Tunable plasmon resonances and two-dimensional anisotropy of angular optical response of overlapped nanoshells.

Symmetry breaking of metallic nanoparticles results in many unique optical properties. We use the discrete dipole approximation method to study the optical properties of overlapped nanoshells which further break the rotational symmetry compared with the semishells. The optical properties of the nanoparticles can be tuned from the visible to near infrared regime by varying the geometry parameters and the hybrid components of nanoparticles. The calculated extinction spectra show the two-dimensional anisotropy of the angular optical response of the nanoparticles. The plasmon hybridization model provides a way to interpret the resonance modes of the nanoparticles. The tunable plasmon resonances, the enhanced local fields and the anisotropic optical properties suggest that the overlapped nanoshells have potential applications in surface-enhanced spectroscopy and "smart" coating in windows or display devices.