FDTD Modeling of Gold Nanoparticles in a Nematic Liquid Crystal: Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Spectral Tunability

Abstract : In this paper we numerically investigate an active plasmonic device that is based on an ordered array of gold nanocylinders with an elliptic basis embedded in a nematic liquid crystal (LC) layer. The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of the gold cylinders depends on the refractive index of the surrounding media, which depends on the orientation of the optical axis. Rotating the optical axis causes the LSPR to shift, and we will show that by modifying geometrical parameters we can increase the sensitivity of the LSPR to the orientation of the optical axis and thereby enhance the switching effects.