Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 22, 2026

Performing Spectroscopy on Plasmonic Nanoparticles with Transmission-Based Nomarski-Type Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy
Published on: June 5, 2019
Circular dichroism from single plasmonic nanostructures with extrinsic chirality.
Xuxing Lu1, Jian Wu, Qiannan Zhu
1Division of i-Lab, Key Laboratory of Nano-Bio Interface & Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China. whni2012@sinano.ac.cn.
Single nanostructure circular dichroism (CD) reveals unique chiroptical physics. Oblique excitation of gold nanorod dimers shows a strong plasmonic chiroptical response, enabling new applications.
Area of Science:
- Plasmonics
- Chiroptical Physics
- Nanophotonics
Background:
- Traditional circular dichroism (CD) measurements on ensembles obscure single nanostructure phenomena.
- Single nanostructure CD studies offer novel insights but face challenges due to weak signals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate and analyze the chiroptical response of a single v-shaped gold nanorod dimer using oblique excitation.
- To investigate the origin and characteristics of plasmonic chiroptical signals from nanostructures.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing oblique excitation of a single v-shaped gold nanorod dimer.
- Performing spectroscopic analysis of circular differential scattering.
- Investigating near-field coupling and dipole orientations of hybridized resonance modes.
Main Results:
- Observed a prominent plasmonic chiroptical response from the single nanostructure.
- Demonstrated a characteristic bisignate peak-dip spectral shape at hybridized energies.
- Achieved a maximum g-factor of approximately 0.4 due to strong near-field coupling.
Conclusions:
- Extrinsic chirality, dependent on geometric configuration, drives the observed chiroptical response.
- Obliquely excited gold nanorod dimers exhibit significant plasmonic chiroptical effects.
- This nanostructure arrangement shows potential for applications in electronics, photonics, and metamaterials.
Related Concept Videos
Chirality in Nature
Prochirality
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity

