Active macroscale visible plasmonic nanorod self-assembled monolayer

Abstract

Although plasmonic nanostructure has attracted widespread research interest in recent years, it is still a major challenge to realize large-scale active plasmonic nanostructure operation in the visible optical frequency. Herein, we demonstrate a heterostructure geometry comprising a centimeter-scale Au nanoparticle monolayer and VO2 films, in which the plasmonic peak is inversely tuned between 685 nm and 618 nm by a heating process since the refractive index will change when VO2 films undergo the transition between the insulating phase and the metallic phase. Simultaneously, the phase transition of VO2 films can be improved by plasmonic arrays due to plasmonic enhanced light absorption and the photothermal effect. The phase transition temperature for Au/VO2 films is lower than that for bare VO2 films and can decrease to room temperature under the laser irradiation. For light-induced phase transition of VO2 films, the laser power of Au/VO2 film phase transition is ∼28.6% lower than that of bare VO2 films. Our work raises the feasibility to use active plasmonic arrays in the visible region.