Surface plasmon resonances in periodic and random patterns of gold nano-disks for broadband light harvesting

Opt Express. 2012 May 7;20(10):11466-77. doi: 10.1364/OE.20.011466.

Abstract

We analyze the localized surface plasmon resonance spectra of periodic square lattice arrays of gold nano-disks, and we describe numerically and experimentally the effect of disorder on resonance width, spectrum, and EM field enhancement in increasingly randomized patterns. The periodic structure shows a narrower and stronger extinction peak, conversely we observe an increase of up to (1-2)×10(2) times enhancement as the disorder is gradually introduced. This allows for simpler, lower resolution fabrication, cost-effective in light harvesting for solar cell and sensing applications. We show that dipole-dipole interactions contribute to diffract light parallel to the surface as a mean of long-range coupling between the nano-disks.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biosensing Techniques
  • Electromagnetic Fields
  • Equipment Design
  • Gold / chemistry*
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional
  • Light
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / methods
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Normal Distribution
  • Optics and Photonics
  • Solar Energy
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / methods*

Substances

  • Gold