Exotic Mode Suppression in Plasmonic Heterotrimer System

We investigate the far- and near-field properties of plasmonic heterotrimers with small detuning of the eigenfrequency numerically, theoretically, and experimentally. In our simulations, we find that the dipolar mode of the middle nanorod in the trimer system is greatly suppressed in both far and near fields. This phenomenon is confirmed by our subsequent experiments. The far-field suppression can be interpreted by the destructive interference due to the antiphase dipolar response of the respective nanorod. To deeply understand the underlying physics, an analytical model considering both the near-field-mediated direct coupling and radiative-field-mediated indirect coupling is adopted. We determine that the radiative field coupling, which is stronger in the trimer system with a smaller detuning, plays an essential role in mode suppression in the near field. Our work will provide new thoughts on the fundamental mechanisms of plasmon coupling and plasmon-based applications.