Antenna resonances in low aspect ratio semiconductor nanowires

We present numerical simulations of low aspect ratio gallium phosphide nanowires under plane wave illumination, which reveal the interplay between transverse and longitudinal antenna-like resonances. A comparison to the limiting case of the semiconducting sphere shows a gradual, continuous transition of resonant electric and magnetic spherical Mie modes into Fabry-Perot cavity modes with mixed electric and magnetic characteristics. As the length of the nanowires further increases, these finite-wire modes converge towards the leaky-mode resonances of an infinite cylindrical wire. Furthermore, we report a large and selective enhancement or suppression of electric and magnetic field in structures comprising two semiconducting nanowires. For an interparticle separation of 20 nm, we observe up to 300-fold enhancement in the electric field intensity and an almost complete quenching of the magnetic field in specific mode configurations. Angle-dependent extinction spectra highlight the importance of symmetry and phase matching in the excitation of cavity modes and show the limited validity of the infinite wire approximation for describing the response of finite length nanowires toward glancing angles. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America