Abstract
We investigate experimentally and numerically the scattering properties of liquid gallium nanoparticles coupled to a thin gold or silver film. The gallium nanoparticles are excited either directly by using inclined white light or indirectly by surface plasmon polaritons generated on the surface of the gold/silver film. In the former case, the scattering spectrum is always dominated by a scattering peak at ∼540 nm with a long-wavelength shoulder which is redshifted with increasing diameter of the gallium nanoparticle. Under the excitation of the surface plasmon polaritons, optical resonances with much narrower linewidths, which are dependent on the incidence angle of the white light, appear in the scattering spectra. In this case, the scattering spectrum depends weakly on the diameter of the gallium nanoparticle but the radiation pattern exhibits a strong dependence. In addition, a significant enhancement of electric field is expected in the gap region between the gallium nanoparticles and the gold film based on numerical simulation. As compared with the gallium nanoparticle coupled to the gold film which exhibit mainly yellow and orange colors, vivid scattering light spanning the visible light spectrum can be achieved in the gallium nanoparticles coupled to the silver film by simply varying the incidence angle. Gallium nanoparticles coupled to thin metal films may find potential applications in light–matter interaction and color display.
Highlights
Liquid metals are characterized by their polymorphism, large surface tension, and high electrical conductivity [1,2]
Liquid Ga possessed a dielectric function much different from Au, the scattering spectra of the Ga NPs coupled to the Au film appeared quite similar to those observed for Au NPs coupled to an Au film
We have investigated experimentally and numerically the scattering properties of liquid Ga NPs coupled to thin metal films and excited by white light and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs)
Summary
Liquid metals are characterized by their polymorphism, large surface tension, and high electrical conductivity [1,2]. The mechanical and electronic propertities of macroscopic liquid metals have been extensively studied, such as liquid metal enabled pump [3], all-soft matter circuits [4], liquid metal marbles and actuators [5,6], electric-field-induced transformations of liquid metals [7,8], liquid metal mollusks and motors [9,10,11], and self-fueled oscillator machines [12]. Gallium (Ga), a liquid metal at room temperature [13], has attracted tremendous attention because of its peculiar physical and chemical properties [14,15]. The dramatic change in the physical properties of Ga induced by phase transition has been exploited to realize novel nanoscale devices, phase memories [20,21] and active plasmonic platforms [22,23]
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