Thermal Control of Plasmonic Surface Lattice Resonances

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Nanotechnology
• Optics and Light-Matter Interactions

Background:

• Plasmonic metasurfaces enable flat photonic components for wavelength-selective applications like lasing and nonlinear optics.
• Surface lattice resonances (SLRs) are collective responses in metasurfaces with potential for advanced optical functionalities.
• Postfabrication tuning of SLRs is a significant challenge, limiting their practical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a simple method for tuning the properties of high quality factor surface lattice resonances (SLRs).
• To investigate the effect of environmental symmetry breaking on SLR characteristics.
• To pave the way for tunable SLR-based photonic devices.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing plasmonic metasurfaces with high quality factor SLRs.
• Breaking the symmetry of the nanoparticle surroundings by altering the refractive index of the immersion oil.
• Controlling the ambient temperature of the device to modify the refractive index.

Main Results:

• A modest temperature change of 10°C increased the quality factor of the SLR from 400 to 750.
• Demonstrated accurate and reversible modification of SLR properties.
• Showcased efficient and potentially ultrafast modification of SLR properties through environmental symmetry breaking.

Conclusions:

• Symmetry breaking of the nanoparticle environment provides an effective method for tuning SLR properties.
• Temperature-controlled refractive index changes offer a practical approach for modifying SLRs.
• This work enables the development of tunable plasmonic metasurface-based photonic devices.