Resonant Optical Nonlinearity and Fluorescence Enhancement in Electrically Tuned Plasmonic Nanosuspensions

Controlled orientation and alignment of rod-shaped plasmonic nanoparticles are of great interest for many applications. Herein, it is demonstrated that the nonlinear optical response of gold nanorod suspensions is dynamically controlled by electric field-induced orientation. Merely by switching incident light polarization, the longitudinal and transverse surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption peaks are modulated with opposite trends, and the resulting optical nonlinearity is revealed from self-trapping of plasmonic resonant solitons. Moreover, even with a very low concentration of fluorescent molecules, a significant increase in the fluorescent signal is observed with a transmittance-type volume detection scheme. Such an enhancement is attributed to a combined action of optical force-induced nonlinearity and electric field-induced nanorod orientation, as explained by the theoretical analyses. Herein, new possibilities for engineering nonlinear plasmonic soft matter and detecting low-concentration (yet a large total number of moleculesas needed) fluorescent samples are brought out.

Automated summary

Controlled orientation and alignment of rod-shaped plasmonic nanoparticles can dynamically modulate the nonlinear optical response of gold nanorod suspensions, enhancing fluorescent signal detection and revealing optical nonlinearity effects. The combined action of optical force-induced nonlinearity and electric field-induced nanorod orientation leads to new possibilities for engineering nonlinear plasmonic soft matter and detecting low-concentration fluorescent samples.