Abstract The field of plasmonics can play an important role in developing novel devices for application in energy and healthcare. In this review article, we consider the progress made in design and fabrication of upconverting nanoparticles and metal nanostructures for precisely manipulating light photons, with a wavelength of several hundred nanometers, at nanometer length scales, and describe how to tailor their interactions with molecules and surfaces so that two or more lower energy photons can be used to generate a single higher energy photon in a process called photon upconversion. This review begins by introducing the current state-of-the-art in upconverting nanoparticle synthesis and achievements in color tuning and upconversion enhancement. Through understanding and tailoring physical processes, color tuning and strong upconversion enhancement have been demonstrated by coupling with surface plasmon polariton waves, especially for low intensity or diffuse infrared radiation. Since more than 30% of incident sunlight is not utilized in most photovoltaic cells, this photon upconversion is one of the promising approaches to break the so-called Shockley-Queisser thermodynamic limit for a single junction solar cell. Furthermore, since the low energy photons typically cover the biological window of optical transparency, this approach can also be particularly beneficial for novel biosensing and bioimaging techniques. Taken together, the recent research boosts the applications of photon upconversion using designed metal nanostructures and nanoparticles for green energy, bioimaging, and therapy.

中文翻译：

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光子上转换在能量转换和生物成像中的应用

摘要 等离子体领域在开发用于能源和医疗保健的新型设备方面可以发挥重要作用。在这篇综述文章中，我们考虑了在设计和制造上转换纳米粒子和金属纳米结构方面取得的进展，用于在纳米长度尺度上精确操纵波长为数百纳米的光子，并描述如何调整它们与分子和表面的相互作用以便在称为光子上转换的过程中，可以使用两个或多个较低能量的光子来生成单个较高能量的光子。本综述首先介绍了上转换纳米粒子合成的当前最新技术以及颜色调整和上转换增强方面的成就。通过理解和调整物理过程，通过与表面等离子体激元波耦合，特别是对于低强度或漫射红外辐射，已经证明了颜色调谐和强上转换增强。由于大多数光伏电池中没有利用超过 30% 的入射太阳光，因此这种光子上转换是打破所谓的单结太阳能电池的肖克利-奎瑟热力学极限的有前途的方法之一。此外，由于低能量光子通常覆盖光学透明的生物窗口，因此这种方法对于新型生物传感和生物成像技术也特别有益。总之，最近的研究使用设计的金属纳米结构和纳米粒子促进了光子上转换在绿色能源、生物成像和治疗方面的应用。