Interference, coupling, and nonlinear control of high-order modes in single asymmetric nanoantennas

High-sensitivity plasmonic sensor by narrowing Fano resonances in a tilted metallic nano-groove array

Plasmonic sensors exhibit enormous potential in the areas of environmental monitoring, biomedical diagnostics, healthcare, food safety, security, and chemical reactions. However, the large bandwidths of surface-plasmon response spectra greatly reduce the sensitivities and detection limits of plasmonic sensors. Herein, we propose to tilt a metallic nano-groove array to reduce linewidths of Fano resonances, and the figure of merit (FOM) of a refractive index sensor is greatly increased. The Fano resonances stem from interference between narrow SPP resonant modes and a broad LSP mode in the metallic nano-groove array. When tilting the metallic nano-groove array, new Fano resonances emerge, greatly compressing the linewidth of Fano resonance of interest to ∼1.1 nm in the simulation. Experimentally, a narrow Fano resonance with a linewidth of Δλ≈2.5 nm is achieved, and a high-FOM (FOM ≈ 263) plasmonic sensor is demonstrated. This value of FOM is more than 4.7 times that (FOM ≤ 55) of Fano sensors based on SPP modes, and it is even approximately twice that (FOM ≈ 140) of the previous Fano sensor based on Wood's Anomaly.

High-Q, low-mode-volume and multiresonant plasmonic nanoslit cavities fabricated by helium ion milling

Helium ion milling of chemically-synthesized micron-sized gold flakes is performed to fabricate ultra-narrow nanoslit cavities with a varying length and width down to 5 nm. Their plasmon resonances are characterized by one-photon photoluminescence spectroscopy. The combination of fabrication based on single-crystalline gold and resonant modes with low radiative losses leads to remarkably high quality factors of up to 24. Multiple Fabry-Pérot-type resonances in the visible/near infrared spectral range are observed due to the achieved narrow slit widths and the resulting short effective wavelengths of nanoslit plasmons. These features make nanoslit cavities attractive for a range of applications such as surface-enhanced spectroscopy, ultrafast nano-optics and strong light-matter coupling.

Near- and far-field investigation of dark and bright higher order resonances in square loop elements at mid-infrared wavelengths

Three different size gold square loop structures were fabricated as arrays on ZnS over a ground plane and designed to have absorptive fundamental, second order, and third order resonances at a wavelength of 10.6 µm and 60° off-normal. The angular dependent far-field spectral absorptivity was investigated over the mid-infrared for each size loop array. It was found that the second order modes were dark at normal incidence, but became excited at off-normal incidence, which is consistent with previous work for similar geometry structures. Furthermore, near-field measurements and simulations at a wavelength of 10.6 µm and 60° off-normal showed that the second order mode (quadrupolar) of the medium size loop yielded a near-field response similar in magnitude to the fundamental mode (dipolar) of the small size loop, which can be important for sensing related applications where both strong near-field enhancement and more uniform or less localized field is beneficial.

Effect of Anderson localization on light emission from gold nanoparticle aggregates

The localization of light known as Anderson localization is a common phenomenon characterizing aggregates of metallic nanostructures. The electromagnetic energy of visible light can be localized inside nanostructures below the diffraction limit by converting the optical modes into nonradiative surface plasmon resonances. The energy of the confined photons is correlated to the size and shape of the nanostructured system. In this work, we studied the photoluminescence dependence of aggregates of 14 nm diameter gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) synthesized by drop-casting a liquid suspension on two different substrates of glass and quartz. The AuNP aggregates were characterized by electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The dielectric constant of the surrounding medium plays a crucial role in determining the aggregate geometry, which affects the Anderson localization of light in the aggregates and hence causes a red-shift in the plasmonic resonance and in the photoluminescence emission. The geometry of the gold nanoparticle aggregates determine the strength of the Anderson localization, and hence, the light emission from the aggregates. The photoluminescence lifetime was found to be dependent on the AuNP aggregate geometry and the dielectric constant of the medium.

Absorption Spectroscopy of an Individual Fano Cluster

Plasmonic clusters can exhibit Fano resonances with unique and tunable asymmetric line shapes, which arise due to the coupling of bright and dark plasmon modes within each multiparticle structure. These structures are capable of generating remarkably large local electromagnetic field enhancements and should give rise to high hot carrier yields relative to other plasmonic nanostructures. While the scattering properties of individual plasmonic Fano resonances have been characterized extensively both experimentally and theoretically, their absorption properties, critical for hot carrier generation, have not yet been measured. Here, we utilize single-particle absorption spectroscopy based on photothermal imaging to distinguish between the radiative and nonradiative properties of an individual Fano cluster. In observing the absorption spectrum of individual Fano clusters, we directly verify the theoretical prediction that while Fano interference may be prominent in scattering, it is completely absent in absorption. Our results provide microscopic insight into the nature of Fano interference in systems of coupled plasmonic nanoparticles and should pave the way for the optimization of hot carrier production using plasmonic Fano clusters.

Quantitative and Direct Near-Field Analysis of Plasmonic-Induced Transparency and the Observation of a Plasmonic Breathing Mode

We investigated experimentally and numerically in the optical near-field a plasmonic model system similar to a dolmen-type structure for phenomena such as plasmon-induced transparency. Through engineering of coupling strength, structure orientation, and incident angle and phase of the excitation source it was possible to control near-field excitation of the dark modes. We showed that quantitative analysis of near-field amplitude and excitation strength provided essential information that allowed identifying the interaction between the bright and the dark mode and how it causes the formation of plasmon-induced transparency features and a Fano resonance. In addition, we introduced a mechanism to excite field distributions in plasmonic structures that cannot be accessed directly using far-field illumination and demonstrated the excitation of a dark mode akin to a symmetry-forbidden plasmonic breathing mode using a linearly polarized far-field source.

Optical Dark-Field and Electron Energy Loss Imaging and Spectroscopy of Symmetry-Forbidden Modes in Loaded Nanogap Antennas

We have produced large numbers of hybrid metal-semiconductor nanogap antennas using a scalable electrochemical approach and systematically characterized the spectral and spatial character of their plasmonic modes with optical dark-field scattering, electron energy loss spectroscopy with principal component analysis, and full wave simulations. The coordination of these techniques reveal that these nanostructures support degenerate transverse modes which split due to substrate interactions, a longitudinal mode which scales with antenna length, and a symmetry-forbidden gap-localized transverse mode. This gap-localized transverse mode arises from mode splitting of transverse resonances supported on both antenna arms and is confined to the gap load enabling (i) delivery of substantial energy to the gap material and (ii) the possibility of tuning the antenna resonance via active modulation of the gap material's optical properties. The resonant position of this symmetry-forbidden mode is sensitive to gap size, dielectric strength of the gap material, and is highly suppressed in air-gapped structures which may explain its absence from the literature to date. Understanding the complex modal structure supported on hybrid nanosystems is necessary to enable the multifunctional components many seek.

Plasmonic control of radiative properties of semiconductor quantum dots coupled to plasmonic ring cavities

In recent years, a lot of effort has been made to achieve controlled delivery of target particles to the hotspots of plasmonic nanoantennas, in order to probe and/or exploit the extremely large field enhancements produced by such structures. While in many cases such high fields are advantageous, there are instances where they should be avoided. In this work, we consider the implications of using the standard nanoantenna geometries when colloidal quantum dots are employed as target entities. We show that in this case, and for various reasons, dimer antennas are not the optimum choice. Plasmonic ring cavities are a better option despite low field enhancements, as they allow collective coupling of many quantum dots in a reproducible and predictable manner. In cases where larger field enhancements are required, or for larger quantum dots, nonconcentric ring-disk cavities can be employed instead.

STEM-EELS analysis of multipole surface plasmon modes in symmetry-broken AuAg nanowire dimers

Surface plasmon coupling in nanowires separated by small gaps generates high field enhancements at the position of the gap and is thus of great interest for sensing applications. It is known that the nanowire dimensions and in particular the symmetry of the structures has strong influence on the plasmonic properties of the dimer structure. Here, we report on multipole surface plasmon coupling in symmetry-broken AuAg nanowire dimers. Our dimers, consisting of two nanowires with different lengths and separated by gaps of only 10 to 30 nm, were synthesized by pulsed electrochemical deposition in ion track-etched polymer templates. Electron energy-loss spectroscopy in scanning transmission electron microscopy allows us to resolve up to nine multipole order surface plasmon modes of these dimers spectrally separated from each other. The spectra evidence plasmon coupling between resonances of different multipole order, resulting in the generation of additional plasmonic modes. Since such complex structures require elaborated synthesis techniques, dimer structures with complex composition, morphology and shape are created. We demonstrate that finite element simulations on pure Au dimers can predict the generated resonances in the fabricated structures. The excellent agreement of our experiment on AuAg dimers with finite integration simulations using CST microwave studio manifests great potential to design complex structures for sensing applications.

Tailoring the negative-refractive-index metamaterials composed of semiconductor-metal-semiconductor gold ring/disk cavity heptamers to support strong Fano resonances in the visible spectrum

In this study, we investigated numerically the plasmon response of a planar negative-index metamaterial composed of symmetric molecular orientations of Au ring/disk nanocavities in a heptamer cluster. Using the plasmon hybridization theory and considering the optical response of an individual nanocluster, we determined the accurate geometrical sizes for a ring/disk nanocavity heptamer. It is shown that the proposed well-organized nanocluster can be tailored to support strong and sharp Fano resonances in the visible spectrum. Surrounding and filling the heptamer clusters by various metasurfaces with different chemical characteristics, and illuminating the structure with an incident light source, we proved that this configuration reflects low losses and isotropic features, including a pronounced Fano dip in the visible spectrum. Technically, employing numerical methods and tuning the geometrical sizes of the structure, we tuned and induced the Fano dip in the visible range, while the dark and bright plasmon resonance extremes are blueshifted to shorter wavelengths dramatically. Considering the calculated transmission window, we quantified the effective refractive index for the structure, while the substance of the substrate material was varied. Using Si, GaP, and InP semiconductors as substrate materials, we calculated and compared the corresponding figure of merit (FOM) for different regimes. The highest possible FOM was obtained for the GaP-Au-GaP negative-refractive-index metamaterial composed of ring/disk nanocavity heptamers as 62.4 at λ∼690  nm (arounnd the position of the Fano dip). Despite the outstanding symmetric nature of the suggested heptamer array, we provided sharp Fano dips by the appropriate tuning of the geometrical and chemical parameters. This study yields a method to employ ring/disk nanocavity heptamers as a negative-refractive-index metamaterial in designing highly accurate localization of surface plasmon resonance sensing devices and biochemical sensors.

Single nanoparticle couplers for plasmonic waveguides

A single nanoparticle antenna, can be used as an efficient coupler for plasmonic nanowire waveguides. The coup-ling of light into the surface plasmon polaritons on a nanowire can be suppressed or enhanced depending on the surface plasmon resonances of the nanoantenna. The coupler is compacted and can be simply controlled using focus ion beam.

Third Harmonic Mechanism in Complex Plasmonic Fano Structures

We perform third harmonic spectroscopy of dolmen-type nanostructures, which exhibit plasmonic Fano resonances in the near-infrared. Strong third harmonic emission is predominantly radiated close to the low energy peak of the Fano resonance. Furthermore, we find that the third harmonic polarization of the subradiant mode interferes destructively and diminishes the nonlinear signal in the far-field. By comparing the experimental third harmonic spectra with finite element simulations and an anharmonic oscillator model, we find strong indications that the source of the third harmonic is the optical nonlinearity of the bare gold enhanced by the resonant plasmonic polarization.

Plasmonic Fano resonances in metallic nanorod complexes

Plasmonic Fano resonances (FRs) in nanostructures have been extensively studied in recent years. Nanorod-based complexes for FRs have also attracted much attention. The basic optical properties and fabrication technology of different kinds of plasmonic nanorods have been greatly developed over the last several years. The mutipole plasmon resonances and their flexible adjustment ranges on nanorods make them promising for FR modifications and structure diversity. In this paper, we review some recently studied plasmonic nanorod based nanostructures for FRs, including single nanorods, dimers, mutipole rods and nanorod-nanoparticle hybrids. The corresponding applications of the FRs are also briefly discussed.

Ultrafast nonlinear control of progressively loaded, single plasmonic nanoantennas fabricated using helium ion milling

We demonstrate milling of partial antenna gaps and narrow conducting bridges with nanometer precision using a helium ion beam microscope. Single particle spectroscopy shows large shifts in the plasmonic mode spectrum of the milled antennas, associated with the transition from capacitive to conductive gap loading. A conducting bridge of nanometer height is found sufficient to shift the antenna from the capacitive to the conductive coupling regime, in agreement with circuit theory. Picosecond pump-probe spectroscopy reveals an enhanced nonlinear response for partially milled antennas, reaching an optimum value for an intermediate bridge height. Our results show that manipulation of the antenna load can be used to increase the nonlinear response of plasmonic antennas.

Enhancing molecule fluorescence with asymmetrical plasmonic antennas

We propose and justify by the finite-difference time-domain method an efficient strategy to enhance the spontaneous emission of a fluorophore with a multi-resonance plasmonic antenna. The custom-designed asymmetrical antenna consists of two plasmonic nanoparticles with different sizes and is able to couple efficiently to free space light through multiple localized surface plasmon resonances. This design simultaneously permits a large near-field excitation near the antenna as well as a high quantum efficiency, which results in an unusual and significant enhancement of the fluorescence of a single emitter. Such an asymmetrical antenna presents intrinsic advantages over single particle or dimer based antennas made using two identical nanostructures. This promising concept can be exploited in the large domain of light-matter interaction processes involving multiple frequencies.

Plasmonic resonances in self-assembled reduced symmetry gold nanorod structures

Self-assembled plasmonic Dolmen structures consisting of small gold nanorods (length = 50 nm and diameter = 20 nm) with a few nanometer gaps are observed to show coherent effects of super-radiance and characteristics of Fano resonance due to the significantly reduced symmetry of the structure. Relative to previous larger structures from top-down electron-beam lithography, the single crystallinity and atomically smooth surfaces of these self-assembled plasmonic structures result in 50% narrower resonances, and the small gaps with associated strong coupling enable observation of multiple dark and bright modes. By tilting the cap monomer with respect to the base dimer an order of magnitude increase in E-field enhancement at the Fano dip is obtained. In addition, a spectrally broad mode is observed indicating the strong impact of the geometry of the structure on the nature of coupled modes. The highly localized electric near-fields in the gaps will enable strong light matter interactions and the narrow resonances will be useful for improved figure of merits in inexpensive chemical and biosensing.

Geometric Dependence of the Line Width of Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances

For the same number of electrons and plasmon frequencies, longitudinal plasmon resonances in metallic nanorods exhibit narrower line widths than plasmon modes in spherical particles. We show that this property is a general feature of high aspect ratio nanostructures and can be explained very simply by incorporating retardation effects into a harmonic oscillator model. The origin of the effect is dynamic depolarization, which renormalizes the mass of the electrons and the oscillating electron liquid. The scattering spectrum derived from our model agrees very well with FDTD simulations. Because plasmon damping determines many important features and applications of LSPR, such as the Q factor of plasmonics devices and the magnitude of the induced field enhancements, our study will play an important role for the design of nanostructures with narrow plasmon resonances.

Cascaded four-wave mixing in tapered plasmonic nanoantenna

We theoretically study the cascaded four-wave mixing (FWM) in broadband tapered plasmonic nanoantennas. In comparison with nonlinear bulk medium they demonstrate a 300-fold increase in nonlinear frequency conversion detected in the main lobe of the nanoantenna far-field pattern. This is achieved by tuning the elements of the nanoantenna to resonance frequencies involved in the FWM interaction. Our findings have a potentially broad application in ultrafast nonlinear spectroscopy, sensing, on-chip optical frequency conversion, nonlinear optical metamaterials, and photon sources.