Double Fano resonances in plasmonic nanocross molecules and magnetic plasmon propagation.

Double Fano resonances in optical frequency are investigated in an artificial plasmonic molecule consisting of seven identical nanocrosses. These two Fano resonances are found to originate from different physical mechanisms. One is caused by the excitation of the inherent quadrupole dark mode supported by a single nanocross, and the other is attributed to the magnetic plasmon mode due to the generation of antiphase ring currents in adjacent fused tetramers. The two Fano resonances can either be tuned simultaneously or independently within a wide spectral range by adjusting the geometrical parameters of the nanocrosses. The excitation of the magnetic plasmon in a chain made of coupled nanoparticles allows for subwavelength guiding of optical energy with low radiative losses. The field decay length is as long as 2.608 μm, which is comparable to that of the magnetic plasmon waveguides and far surpasses the value achieved in electric plasmon counterparts. Because of the special shape of the nanocross, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer can be built to steer optical beams. These results show that the proposed plasmonic nanostructures have potential applications in biochemical sensing, narrow line-shape engineering and on-chip optical signal propagation in nanoscale integrated optics.