Near-Field Asymmetries in Plasmonic Resonators

Published

February 12, 2015

Author(s)

Vladimir Aksyuk, Basudev Lahiri, Glenn Holland, Andrea Centrone

Abstract

Surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy exploits the locally enhanced field surrounding plasmonic metamaterials to increase the sensitivity of infrared spectroscopy. Light polarization and incident angle are important factors for exciting plasmonic nanostructures; however, such angle dependence is often ignored in SEIRA experiments, typically carried out with Cassegrain objectives. Here, the photothermal induced resonance technique and numerical simulations are used to map the distribution and intensity of SEIRA hot-spots surrounding gold asymmetric split ring resonators (ASRRs) as a function of light polarization and incidence angle. Results show asymmetric near-field SEIRA enhancements as a function of the incident illumination direction which, in analogy with the symmetry-breaking occurring in asymmetric transmission, we refer to as symmetry-breaking absorption. Numerical calculations reveal that the symmetry-breaking absorption in ASRRs originates in the angle-dependent interference between the electric and magnetic excitation channels of the resonators dark-mode. Consequently, to maximize the SEIRA intensity, ASRRs should be illuminated from the dielectric side at an angle that maximizes the constructive interference of the two excitation channels (35 degrees for the structures studied here), in place of the Cassegrain objectives. These results are can be generalized to all structures characterized by plasmonic excitations that give raise to a surface-normal magnetic moment and that possess an electric dipole.

Citation

Nanoscale

Issue

8

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1039/C4NR06755J

Local Download

Keywords

SEIRA, PTIR, Near-Field imaging

Citation

Aksyuk, V. , Lahiri, B. , Holland, G. and Centrone, A. (2015), Near-Field Asymmetries in Plasmonic Resonators, Nanoscale, [online], https://doi.org/10.1039/C4NR06755J, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=916365 (Accessed October 11, 2025)