Experimental observation of mode-selective anticrossing in surface-plasmon-coupled metal nanoparticle arrays

Surface plasmon excitation using resonant metal nanoparticles is studied experimentally. Geometry dependent reflection measurements reveal the existence of several optical resonances. Strong coupling of the in-plane nanoparticle plasmon resonance and propagating plasmons is evident from clear anticrossing behavior. Reflection measurements at high numerical aperture demonstrate the excitation of surface plasmons via out-of-plane particle polarization. The thus excited plasmons do not exhibit anticrossing in the considered frequency range. The results are explained in terms of the known surface plasmon dispersion relation and the anisotropic frequency dependent nanoparticle polarizability. These findings are important for applications utilizing surface-coupled nanoparticle plasmon resonances.