Mueller matrix measurements of self-assembled gold nanoparticles in chiral structure
Résumé
Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) hold a great potential as structural and functional building blocks for three-dimensional
(3D) nanoarchitectures with specific optical applications. When GNPs are closely assembled, their localized surface
plasmon resonances (LSPR) are coupled, resulting in the enhancement of the electric field in the gap between the
adjacent nanoparticles. This NPs interaction gives the opportunity to build new metamaterial which control the
polarization state of light. In this context, we have investigated the optical properties of complex nanostructures which consist of GNPs
grafted on silica nanohelices with tunable handedness. This gold nanohelices are self-aligned by spray coating at
grazing angle to form thin film. Mueller matrix measured in transmission, show that these films exhibit linear
dichroism and birefringence, as well as circular dichroism. The sign of the circular dichroism depends on the
handedness of the chiral helices. Contrary to circular dichroism, the linear birefringence and dichroism are closely
related to the orientation of nanohelices. The pseudo optical axes of films are found at ±45° to the nanohelices axis.
This Mueller matrix is analyzed with a coupled dipole model which takes into account the interaction between
GNPs, the density and the orientation of nanohelices. We show that that the dichroism and the birefringence of the
film come from the plasmonic coupling of NPs organized along an anisotropic and chiral structure. Finally, we
demonstrate that GNPs grafted on nanohelices are good candidates as building block of new polarization
management devices.