Controlling optical properties of periodic gold nanoparticle arrays by changing the substrate, topologic shapes of nanoparticles, and polarization direction of incident light

The effects of various parameters including thickness and dielectric constants of substrates, shapes of nanoparticles, and polarization direction of incident light, on the extinction spectra of periodic gold nanoparticle arrays are investigated by the full-vectorial three-dimensional (3D) finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The calculated results show that the substrate affects the extinction spectra by coupling the fields co-excited by the substrate and gold nanoparticles. Extinction spectra are influenced by the shapes of the nanoparticles, but there are no obvious changes in extinction spectra for similar shapes. The polarization direction of incident light has a great influence on the extinction spectra. The implications of these results are discussed.