Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026

Determination of the Excitation and Coupling Rates Between Light Emitters and Surface Plasmon Polaritons
Published on: July 21, 2018
Near field of strongly coupled plasmons: uncovering dark modes
Florian Schertz1, Marcus Schmelzeisen, Reza Mohammadi
1Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Staudinger Weg 7, D-55128 Mainz, Germany. scherfl@uni-mainz.de
Abstract:
Strongly coupled plasmons in a system of individual gold nanoparticles placed at subnanometer distance to a gold film (nanoparticle-on-plane, NPOP) are investigated using two complementary single particle spectroscopy techniques. Optical scattering spectroscopy exclusively detects plasmon modes that couple to the far field via their dipole moment (bright modes). By using photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM), we detect in the identical NPOPs near-field modes that do not couple to the scattered far field (dark modes) and are characterized by a strongly enhanced nonlinear electron emission process. To our knowledge, this is the first time that both far- and near-field spectroscopy are carried out for identical individual nanostructures interacting via a subnanometer gap. Strongly resonant electron emission occurs at excitation wavelengths far off-resonant in the scattering spectra.
Related Concept Videos
Electric Field of Parallel Conducting Plates
Consider a cross-section of a thin, infinite conducting plate having a positive charge. For such a large thin plate, as the thickness of the plate tends to zero, the positive charges lie on the plate's two large faces. Without an external electric field, the...
Electromagnetic Waves in Matter
Consider the electromagnetic wave passing through a dielectric medium. In such a case, Maxwell's equations get modified. In Ampere's law, ε0 , the dielectric permittivity of free space is replaced with ε, the permittivity of dielectric. Also, the vacuum permeability μ0 is replaced by the permeability of the medium, μ.
Furthermore, the...
Electric Field at the Surface of a Conductor
In the 19th century, Michael Faraday conducted the famous ice pail experiment to prove that the charges always reside on the surface of a conductor. The experimental set-up consists of a conducting uncharged container mounted on an insulating stand. The outer surface of the container is...
Magnetic Field due to Moving Charges
Consider a point charge moving with a constant velocity. Like the electric field, the magnetic field at any point is directly proportional to the magnitude of the charge and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the source point and the field point. However, unlike the electric field, the magnetic field is always perpendicular to the plane containing the line...
Magnetic Field Lines
Magnetic field lines follow several hard-and-fast rules:
Diamagnetic Shielding of Nuclei: Local Diamagnetic Current

