Enhancement of surface plasmons in an Ag aggregate by optical gain in a dielectric medium

We have observed the compensation of loss in a metal by a gain in a dielectric medium in the mixture of an Ag aggregate and a Rhodamine 6G dye. The demonstrated sixfold enhancement of the Rayleigh scattering is the evidence of the enhancement of the surface-plasmon resonance. The reported experimental observation facilitates many applications of nanoplasmonics. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.