Energy transport in metal nanoparticle chains via sub-radiant plasmon modes

We investigate the propagation of surface plasmon polaritons through coupling of light to sub-radiant dipole modes in finite chains of Ag nanoparticles. End excitation of collections of closely spaced particles reveals a band of sub-radiant modes whereby the decay of surface plasmon polaritons due to radiative losses is minimized. We show that excitation of any of these sub-radiant modes results in the most efficient energy transfer throughout the optical spectrum, with smaller interparticle separations resulting in the longest propagation. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America