Calculated Optical Properties of Dielectric Shell Coated Gold Nanorods

Optical absorption spectra of dielectric shell coated gold nanorods are simulated using the discrete dipole approximation method. The influence of the aspect ratio, shell thickness, dielectric constant of the shell, and surrounding medium on the longitudinal resonance mode is investigated. It is found that the coated dielectric shell does not affect the trend in the dependence of resonance position on the aspect ratio, while it broadens the resonant line width and reduces the sensitivity of plasmon resonance in response to changes of the surrounding medium. Furthermore, the difference of dielectric constants between the shell and surrounding medium plays an important role in determining the resonance position. The screening effect of the dielectric shell tends to be less apparent for a thicker shell thickness.