hollow or porous core 101 of nanorice particle typically comprises a dielectric material in certain embodiments core 101 comprises a metal oxide in one embodiment core 101 comprises hematite or iron oxide however core 101 may comprise any suitable dielectric material other examples of suitable core materials include without limitation iron cadmium electric insulators silicon dioxide titanium dioxide polymethyl methacrylate pmma polystyrene gold sulfide macromolecules such as dendrimers or combinations thereof in certain embodiments core is comprised of a semiconductor material for example without limitation core may be made of cdse cds or gaas in other embodiments colloidal silica may be the core material according to an embodiment the conductive shell 103 comprises a metallic compound or combination of metallic compounds however the core 101 may be coated with any conductive material in at least one embodiment the conductive shell 103 comprises gold examples of other suitable materials include without limitation one or more of silver copper aluminum titanium chromium or other conductive metals known to those of skill in the art in further embodiments core 101 may be surrounded or coated with more than one conductive shell or alternatively a multi layered shell each shell layer may comprise the same material or different materials and may be of the same or different thickness in a further embodiment nanorice particle 100 may comprise a non conductive or dielectric shell layer the dielectric shell layer may be disposed between conductive shell 103 and core 101 in addition the.