Electrically controlled surface plasmon resonance frequency of gold nanorods

We have presented the voltage-controlled tuning of plasmonic response of absorption spectra of gold nanorods in liquid crystals. We observe that gold nanorods can be aligned along the rubbed polyimide substrate before applying external voltage. It is found that the transverse mode of gold nanorods shows a blueshift or a redshift when rotating the analyzer parallel or perpendicular to the rubbing direction, respectively, while all longitudinal modes display a redshift behavior. This work offers an easy way to tune the transverse and longitudinal modes of gold nanorods simultaneously, which makes it feasible to establish the color tunable devices. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.