Confined plasmons in metallic nanocavities

We investigate the properties of gold surfaces patterned using a nanoscale "lost wax" technique by electrochemical deposition through a self-assembled latex template. Near-spherical gold nanocavities within the resulting porous films support localized surface plasmons which couple strongly to incident light, appearing as sharp spectral features in reflectivity measurements. The energy of the resonances is easily tunable from ultraviolet to near infrared by controlling the diameter and height of the nanocavities. The energies of these features agree well with the Mie resonances of a perfect spherical void.