Dichroism of coupled multipolar plasmonic modes in twisted triskelion stacks

TL;DR

This study investigates how twisted stacked plasmonic nanostructures exhibit tunable circular dichroism due to their multipolar modes, with potential applications in chiral optical devices.

Contribution

It provides a systematic analysis of the optical response and mode evolution in twisted gold triskelion stacks, revealing complex interactions and maximum dichroism at specific angles.

Findings

Strong circular dichroism depends on twist angle.

Mode behavior transitions from dipolar to complex multipolar with angle.

Hybridization with surface lattice resonance enhances spectral features.

Abstract

We present a systematic investigation of the optical response to circularly polarized illumination in twisted stacked plasmonic nanostructures. The system consissts in two identical, parallel gold triskelia centrally aligned and rotated at a central angle relative to each other. Sample fabrication was acomplished through a double electron beam lithograpy process. This stack holds two plasmonic modes of multipolar character in the near-infrared range, showing a strong dependence of their excitation intensities on the handedness of the circularly polarized incident light. This translates in a large circular dicrhoism which can be modulated by adjusting the twist angle of the stack. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and numerical simulations were employed to characterize the spectral features of the modes. Remarkable, in contrast to previous results in other stacked nanostructures, the system's response exhibits a behavious analogous to that of two interacting dipoles only at small angles. As the angle approaches 15 degrees, where the maximum dichroism is observed, more complex modes of the stack emerge. These modes evolve towards two in-phase multipolar excitations of the two triskelia as the angle increases uo to 60 degrees. Finally, simulations for a triangular array of such stacked elements show a sharp mode arising from the hybridization of a surface lattice resonance with the low-energy mode of the stack.