Spectral sensitivity of uniform arrays of gold nanorods to dielectric environment

Uniform, ordered arrays of gold nanorods on glass substrates were fabricated with high accuracy using electron beam lithography and lift-off techniques. These structures exhibit longitudinal mode of localized surface plasmon (LSP) resonance with spectral position highly sensitive to the refractive index of local dielectric environment of the nanorods. The LSP resonance was found to red-shift nearly linearly, both with refractive index and aspect ratio of the nanorods, to the extent that enables optical detection of the refractive index changes of the order of 10(-2). The entire spectral range of the detection can be defined by tailoring size and aspect ratio of the nanorods during the fabrication and typically falls into the optical communications region. These structures are therefore promising as optical sensors enabling simple and efficient monitoring of chemical and biological processes.