title: Nanoparticle-mediated coupling of light into a nanowire.
abstract: We show that a nanoparticle can serve as an efficient antenna for coupling of visible light into propagating plasmons of an Ag nanowire. For long wires, the coupling is maximal for incident light polarized perpendicular to the nanowire. For sub-10-mum nanowires, the polarization corresponding to maximum emission from the ends of the nanowire was found to be strongly dependent on the nanowire geometry and position of the vicinal nanoparticle. This nanoparticle antenna-based approach offers a potential strategy for optimizing plasmon coupling into nanoscale metallic waveguides.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Laboratory for Nanophotonics, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: Nathaniel K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Grady
authors.forename: Rizia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bardhan
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nordlander
authors.forename: Naomi J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Halas
mesh_terms: D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012834:Silver