Direct imaging of hybridized eigenmodes in coupled silicon nanoparticles

High-index dielectric nanoparticles support leaky geometrical resonances in the visible spectral range with large interaction cross sections, and find applications in nanoscale optoelectronic devices and surface coatings. Coupling between such resonant nanoparticles in close proximity can give rise to enhanced directionality and confinement. Here, we combine dark-field (DF) scattering spectroscopy with cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging spectroscopy to study hybridization of resonant modes in coupled silicon nanoparticles and directly image the modal field profiles of these hybridized eigenmodes. The DF measurements show a strong influence of the gap size on the scattering spectrum as a result of hybridization. Using finite-element modeling we calculate the eigenmodes of the dimer and identify the hybridized eigenmodes in the scattering spectrum. CL imaging spectroscopy is used to directly map the modal field profiles of single particles and dimer structures with deep-subwavelength spatial resolution. Detailed comparison with eigenmode calculations shows that the measured modal field profiles correspond to the hybridized symmetric electric and antisymmetric magnetic bonding modes. We study dimers composed of large dielectric bars to explore the ability of CL imaging to map highly complex hybridized field profiles inside resonant nanostructures. Our results demonstrate the ability to characterize the complex resonant properties of coupled nanostructures, paving the way for more complex applications and devices based on resonant dielectric nanoparticles.