 Department of Physics and Astronomy luca.bursi@rice.edu Research interests:Theoretical Quantum Nanoplasmonics, (Time-Dependent) Density-Functional Theory Atomistic Approaches, TDDFT-jellium Description of Nanoparticles, Quantum Mechanical Processes, Computational Classical Electrodynamics.Research experience:
Italian Institute of Nanoscience, CNR-NANO-S3, Modena, Italy. Advisors: Prof. Stefano Corni, Dr. Arrigo Calzolari, Prof. Elisa Molinari. Theoretical Quantum Nanoplasmonics, Condensed Matter Physics Education:
Citations: 127 on Google Scholar, 104 on Scopus; h-index: 6 on Google Scholar and 5 on Scopus (Mar. 30th 2020). Author ID on ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4530-0424. Author ID on Scopus: 56575141100. Scientific communications include 2 seminars, 7 oral and 10 poster contributions in 18 international conferences. [8] B. D. Clark, C. R. Jacobson, M. Lou, D. Renard, G. Wu, L. Bursi, A. S. Ali, D. F. Swearer, A.-L. Tsai, P. Nordlander, N. J. Halas. Aluminum nanocubes have sharp corners. ACS Nano, 13, 9682–9691, (2019). [7] B. D. Clark, C. J. DeSantis, G. Wu, D. Renard, M. J. McClain, L. Bursi, A.-L. Tsai, P. Nordlander, N. J. Halas. Ligand-dependent colloidal stability controls the growth of aluminum nanocrystals. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 141, 1716–1724 (2019). [JACS Spotlights: J. Am. Chem. Soc., 141, 1393–1393 (2019)]. [6] K. W. Smith, L. A. McCarthy, A. Alabastri, L. Bursi, W-S Chang, P. Nordlander, S. Link. Exploiting evanescent field polarization for giant chiroptical modulation from achiral gold half-rings. ACS Nano, 12, 11657–11663 (2018). [5] K. D. Chapkin, L. Bursi, G. J. Stec, A. Lauchner, N. J. Hogan, Y. Cui, P. Nordlander, N. J. Halas. Lifetime dynamics of plasmons in the few-atom limit. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 115, 9134–9139 (2018). [4] R. Zhang, L. Bursi, J. D. Cox, Y. Cui, C. M. Krauter, A. Alabastri, A. Manjavacas, A. Calzolari, S. Corni,
Grants awarded:
Menthorship and teaching:2019 Teaching Assistant (to graduate students) for the Course of Multiphysiscs Modeling (ESEL 677 002, 26231), ECE Department, Rice University, held by Prof. Alessandro Alabastri (3 credit hours). 2016 Teaching Assistant for the Course of Quantum Mechanics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, funded by the Italian Government (35 hrs.). 2014 – 2015 Teaching Assistant (to undergraduate students) for the Course of Quantum Mechanics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (70 hrs.). Referee for the following journals:Physical Review B, ACS Nano, Nature Physics, Nanoscale, Physical Review X, Chemical Communications, Chemical Physics Letters, Materials, Sensors, Coatings, Applied Sciences, Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids.Publons verified records: https://publons.com/a/1582985. My research activity focused on the introduction, development and implementation of original microscopic approaches specifically designed to quantify the plasmonic character of optical excitations in (small) nanostructures. They provide simple and physically sound tools for the identification of plasmon-like excitations, starting from the simulations of the optical properties of nanosystems. This involved both the reformulation at the microscopic level of existing concepts, such as the plasmonic electric field enhancement [1], and the introduction of new descriptors, based on rigorous theoretical derivations, called plasmonicity indexes [3,4]. Such approaches have been implemented in atomistic first principles methods based on time-dependent density-functional theory [3], spherical jellium descriptions of nanoparticles, and Classical Electrodynamics [4]. They have been applied to analyze the plasmonic behavior of metallic and semiconductor nanoparticles, prototypical C-based molecules, paradigmatic hybrid systems, as well as nanospheres described within the jellium model and larger nanoparticles modeled through classical electrodynamics [3,4]. The excited-states decay dynamics of molecular plasmons in selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, both in their charged and neutral configurations, have been probed – with special emphasis on de-excitation pathways – and their collective character have been theoretically investigated [5]. By exploiting the distinct polarization properties of evanescent waves, large modulation of the scattering from gold half-ring and pinwheel nanoantennas excited through total internal reflection of left- and right-handed circularly polarized light have been produced [6]. The polarization properties of evanescent waves were shown to be required for observing intense polarization-dependent responses. This result provides a fundamentally different mechanism for chiroptical responses requiring a phase delay between transverse and longitudinal electric field oscillations, not found in free-space light, whereas traditional mechanisms of circular dichroism only require structural sensitivity to a relative phase difference between transverse-field oscillations [6]. Through careful analysis of the colloidal synthesis of Al NCs through EPR and 1H NMR spectroscopies, a mechanism for the reactions by which titanium(IV) isopropoxide Ti(OiPr)4 mediates the polymerization of AlH3 into Al NCs has been elucidated. AlH3 is a single-source precursor for Al metal with hydride oxidation into H2, catalyzed by Ti3+(OiPr)3, providing the electrons required to produce metallic Al clusters. These clusters are colloidally unstable and coalesce and grow until they reach sufficiently large size to become colloidally stable. This essentially demonstrates a method to tune the size of metallic aluminum NCs over a 100 nm range by changing the reaction solvent [7]. By decomposing AlH3 with Tebbe’s reagent in tetrahydrofuran, single-crystalline {100} terminated Al nanocubes (NCUs) straightforward colloidal synthesis have been achieved. The size and shape of the Al NCUs is controlled by the reaction time and the ratio of AlH3 to Tebbe’s reagent, which, together with reaction temperature, establish kinetic control over Al NCU growth. Al NCUs possess strong localized field enhancements at their sharp corners and resonances highly amenable to coupling with metallic substrates. Their native oxide surface renders them extremely air stable. Chemically synthesized Al NCUs provide an earth-abundant alternative to noble metal NCUs for plasmonics and nanophotonics applications [8].
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