Tunability of LSPR using gold nano-particles embedded in a liquid crystal cell

•We investigate the LSPR tunability of gold nanostructures embedded in LCs.•The tunability is attenuated by the anchoring effects of surrounding LC molecules.•Tunability is improved by optimizing geometric parameters of gold nano-structures.•Double resonances are achieved with optimized structures.•Tunability of LSPR is improved up to 72 nm with anchoring effects taken into account.

Tunability of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of an ordered array of gold nano-particles is investigated in this paper. Herein, the array is embedded in a liquid crystal cell and then sandwiched with two glass substrates. The extinction spectra are computed using the Finite-Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method. The LSPR tunability of gold nanostructures is compromised by the anchoring effects of surrounding LC molecules, this effect can be compensated by optimizing geometric parameters of gold nanostructures. Interestingly, double resonant peaks are achieved with optimized structure. Meanwhile, the tunability of LSPR is improved up to 72 nm with anchoring effects taken into account.