Comparison of LSPR-mediated enhanced fluorescence excited by S- and P-polarized light on a two-dimensionally assembled silver nanoparticle sheet

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) excited by an oblique incidence of S- and P-polarized light to a two-dimensionally assembled silver nanoparticle sheet was investigated via enhanced fluorescence under total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. The finite-difference-time-domain simulation demonstrated that the S-polarized light induced a strong plasmon coupling at a nanogap between the particles, which eventually led to a highly confined, strong, and "flattened" electric field on the entire surface. In contrast, the LSPR field excited by P-polarized light was located on the individual particles, having a relatively long tail in the axial direction (low confinement). The LSPR-mediated fluorescence appeared stronger under P-polarized light than under S-polarized light in the experiments using cyanine dye solutions, while the opposite result was obtained for the fluorescence bead snapshot (diameter: 200 nm). Magnified images of the single beads taken by a super-resolution digital CMOS camera (65 nm/pixel) revealed improved lateral resolution when S-polarized light was used on both the silver nanoparticle sheet and glass under TIRF microscopy.