Plasmonic nanostructures and metamaterials are very efficient at the absorption and scattering of light. The studies to be presented in this talk concern special designs of hybrid nanostructures with electromagnetic hot spots. Overall, plasmonic nanostructures with hot spots demonstrate strongly amplified optical and energyrelated effects, and this talk will review some of such phenomena.

Using nanoparticle (NPs) arrays made of different metals, one can transfer plasmonic signals coherently and with minimal losses. Plasmonic hot spots efficiently generate hot electrons, which can be used for photochemistry and photodetection. NPs with small interparticle gaps can strongly enhance locally heat's optical generation. NP assemblies are good for detecting circular dichroism of biomolecules and for chiral photo-chemical effects.