Superresolution Moiré mapping of particle plasmon modes.

The spontaneous emission rate of a fluorophore provides a direct probe of the photonic local density of states at the fluorophore position. Here we exploit this capability to map the plasmonic modes of gold nanoparticles by imaging the fluorescence intensity in combined regular arrays of identical gold and fluorophore-doped polymer nanoparticles. By varying the distance between gold and polymer particles across the array, the fluorophore emission generates an optical Moire pattern corresponding to a magnified spatial map of the plasmonic mode, which can be directly imaged with an optical microscope. Our results are corroborated by supplementary theoretical model calculations.