Large spectral extinction due to overlap of dipolar and quadrupolar plasmonic modes of metallic nanoparticles in arrays

We explore the optical response of two-dimensional (2D) arrays of silver nanoparticles, focussing our attention on structures for which the individual particles in isolation support both dipolar and quadrupolar localised surface plasmon modes. For individual spheres we show that when dipolar and quadrupolar modes are excited simultaneously, interference leads to most of the scattered light being radiated in the forward direction. This is in contrast to what happens when each mode is excited on its own. We further show, using finite-element modelling that when such particles are assembled into square 2D arrays, the dipolar and quadrupolar modes can combine to produce a single peak in the optical density of the array. By simulating the field distributions associated with these modes we are able to illustrate the dual-mode character of this feature in the optical density. We have extended our examination of this effect by considering how the optical density of these arrays changes with incident angle for two polarisations (s and p). (C) 2010 Optical Society of America