Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have attracted much interest in the field of chemical and biological sensing, mostly due to their unique size- and shape-dependent optical properties. A new size-dependent photoacoustic effect of GNPs and its theoretical foundation is described in the first part of this thesis, and then applied in molecular sensing. These applications exhibit significant advantages over conventional diagnostic methods with respect to the sensitivity, selectivity, or practicality. The second part of this thesis is concerned with another optical effect of GNPs: surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). SERS holds vast potential in biological and chemical sensing. In this part, some applications of nanoparticle probe and SERS in molecular sensing was demonstrated and tested.
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Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have attracted much interest in the field of chemical and biological sensing, mostly due to their unique size- and shape-dependent optical properties. A new size-dependent photoacoustic effect of GNPs and its theoretical foundation is described in the first part of this thesis, and then applied in molecular sensing. These applications exhibit significant advantages over conventional diagnostic methods with respect to the sensitivity, selectivity, or practicality. The se...
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