Plasmonic coupling in noble metal nanostructures

Noble metal nanostructures display unique and strongly enhanced optical properties due to the phenomenon of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). In assemblies or complex noble metal nanostructures, individual plasmon oscillations on proximal particles can couple via their near-field interaction, resulting in coupled plasmon resonance modes, quite akin to excitonic coupling in molecular aggregates or orbital hybridization in molecules. In this frontier Letter we discuss how the coupling of plasmon modes in certain nanostructure geometries (such as nanoparticle dimers and nanoshells) allows systematic tuning of the optical resonance, and also the confinement and enhancement of the near-field, making possible improved refractive-index sensing and field-enhanced spectroscopy and photochemistry. We discuss the polarization, orientation, and distance-dependence of this near-field coupling especially the universal size-scaling of the plasmon coupling interaction. In addition to radiative properties, we also discuss the effect of inter-particle coupling on the non-radiative electron relaxation in noble metal nanostructures. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.