Anisotropic shift of surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles doped in nematic liquid crystal.

Study of the liquid crystal (LC) director around nanoparticles has been an important topic of research very recently, since it allows design and fabrication of next-generation LC devices that are impossible in the past. In our experiment, alkanethiol-capped gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were dispersed in nematic LC. Analysis of the LC director around GNPs was performed by investigating the behavior of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) absorption peaks of the GNPs using spectrophotometry technique. It is found that the incident linearly polarized light orientated at 0°, 45°, and 90° angles with respect to the rubbing direction experiences varying interaction with the LC medium. The corresponding transmission of light reveals the anisotropic shift in wavelength of SPP peak. The anisotropic behavior of SPPs of the GNPs is in agreement with theoretical calculations.