Khunsin, WorawutDorfmueller, JensEsslinger, MoritzVogelgesang, RalfRockstuhl, CarstenEtrich, ChristophKern, Klaus2016-04-012016-04-012016-04-01201610.1021/acsnano.5b06768https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/125371WOS:000370987400060We investigated experimentally and numerically in the optical near-field a plasmonic model system similar to a dolmen-type structure for phenomena such as plasmon-induced transparency. Through engineering of coupling strength, structure orientation, and incident angle and phase of the excitation source it was possible to control near-field excitation of the dark modes. We showed that quantitative analysis of near-field amplitude and excitation strength provided essential information that allowed identifying the interaction between the bright and the dark mode and how it causes the formation of plasmon-induced transparency features and a Fano resonance. In addition, we introduced a mechanism to excite field distributions in plasmonic structures that cannot be accessed directly using far-field illumination and demonstrated the excitation of a dark mode akin to a symmetry-forbidden plasmonic breathing mode using a linearly polarized far-field source.plasmonicsPITEITFano resonancedark modesbreathing modescanning near-field optical microscopytext::journal::journal article::research article