| Subwavelength-sized noble metal nanoparticles exhibit a strong interaction with light, despite being much smaller that the wavelength of light. This is due to the collective resonant oscillations of the conductive surface electrons at optical frequencies: this is known as Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). At frequencies in the microwave range, subwavelength (yet macroscopic) conductive structures can be fabricated, which exhibit unusual electric and magnetic resonance properties, despite being much smaller than the microwave wavelength. These structures can be used as the basic unit cell for a bulk metamaterial.;This dissertation investigates (theoretically, computationally, and experimentally) several different properties of subwavelength particles or structures, which involve plasmonic effects, and can be used in many practical applications. |
