Collective surface plasmon resonance coupling in silver nanoshell arrays

Collective surface plasmon resonance (SPR) excitations in an ordered array of silver nanoshells have been theoretically studied using generalized Mie theory. Near- and far-field radiative coupling between the nanoshells in the array result in a non-monotonic shift of the collective SPR band. When the distance between the shells in the array approaches that of the collective SPR wavelength, we observe narrowing of the collective SPR band due to constructive interference between the scattered electric field from the particles in the array. Further increase of the distance between the nanoshells in the array leads to destructive interference and broadening of the collective SPR band.