Dark dimer mode excitation and strong coupling with a nanorod dipole

We theoretically investigate dark dimer mode excitation and strong coupling with a nanorod dipole. Efficient excitation of a dark mode in a gold (Au) nanorod dimer using an electric dipole can be achieved by an optimal overlap between the dipole moment and dark modal field. By replacing the dipole emitter with an Au nanorod, a plane wave excited dipole mode in the nanorod can be effectively coupled to the dark dimer mode through near-field interaction. At a 10-nm separation of the nanorod and the dimer, plasmonic interaction between dipole-dark modes enters the strong coupling regime with a Rabi-like splitting of 219.2 meV, which is further evidenced by the anticrossing feature and Rabi-like oscillation of electromagnetic energy of the coupled modes. Our results propose an efficient approach to far-field activating dark modes in coupled nanorod dimers and exchanging plasmonic excitations at nanoscale, which may open new opportunities for nanoplasmonic applications such as nanolasers or nanosensors.