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The extinction spectra of a three-layered metal nanoshell, which consists of a particle with a dielectric core, a middle Ag (Au) layer, and an outer Au (Ag) shell, have been investigated by means of the Mie theory. With a decrease in the outer shell thickness or the middle layer thickness, the wavelengths of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) for SiO2–Ag–Au (SiO2–Au–Ag) nanoshells show distinct redshifts and the full widths at half maximum (FWHMs) for the dipole peaks in the extinction spectra decrease first and then increase. We have further investigated the influence of the embedding medium on the LSPRs for SiO2–Ag–Au and SiO2–Au–Ag nanoshells and found that the resonance wavelengths of the particles show redshift and the FWHM of the dipole peak increases with increasing the dielectric constant of the embedding medium. The calculated results indicate that the LSPR of the three-layered gold-silver nanoshells can be controlled to the near-infrared region by changing the geometry, which has practical biomedical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential and limitations of Rayleigh wave spectroscopy to characterize the elastic depth profile of heterogeneous functional gradient materials are investigated by comparing simulations of the surface acoustic wave dispersion curves of different profile-spectrum pairs. This inverse problem is shown to be quite ill posed. The method is then applied to extract information on the depth structure of a glass-ceramic (alumina) functionally graded material from experimental data. The surface acoustic wave analysis suggests the presence of a uniform coating region consisting of a mixture of Al2O3 and glass, with a sharp transition between the coating and the substrate. This is confirmed by scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive x-ray analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]