Yu Chen
Lecturer
Yu Chen graduated from Lanzhou University and obtained her MSc from Lanzhou Institute of Physics. She joined the Cavendish Laboratory in 1995 as a visiting scientist working on C60-based materials after winning a one-year scholarship. She received her PhD in 2000 from University of Birmingham supervised by Prof. R. E. Palmer for her work on low energy electron excitation on surfaces. Afterwards, she worked in Nanoscale Physics Research Laboratory in Birmingham University as a research fellow then a principal research scientist. Dr. Yu Chen joined the department from April 2007 taking a Lectureship in Molecular Nanometrology.
| e: y.chen 
strath.ac.uk | t: 0141 548 3087 | u: http://bcp.phys.strath.ac.uk/
|
Research
Yu Chen’s research interests include nanoclusters, nanoparticles, nanostructured surfaces, optical and electron spectroscopies and microscopies, self-assembly, nanofabrications and nanodevices.Current research activities lie in two areas.
Nanotechnology of noble metal nanoparticles
Noble metal nanoparticles have great potential for applications in biochemical sensing, medical diagnostics and therapeutics, as well as biological imaging due to their unique optical properties originating from the excitation of local surface plasmon resonance. In particular, gold nanoparticles have attracted intensive interest because they are low toxicicity, photostable, and can be attached, readily, to molecules of biological interest.
The aim of this project is to explore the great potentials of noble metal nanoparticles for applications in biological systems and to address fundamental scientific questions on the photoluminescence of nanoparticles and their surface plasmon resonance characteristics. This is a multidisciplinary project, involving state-of-the-art optical and electron spectroscopic and microscopic analysis at the interface of nanotechnology and life science.
Size-selected metal nanoclusters
Atomic clusters are aggregates of a few up to tens of thousands of atoms that show properties intermediated between those of individual atoms and bulk materials. When particle size becomes comparable with the Fermi wavelength of an electron, the optical, electronic, and chemical properties of metal clusters differ dramatically from large nanoparticles. In the smallest size regime, metal clusters become molecular species, and discrete states with strong fluorescence can be observed. These molecule-like properties of highly polarizable and emissive few-atom metal clusters open new opportunities for biological labels, energy-transfer pairs, and light-emitting sources in nanoscale optoelectronics.
Our goal is to explore and exploit the high polarizability and free-electron scaling of molecular-scale metal clusters in the condensed phase utilizing a size-selected cluster source.
Highlights
Invited book chapter and review articles
(1) “Electron beam writing in nanoparticle films”,
Y. Chen and R. E. Palmer,
in “Encyclopaedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology’, Vol 3, ed. H. S. Nalwa, (American Scientific Publishers, USA, 2004), p. 17-28.
(2) “Nanostrutures from nanoparticles”,
P. Mendes, Y. Chen, R. E. Palmer, K. Nikitin, D. Fitzmaurice and J. A. Preece”,
J. Phys.: Cond. Matt. 15, S3047 (2003).
Co-organiser “Nanofabrication and nanodevice” section in Micro and Nano Engineering Conference, Rotterdam
Selected publications
Y.N.Zhang, D.J.S.Birch, Y.Chen, "Two-photon excited surface plasmon enhanced energy transfer between DAPI and gold nanoparticles: Opportunities in intra-cellular imaging and sensing", Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 103701 (2011) doi: 10.1063/1.3633066
M.Di Vece, N.P.Young, Z.Y.Li, Y.Chen, R.E.Palmer, "Co-deposition of atomic clusters of different size and composition", Small 2, 1270-1272 (2006) doi: 10.1002/smll.200600065
Y.Chen, R.E.Palmer, J.P.Wilcoxon, "Sintering of passivated gold nanoparticles under the electron beam", Langmuir 22, 2851-2855 (2006) doi: 10.1021/la0533157
Z.Y.Li, J.Yuan, Y.Chen, R.E.Palmer, J.P.Wilcoxon, "Local three-dimensional visualization of nanoparticle assemblies", Adv. Mater. 17, 2885-+ (2005) doi: 10.1002/adma.200500977
Z.Y.Li, J.Yuan, Y.Chen, R.E.Palmer, J.P.Wilcoxon, "Direct imaging of core-shell structure in silver-gold bimetallic nanoparticles", Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 243103 (2005) doi: 10.1063/1.2139851
J.L.Plaza, Y.Chen, S.Jacke, R.E.Palmer, "Nanoparticle arrays patterned by electron-beam writing: Structure, composition, and electrical properties", Langmuir 21, 1556-1559 (2005) doi: 10.1021/la047777g
P.M.Mendes, S.Jacke, K.Critchley, J.Plaza, Y.Chen, K.Nikitin, R.E.Palmer, J.A.Preece, S.D.Evans, D.Fitzmaurice, "Gold nanoparticle patterning of silicon wafers using chemical e-beam lithography", Langmuir 20, 3766-3768 (2004) doi: 10.1021/la049803g
E.J.Shelley, D.Ryan, S.R.Johnson, M.Couillard, D.Fitzmaurice, P.D.Nellist, Y.Chen, R.E.Palmer, J.A.Preece, "Dialkyl sulfides: Novel passivating agents for gold nanoparticles", Langmuir 18, 1791-1795 (2002) doi: 10.1021/la0109260
Current Grants
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