Photoacoustic and fluorescent effects in multilayer plasmon-dye interfaces

Progress in understanding the cell biology and diseases depends on advanced imaging and labeling techniques. Here, we address this demand by exploring novel multilayered nanocomposites (MNCs) with plasmonic nanoparticles and absorbing dyes in thin nonabsorbing shells as supercontrast multimodal photoacoustic (PA) and fluorescent agents in the near-infrared range. The proof of concept was performed with gold nanorods (GNRs) and indocyanine green (ICG) dispersed in a matrix of biodegradable polymers. We demonstrated synergetic PA effects in MNCs with the gold-ICG interface that could not be achieved with ICG and GNRs alone. We also observed ultrasharp PA and emission peaks that could be associated with nonlinear PA and spaser effects, respectively. Low-toxicity multimodal MNCs with unique plasmonic, thermal and acoustic properties have the potential to make a breakthrough in PA flow cytometry and near-infrared spasers in vivo by using the synergetic interaction of plasmonic modes with a nearby absorbing medium.