Tunable double resonance of silver nanodecahedron on the insulator/conductor film.

Abstract

The generation of double resonance in a nanostructure, thus permitting the modulation of optical field at two frequencies simultaneously, offers new application opportunities for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface enhanced fluorescence (SEF). Here, we present a simple composite nanostructure of silver nanodecahedron (Ag ND)/silica spacer/gold film/glass substrate for achieving double resonance under the normal incidence of polarized light. The optical responses of the composite structure have been theoretically studied by varying the thickness of silica spacer layer from 5 nm to 35 nm for mediating the interaction between Ag ND and gold film. Results indicate that the extinction spectrum of the composite system is strongly dependent on the separation between Ag ND and gold film. The electric field and charge distribution during resonance have been investigated in order to obtain a detailed understanding on the coupling between these two objects. More importantly, due to the anisotropic geometry of Ag ND, double resonance with two plasmonic modes (dipole and gap modes) whose responses can be adjusted through varying the size of Ag ND and mediating its coupling with the gold film respectively, has been achieved in the composite structure under the excitation with polarization parallel to the Ag ND edge adjacent to the spacer surface. The knowledge gained through this work will benefit the development of applications based on local field enhancement.