Bleaching of plasmon-resonance absorption of gold nanorods decreases efficiency of cell destruction.

When irradiated with nanosecond laser pulses, gold nanoparticles allow for manipulation or destruction of cells and proteins with high spatial and temporal precision. Gold nanorods are especially attractive, because they have an up-to-20-fold stronger absorption than a sphere of equal volume, which is shifted to the optical window of tissue. Thus, an increased efficiency of cell killing is expected with laser pulses tuned to the near infrared absorption peak of the nanorods.