Optical absorption spectroscopy of a single metal nanoparticle is used to characterize its properties and to obtain quantitative information on its local environment. Experiments were performed using the spatial modulation spectroscopy (SMS) technique on 16 nm mean diameter gold nanoparticles embedded in different medium (i.e., deposited on glass or embedded in a polymer layer). Extraction of the nanoparticle characteristics and determination of the dielectric constant of its environment are discussed, focusing on the impact of the particle shape assumption. The refractive index of the local environment deduced from these measurements shows large particle-to-particle variation, yielding information about fluctuations of the dielectric properties of the surrounding medium on a nanometric scale, inaccessible in ensemble measurements. The influence of the environment of a nanoparticle on its optically extracted geometry and its surface plasmon resonance broadening by surface effect are also studied at a single-particle level.

• Received 19 June 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.78.205410