title: Optical sensing based on plasmon coupling in nanoparticle arrays.
abstract: The performance of bi-periodic arrays of gold nano-particles for molecular sensing applications is studied using the Fourier Modal Method (FMM). We show that the electromagnetic coupling between the particles can be optimized to increase their sensitivity to a weak change of the shallow dielectric environment. Especially, arrays whose elementary cell consists of a dimer of two closely packed particles are found to be at least three times more sensitive than single particle arrays.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Enoch
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quidant
authors.forename: Goncal
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Badenes