Improved Refractive‐Index Sensitivity of Silver‐Nanocube Monolayers on Silicon Films

Suitable substrates: An improvement in the refractive-index sensitivity is observed for the quadrupolar plasmonic mode of a monolayer of 60 nm silver nanocubes deposited on a thin silicon film. Dipolar plasmonic band splitting on this high-refractive-index substrate is stronger than on a glass substrate (see picture). As a result, the quadrupolar band is easier to identify, even in high-refractive-index liquids. The work demonstrates the importance of using high-refractive-index substrates.