Multimode vibrational strong coupling in Direct Laser written Mid-IR plasmonic MIM nano-patch antennas

Abstract: Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) plasmonic structures can confine electromagnetic waves to a deep subwavelength regime, enabling strong light-matter interactions with potential applications in nonlinear optics and on-chip photonic circuitry. In addition, strong coupling of mid-infrared (mid-IR) vibrational transitions to optical cavities provides a way to modify and control a material's chemical reactivity and may also allow for highly sensitive chemical detection technology. Here, we experimentally and theoretically investigate the mid-IR optical properties of 3D-printed, nanoscale, anisotropic, L-shaped MIM plasmonic cavities. We observe strong vibrational-plasmon coupling between the two dipolar modes of the L-cavity and the polymer dielectric. The resulting three polariton modes are well described by a multimode coupled oscillator model, which we employ to predict the polariton behavior as a function of cavity arm length. The 3D printing technique offers time and cost reduction advantages over typical electron beam lithography and represents a highly accessible and versatile means of printing arbitrary-shaped nanometer-sized mid-IR plasmonic cavities capable of producing strong light-matter interactions for a variety of photonic or photochemical applications.