We introduce a design strategy to maximize the Near Field (NF) enhancement near plasmonic antennas. We start by identifying and studying the basic electromagnetic effects that contribute to the electric near field enhancement. Next, we show how the concatenation of a convex and a concave surface allows merging all the effects on a single, continuous nanoantenna. As an example of this NF maximization strategy, we engineer a nanostructure, the indented nanocone. This structure, combines all the studied NF maximization effects with a synergistic boost provided by a Fano-like interference effect activated by the presence of the concave surface. As a result, the antenna exhibits a NF amplitude enhancement of ∼ 800, which transforms into ∼1600 when coupled to a perfect metallic surface. This strong enhancement makes the proposed structure a robust candidate to be used in field enhancement based technologies. Further elaborations of the concept may produce even larger and more effective enhancements.

© 2012 OSA

1. L. Novotny and N. Van Hulst, “Antennas for light,” Nature Photon.5, 83–90 (2011). [CrossRef]
2. H. Xu, E. Bjerneld, M. Käll, and L. Börjesson, “Spectroscopy of Single hemoglobin molecules by surface enhanced raman scattering,” Phys. Rev. Lett.83, 4357–4360 (1999). [CrossRef]
3. F. Neubrech, A. Pucci, T. Cornelius, S. Karim, A. Garcia-Etxarri, and J. Aizpurua, “Resonant plasmonic and vibrational coupling in a tailored nanoantenna for infrared detection,” Phys. Rev. Lett.101, 2–5 (2008). [CrossRef]
4. T. Rindzevicius, Y. Alaverdyan, A. Dahlin, F. Höök, D. S. Sutherland, and M. Käll, “Plasmonic sensing characteristics of single nanometric holes,” Nano Lett.5, 2335 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
5. A. Dmitriev, C. Hägglund, S. Chen, H. Fredriksson, T. Pakizeh, M. Käll, and D. S. Sutherland, “Enhanced nanoplasmonic optical sensors with reduced substrate effect,” Nano Lett.8, 3893 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
6. H. A. Atwater and A. Polman, “Plasmonics for improved photovoltaic devices,” Nature Mat.9, 205–213 (2010). [CrossRef]
7. A. C. Atre, A. García-Etxarri, H. Alaeian, and J. A. Dionne, “Toward high-efficiency solar upconversion with plasmonic nanostructures,” J. Opt.14, 024008 (2012). [CrossRef]
8. Z. Liu, W. Hou, P. Pavaskar, M. Aykol, and S. B. Cronin, “Plasmon resonant enhancement of carbon monoxide catalysis,” Nano Lett.11, 1111–1116 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
9. H. Xu, J. Aizpurua, M. Käll, and P. Apell, “Electromagnetic contributions to single-molecule sensitivity in surface-enhanced Raman scattering,” Phys. Rev. E62, 4318–4324 (2000). [CrossRef]
10. P. Nordlander and C. Oubre, “Plasmon hybridization in nanoparticle dimers,” Nano Lett.4, 899–903 (2004). [CrossRef]
11. K. Li, M. Stockman, and D. Bergman, “Self-similar chain of metal nanospheres as an efficient nanolens,” Phys. Rev. Lett.91, 227402 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
12. M. Stockman, “Nanofocusing of optical energy in tapered plasmonic waveguides,” Phys. Rev. Lett.93, 137404 (2004). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
13. S. Vedantam, H. Lee, J. Tang, J. Conway, M. Staffaroni, and E. Yablonovitch, “A Plasmonic dimple lens for nanoscale focusing of light,” Nano Lett.9, 34473452, (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
14. D. K. Gramotnev and S. I. Bozhevolnyi, “Plasmonics beyond the diffraction limit,” Nature Photon.4, 83–91 (2010). [CrossRef]
15. F. J. García, De Abajo, and A. Howie, “Retarded field calculation of electron energy loss in inhomogeneous dielectrics,” Phys. Rev. B65, 115418 (2002). [CrossRef]
16. F. J. García de Abajo and A. Howie, “Relativistic electron energy loss and electron-induced photon emission in inhomogeneous dielectrics,” Phys. Rev. Lett.80, 5180–5183 (1998). [CrossRef]
17. C. F. Bohren and D. R. Huffman, “Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles” (Wiley, New York, 1983).
18. E. J. Zeman and G. C. Schatz, “An accurate electromagnetic theory study of surface enhancement factors for Ag, Au, Cu, Li, Na, AI, Ga, In, Zn, and Cd,” J. Phys. Chem.91, 634–643 (1987). [CrossRef]
19. Y. Kornyushin, “Plasma oscillations in porous samples,” Sci. Sinter.36, 43–50 (2004). [CrossRef]
20. H. Xu, E. J. Bjerneld, J. Aizpurua, P. Apell, L. Gunnarsson, S. Petronis, B. Kasemo, C. Larsson, F. Hook, and M. Kall, “Interparticle coupling effects in surface-enhanced Raman scattering,” Proc. SPIE4258, 35–42 (2001). [CrossRef]
21. I. Romero, J. Aizpurua, G. W. Bryant, F. J. García, and De Abajo, “Plasmons in nearly touching metallic nanoparticles: singular response in the limit of touching dimers,” Opt. Express14, 9988–99 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
22. E. Prodan, C. Radloff, N. J. Halas, and P. Nordlander, “A hybridization model for the plasmon response of complex nanostructures,” Science302, 419 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
23. J Aizpurua, F. J. Garcá de Abajo, and G. W. Bryant, “Mapping the plasmon resonances of metallic nanoantennas,” Nano Lett.8, 631 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
24. A. Weber-Bargioni, A. Schwartzberg, M. Cornaglia, A. Ismach, J. J. Urban, Y. Pang, R. Gordon, J. Bokor, M. B. Salmeron, D. F. Ogletree, P. Ashby, S. Cabrini, and P. J. Schuck, “Hyperspectral nanoscale imaging on dielectric substrates with coaxial optical antenna scan probes,” Nano Lett.11, 1201 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
25. T. J. Seok, A. Jamshidi, M. Kim, S. Dhuey, A. Lakhani, H. Choo, P. J. Schuck, S. Cabrini, A. M. Schwartzberg, J. Bokor, E. Yablonovitch, and M. C. Wu, “Radiation engineering of optical antennas for maximum field enhancement,” Nano Lett.11, 2606 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
26. C. Forestiere, A. J. Pasquale, A. Capretti, G. Miano, A. Tamburrino, S. Y. Lee, B. M. Reinhard, and L. Dal Negro, “Genetically engineered plasmonic nanoarrays,” Nano Lett.12, 2037–2044 (2012). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
27. T. Feichtner, O. Selig, M. Kiunke, and B. Hecht, “Evolutionary optimization of optical antennas,” Phys. Rev. Lett.109, 127701 (2012). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
28. D. P. Fromm, A. Sundaramurthy, P. J. Schuck, G. Kino, and W. Moerner, “Gap-dependent optical coupling of single ”bowtie” nanoantennas resonant in the visible,” Nano Lett.4, 957–961 (2004). [CrossRef]
29. P. B. Johnson and R. W. Christy, “Optical constants of the noble metals,” Phys. Rev. B6, 43704379 (1972). [CrossRef]
30. J. Aizpurua, S. P. Apell, and R. Berndt, “Role of the tip shape in light emission from the scanning tunneling microscope,” Phys. Rev. B62, 2065–2073 (2000). [CrossRef]
31. F. J. García de Abajo and J. Aizpurua, “Numerical simulation of electron energy loss near inhomogeneous dielectrics,” Phys. Rev. B56, 15873–15884 (1997). [CrossRef]
32. J. Aizpurua, A. Howie, and F. J. Garcá de Abajo, “Valence-electron energy loss near edges, truncated slabs, and junctions,” Phys. Rev. B60, 11149–11162 (1999). [CrossRef]
33. S. P. Apell, P. M. Echenique, and R. H. Ritchie, “Sum rules for surface plasmon frequencies,” Ultramicroscopy65, 53–60 (1996). [CrossRef]
34. E. Moreno, S. G. Rodrigo, S. I. Bozhevolnyi, L. Martín-Moreno, and F. J. García-Vidal, “Guiding and focusing of electromagnetic fields with wedge plasmon polaritons,” Phys. Rev. Lett.100, 023901 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
35. B. Lukýanchuk, N. I. Zheludev, S. A. Maier, N. J. Halas, P. Nordlander, H. Giessen, and C. Tow Chong, “The Fano resonance in plasmonic nanostructures and metamaterials,” Nature Mater.9, 707–715 (2010). [CrossRef]
36. A. Cvitkovic, N. Ocelic, and R. Hillenbrand, “Analytical model for quantitative prediction of material contrasts in scattering-type near-field optical microscopy,” Optics Expr.15, 8550–8565 (2007). [CrossRef]
37. S. Sheikholeslami, A. García-Etxarri, and J. A. Dionne, “Controlling the interplay of electric and magnetic modes via Fano-like plasmon resonances,” Nano Lett.11, 39273934 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
38. F. Neubrech, A. García-Etxarri, D. Weber, J Bochterle, H. Shen, M. Lamy, De La Chapelle, G. W. Bryant, J. Aizpurua, and A. Pucci, “Defect-induced activation of symmetry forbidden infrared resonances in individual metallic nanorods,” Appl. Phys. Lett.96, 213111 (2010). [CrossRef]

Appl. Phys. Lett.

• F. Neubrech, A. García-Etxarri, D. Weber, J Bochterle, H. Shen, M. Lamy, De La Chapelle, G. W. Bryant, J. Aizpurua, and A. Pucci, “Defect-induced activation of symmetry forbidden infrared resonances in individual metallic nanorods,” Appl. Phys. Lett.96, 213111 (2010). [CrossRef]

J. Opt.

• A. C. Atre, A. García-Etxarri, H. Alaeian, and J. A. Dionne, “Toward high-efficiency solar upconversion with plasmonic nanostructures,” J. Opt.14, 024008 (2012). [CrossRef]

J. Phys. Chem.

• E. J. Zeman and G. C. Schatz, “An accurate electromagnetic theory study of surface enhancement factors for Ag, Au, Cu, Li, Na, AI, Ga, In, Zn, and Cd,” J. Phys. Chem.91, 634–643 (1987). [CrossRef]

Nano Lett.

• S. Vedantam, H. Lee, J. Tang, J. Conway, M. Staffaroni, and E. Yablonovitch, “A Plasmonic dimple lens for nanoscale focusing of light,” Nano Lett.9, 34473452, (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• Z. Liu, W. Hou, P. Pavaskar, M. Aykol, and S. B. Cronin, “Plasmon resonant enhancement of carbon monoxide catalysis,” Nano Lett.11, 1111–1116 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• P. Nordlander and C. Oubre, “Plasmon hybridization in nanoparticle dimers,” Nano Lett.4, 899–903 (2004). [CrossRef]
• T. Rindzevicius, Y. Alaverdyan, A. Dahlin, F. Höök, D. S. Sutherland, and M. Käll, “Plasmonic sensing characteristics of single nanometric holes,” Nano Lett.5, 2335 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• A. Dmitriev, C. Hägglund, S. Chen, H. Fredriksson, T. Pakizeh, M. Käll, and D. S. Sutherland, “Enhanced nanoplasmonic optical sensors with reduced substrate effect,” Nano Lett.8, 3893 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• S. Sheikholeslami, A. García-Etxarri, and J. A. Dionne, “Controlling the interplay of electric and magnetic modes via Fano-like plasmon resonances,” Nano Lett.11, 39273934 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• J Aizpurua, F. J. Garcá de Abajo, and G. W. Bryant, “Mapping the plasmon resonances of metallic nanoantennas,” Nano Lett.8, 631 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• A. Weber-Bargioni, A. Schwartzberg, M. Cornaglia, A. Ismach, J. J. Urban, Y. Pang, R. Gordon, J. Bokor, M. B. Salmeron, D. F. Ogletree, P. Ashby, S. Cabrini, and P. J. Schuck, “Hyperspectral nanoscale imaging on dielectric substrates with coaxial optical antenna scan probes,” Nano Lett.11, 1201 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• T. J. Seok, A. Jamshidi, M. Kim, S. Dhuey, A. Lakhani, H. Choo, P. J. Schuck, S. Cabrini, A. M. Schwartzberg, J. Bokor, E. Yablonovitch, and M. C. Wu, “Radiation engineering of optical antennas for maximum field enhancement,” Nano Lett.11, 2606 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• C. Forestiere, A. J. Pasquale, A. Capretti, G. Miano, A. Tamburrino, S. Y. Lee, B. M. Reinhard, and L. Dal Negro, “Genetically engineered plasmonic nanoarrays,” Nano Lett.12, 2037–2044 (2012). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• D. P. Fromm, A. Sundaramurthy, P. J. Schuck, G. Kino, and W. Moerner, “Gap-dependent optical coupling of single ”bowtie” nanoantennas resonant in the visible,” Nano Lett.4, 957–961 (2004). [CrossRef]

Nature Mat.

• H. A. Atwater and A. Polman, “Plasmonics for improved photovoltaic devices,” Nature Mat.9, 205–213 (2010). [CrossRef]

Nature Mater.

• B. Lukýanchuk, N. I. Zheludev, S. A. Maier, N. J. Halas, P. Nordlander, H. Giessen, and C. Tow Chong, “The Fano resonance in plasmonic nanostructures and metamaterials,” Nature Mater.9, 707–715 (2010). [CrossRef]

Nature Photon.

• L. Novotny and N. Van Hulst, “Antennas for light,” Nature Photon.5, 83–90 (2011). [CrossRef]
• D. K. Gramotnev and S. I. Bozhevolnyi, “Plasmonics beyond the diffraction limit,” Nature Photon.4, 83–91 (2010). [CrossRef]

Opt. Express

• I. Romero, J. Aizpurua, G. W. Bryant, F. J. García, and De Abajo, “Plasmons in nearly touching metallic nanoparticles: singular response in the limit of touching dimers,” Opt. Express14, 9988–99 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Optics Expr.

• A. Cvitkovic, N. Ocelic, and R. Hillenbrand, “Analytical model for quantitative prediction of material contrasts in scattering-type near-field optical microscopy,” Optics Expr.15, 8550–8565 (2007). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. B

• P. B. Johnson and R. W. Christy, “Optical constants of the noble metals,” Phys. Rev. B6, 43704379 (1972). [CrossRef]
• J. Aizpurua, S. P. Apell, and R. Berndt, “Role of the tip shape in light emission from the scanning tunneling microscope,” Phys. Rev. B62, 2065–2073 (2000). [CrossRef]
• F. J. García de Abajo and J. Aizpurua, “Numerical simulation of electron energy loss near inhomogeneous dielectrics,” Phys. Rev. B56, 15873–15884 (1997). [CrossRef]
• J. Aizpurua, A. Howie, and F. J. Garcá de Abajo, “Valence-electron energy loss near edges, truncated slabs, and junctions,” Phys. Rev. B60, 11149–11162 (1999). [CrossRef]
• F. J. García, De Abajo, and A. Howie, “Retarded field calculation of electron energy loss in inhomogeneous dielectrics,” Phys. Rev. B65, 115418 (2002). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. E

• H. Xu, J. Aizpurua, M. Käll, and P. Apell, “Electromagnetic contributions to single-molecule sensitivity in surface-enhanced Raman scattering,” Phys. Rev. E62, 4318–4324 (2000). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. Lett.

• K. Li, M. Stockman, and D. Bergman, “Self-similar chain of metal nanospheres as an efficient nanolens,” Phys. Rev. Lett.91, 227402 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• M. Stockman, “Nanofocusing of optical energy in tapered plasmonic waveguides,” Phys. Rev. Lett.93, 137404 (2004). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• H. Xu, E. Bjerneld, M. Käll, and L. Börjesson, “Spectroscopy of Single hemoglobin molecules by surface enhanced raman scattering,” Phys. Rev. Lett.83, 4357–4360 (1999). [CrossRef]
• F. Neubrech, A. Pucci, T. Cornelius, S. Karim, A. Garcia-Etxarri, and J. Aizpurua, “Resonant plasmonic and vibrational coupling in a tailored nanoantenna for infrared detection,” Phys. Rev. Lett.101, 2–5 (2008). [CrossRef]
• F. J. García de Abajo and A. Howie, “Relativistic electron energy loss and electron-induced photon emission in inhomogeneous dielectrics,” Phys. Rev. Lett.80, 5180–5183 (1998). [CrossRef]
• T. Feichtner, O. Selig, M. Kiunke, and B. Hecht, “Evolutionary optimization of optical antennas,” Phys. Rev. Lett.109, 127701 (2012). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• E. Moreno, S. G. Rodrigo, S. I. Bozhevolnyi, L. Martín-Moreno, and F. J. García-Vidal, “Guiding and focusing of electromagnetic fields with wedge plasmon polaritons,” Phys. Rev. Lett.100, 023901 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Proc. SPIE

• H. Xu, E. J. Bjerneld, J. Aizpurua, P. Apell, L. Gunnarsson, S. Petronis, B. Kasemo, C. Larsson, F. Hook, and M. Kall, “Interparticle coupling effects in surface-enhanced Raman scattering,” Proc. SPIE4258, 35–42 (2001). [CrossRef]

Sci. Sinter.

• Y. Kornyushin, “Plasma oscillations in porous samples,” Sci. Sinter.36, 43–50 (2004). [CrossRef]

Science

• E. Prodan, C. Radloff, N. J. Halas, and P. Nordlander, “A hybridization model for the plasmon response of complex nanostructures,” Science302, 419 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Ultramicroscopy

• S. P. Apell, P. M. Echenique, and R. H. Ritchie, “Sum rules for surface plasmon frequencies,” Ultramicroscopy65, 53–60 (1996). [CrossRef]

Other

• C. F. Bohren and D. R. Huffman, “Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles” (Wiley, New York, 1983).

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