Tuning the Dipolar Plasmon Hybridization of Multishell Metal-Dielectric Nanostructure: Gold Nanosphere in a Gold Nanoshell

Abstract

Because of the interaction between dipole resonances of the inner gold sphere and the outer gold shell, gold-dielectric-gold multishells with sub-50 nm diameter may at most have three hybridization modes of surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Theoretical calculations based on quasi-static theory indicate that there are blending and splitting of SPR bands in the absorption spectra, which makes the number of absorption peak tunable by changing the radius of inserted gold sphere, thickness of gold shell, dielectric constant of middle dielectric shell or outer environment. The two absorption peaks at longer wavelength, which correspond to the hybridization from the bonding shell plasmon and the sphere plasmon, are usually intense and well tunable. The absorption peak at shorter wavelength, which corresponds to the symmetric coupling between the anti-bonding shell plasmon and the sphere plasmon, is relative weak and only occurs with large dielectric constant of the middle shell, small dielectric constant of the outer surrounding, large inner radius of the gold shell, and small radius of the inner gold sphere. Furthermore, the physical origin of these plasmon hybridizations in gold-dielectric-gold multishells nanostructure has also been illuminated by analyzing the local electric field distributions.