Shaped nanoparticles present unique building blocks for the fabrication of electromagnetic materials, but are challenging to organize into hierarchical arrangements that possess specific orientations. Here we present a facile self-assembly approach to arrange polymer-grafted metal nanocubes into arrays of one-dimensional plasmonic strings that possess tunable orientation and electromagnetic properties. We engineer the non-specific nanoparticle interactions that modulate the relative strengths of attractive van der Waals and repulsive steric forces by addressing simple parameters such as polymer chain length, rigidity, and grafting density. We demonstrate this by fabricating a nanoparticle thin-film that switches from one nanoparticle orientation (edge-connected) to another (face-connected). The observed change in optical response is consistent with electric field calculations and demonstrates the potential of nanoparticle self-assembly for creating designer plasmonic materials.

Polymer-directed orientation of shaped nanocrystals

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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