Surface lattice resonances strongly coupled to Rhodamine 6G excitons: tuning the plasmon-exciton-polariton mass and composition

We demonstrate the strong coupling of surface lattice resonances (SLRs) - hybridized plasmonic/photonic modes in metallic nanoparticle arrays - to excitons in Rhodamine 6G molecules. We investigate experimentally angle-dependent extinction spectra of silver nanorod arrays with different lattice constants, with and without the Rhodamine 6G molecules. The properties of the coupled modes are elucidated with simple Hamiltonian models. At low momenta, plasmon-exciton-polaritons - the mixed SLR/exciton states - behave as free-quasiparticles with an effective mass, lifetime, and composition tunable via the periodicity of the array. The results are relevant for the design of plasmonic systems aimed at reaching the quantum degeneracy threshold, wherein a single quantum state becomes macroscopically populated. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America