Usage Cases.

Computational Insights into Optical and Photothermal Behavior of Next-Generation Plasmonic Materials

Computational Insights into Optical and Photothermal Behavior of Next-Generation Plasmonic Materials

Client

Dr. Mita Dasog, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Advanced Materials for Water-Energy Nexus, Dalhousie University

ACENET Research Consultant

Dr. Yashar Monfared

Objective

This project aimed to use the Finite Element method (FEM) to calculate and analyze optical properties of advanced materials in order to help target optimum material compositions and sizes for solar light absorption and photothermal applications. 

Challenges

The computational work required access to state-of-the-art CPUs and memory resources along with a combination of Python, MATLAB and COMSOL Multiphysics for coding, finite element modelling, and data visualization. The group lacked both the compute resources and the in-house expertise.

Results

1.  The computational results provided crucial theoretical insight into the experimental behavior of the advanced plasmonic materials. By bridging simulation and experiment, understanding of structure–property relationships in emerging plasmonic ceramics and mixed-metal nanoparticles was deepened, and valuable knowledge created for optimizing their performance in applications such as sensing, photothermal conversion, and high-temperature nanophotonics.

2.  The findings, along with the quantitative and visual materials prepared during the project, directly supported the development of two publications.  

3.  ACENET played a central role in enabling the successful completion of several technically demanding computational tasks. 

  • Assisted in developing and refining the custom code. 
  • Helped streamline the workflow and improve the reliability of the computed dielectric properties, which form the foundation of all subsequent optical modelling.
  • Provided valuable guidance in setting up and executing finite element method (FEM) simulations, greatly enhancing the precision and computational performance of these simulations. 
  • Meaningfully contributed to data processing and visualization efforts, significantly improving the clarity and impact of the results.

Future

The next phase of this project focuses on expanding the scope of computational investigations to include a broader set of emerging plasmonic materials and more sophisticated geometries, and performing additional FEM simulations and dielectric function calculations. This will require further refinement of computational models, optimization of meshing and solver strategies, and increased computational capacity to handle larger, more demanding simulations. Given the technical depth and computational intensity of these planned activities, continued support from ACENET is anticipated.