer. It is found that the metal nanorods, especially the smaller ones (core width of 10 nm) of thin Au layer shows the comparative sensoric potential with larger ones (core width of 20 nm) of double the Au shell layer thickness.