Plasmonic Circular Dichroism in Chiral Gold Nanowire Dimers

We report a computational study at the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) level of the chiro-optical spectra of chiral gold nanowires coupled in dimers. Our goal is to explore whether it is possible to overcome destructive interference in single nanowires that damp chiral response in these systems and to achieve intense plasmonic circular dichroism (CD) through a coupling between the nanostructures. We predict a huge enhancement of circular dichroism at the plasmon resonance when two chiral nanowires are intimately coupled in an achiral relative arrangement. Such an effect is even more pronounced when two chiral nanowires are coupled in a chiral relative arrangement. Individual component maps of rotator strength, partial contributions according to the magnetic dipole component, and induced densities allow us to fully rationalize these findings, thus opening the way to the field of plasmonic CD and its rational design.

Automated summary

This study reports a computational investigation on the chiro-optical spectra of chiral gold nanowires at the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) level. The results demonstrate that intense plasmonic circular dichroism (CD) can be achieved by coupling two chiral nanowires. The analysis of individual component maps and induced charge densities fully rationalize these findings.