Figure 1

Electron energy loss spectra (a) and energy loss (b) and amplitude (c) maps. (a) Electron energy loss spectra of a 26-nm gold nanosphere linked through DNA strands to a Si₃N₄ membrane; the inset shows an HAADF image of the nanoparticle. The spectrum marked as (curve i) shows the energy loss along the trajectory marked with a red dot where a resonance peak can be clearly seen at 2.4 eV, the one marked as (curve ii) shows the peak at 2.5 eV approximately corresponding to the trajectory through the nanoparticle marked with the blue dot. (b) Energy loss map displaying the value of the center of the fitted Gaussian to the LSPR peak. (c) Amplitude map with the intensity value of the center of the fitted Gaussian to the LSPR peak.