Advanced Function Control of Photochemical Reactions Using Mesoscopic Structures

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Application of Cooperative-Excitation into Innovative Molecular Systems with High-Order Photo-functions
• Project/Area Number: 26107003
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Science and Engineering
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Kohei Imura 早稲田大学, 理工学術院, 教授 (80342632)
• Research Collaborator: IMAEDA Keisuke
• Project Period (FY): 2014-07-10 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: メソ構造 / 高次機能制御 / 近接場相互作用 / プラズモン / フォトクロミズム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Elementary excitations in meso-structures squeeze light spatially and result in the amplified optical fields. We developed various near-field spectroscopic imaging system to visualize spatial distributions of the localized optical fields in the vicinity of the metallic meso-structures. We applied the localized fields to amply and modulate linear and non-linear optical processes of various molecules. We revealed that the localized fields enable to excite photochemical processes that are not accessible by the plane wave illumination. We also developed space-selective chemical reaction methods to synthesize photo-functional materials, and demonstrated the control of the photoluminescence and the guiding of the light in the desired way.

Free Research Field

物理化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

サブマイクロメートルサイズのメソ構造体は，光アンテナ効果により特異な性質を示す。本研究では，メソ構造を活用することで，通常では困難であった光機能が実現することを明らかにした。本研究で確立した光機能化の手法は，光エネルギーの有効活用や光の伝播制御を実現する。これらは，物理化学における新学問分野の創出に貢献するとともに，今後，新規材料開発，光デバイスの高度化，光の効率的利用など社会の安全と発展に貢献すると期待される。