Multipolar excitation in triangular nanoprisms

Theoretical studies on the optical properties of gold triangular prisms in solution are presented to determine how structural modifications affect the extinction spectrum. Well-defined trends in the particle extinction are found to depend on the triangular edge length and the prism thickness. Calculations performed on large, thin triangular prisms indicate multipolar excitation and display numerous peaks in the extinction spectrum. The dominant peaks are assigned to different in-plane modes corresponding to the lowest three orders of a multipole expansion. Vector polarization plots are presented to support the peak assignments. Altering the prisms by snipping off the points of the triangular cross section significantly blueshifts the dipole peak, but the higher-order modes are only slightly affected. Snipping off large volumes can lead to the suppression of high-order multipoles in the extinction spectrum. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.