On the correlation of absorption cross-section with plasmonic color generation

Through numerical simulations, we investigate the correlation between the absorption cross-section and the color saturation of plasmonic nanostructures of varying density. Understanding this correlation, enables the prediction of an optimal nanostructure separation, or combinations of different nanostructure sizes for plasmonic color printing applications. Here, we use metal-insulator-metal (MIM) aluminum nanostructures that support gap-plasmons. Large absorption cross-sections were observed that exceed twelve times the physical cross-section of the nanostructure disks. We derive a set of equations to determine the optimal separation for a periodic array using the absorption cross-section of an individual structure to realize saturated colors. Using the optimum pitch and enabled by the large absorption cross-sections of our structures, we employ color mixing strategies to realize a wider color gamut. The simulated color gamut exceeds the sRGB gamut for some colors, and includes dark tones. Color mixing using structures with large absorption cross-sections is a practical approach to generate a broad range of colors, in comparison to fabricating structures with continuously varying sizes.