Thermal Control of Plasmonic Surface Lattice Resonances

Plasmonic metasurfaces exhibiting collective re-sponses known as surface lattice resonances (SLRs) show potentialfor realizingflat photonic components for wavelength-selectiveprocesses, including lasing and optical nonlinearities. However,postfabrication tuning of SLRs remains challenging, limiting theapplicability of SLR-based components. Here, we demonstrate howthe properties of high quality factor SLRs are easily modified bybreaking the symmetry of the nanoparticle surroundings. We breakthe symmetry by changing the refractive index of the overlyingimmersion oil by controlling the ambient temperature of thedevice. We show that a modest temperature change of 10 degrees C canincrease the quality factor of the SLR from 400 to 750. Our results demonstrate accurate and reversible modification of theproperties of the investigated SLRs, paving the way toward tunable SLR-based photonic devices. More generally, we show howsymmetry breaking of the environment can be utilized for efficient and potentially ultrafast modification of the SLR properties.

Automated summary

By breaking the symmetry of the nanoparticle surroundings, the properties of high quality factor SLRs can be easily modified. We demonstrated how changing the refractive index of the surrounding immersion oil by controlling the ambient temperature of the device can increase the quality factor of the SLR. These results show accurate and reversible modification of SLR properties, opening up possibilities for tunable SLR-based photonic devices.