Polarization dependent diffraction from anisotropic Ag nanorods grown on DVD grating templates by oblique angle deposition

Abstract

In this work, we demonstrate surface plasmon (SP) excitations by white light irradiation on Ag nanorod covered diffraction grating substrates. Recordable digital versatile discs (DVD) were used as the diffraction grating substrates on which aligned Ag nanorods arrays were deposited by oblique angle deposition. A simple experimental method based on normal incidence optical transmission was used to monitor the first order diffraction spectra from these Ag nanorod arrays on DVD gratings. The SP peak positions were observed to have dependence on polarization of the incident light and get shifted according to the aspect ratio of nanorods. The results illustrate that the radiative properties of Ag nanorod arrays on the DVD grating can be tailored just by controlling the geometric dimensions of the Ag nanorods. These Ag nanorod arrays on DVD grating templates may be used for cost efficient and sensitive surface plasmon based applications such as refractive index measurement and biosensing.