Fabrication of Surface Plasmon‐Coupled Si Nanodots in Au‐Embedded Silicon Oxide Nanowires

High-density amorphous silicon nanodots are easily produced by irradiating gold-nanoparticle-embedded silicon oxide nanowires with a low-intensity electron beam. The optical characteristics of Si nanodots in the vicinity of gold nanoparticles exhibit evidence of strong coupling to the surface plasmon resonance of the Au nanoparticles, as manifested by their markedly enhanced electron-induced excitation in our monochromated scanning transmission electron microscopy–electron energy-loss spectroscopy measurements.