A caging strategy for tuning the magneto-optical properties of cobalt ferrite using a single plasmonic nanoparticle

Abstract

The composite nanostructures with magnetic and plasmonic functionalities herein described were produced according to a unique synthetic strategy by which numerous cobalt ferrite nanoparticles accompanied by an individual gold nanoparticle were confined in silica capsules. This assembly offers a distinctive system on which the influence of the surface plasmon of a single 20 or 60 nm-in-diameter gold nanoparticle is proved to increase the visible range magneto-optical activity of the cobalt ferrite magnetic material. Consequently, it provides a key strategy for the production of nanostructures including different materials as building blocks, taking advantage of the confined coupling for the development of materials with enhanced magneto-optical capabilities.