We introduce the concept of plasmonic parametric resonance (PPR) as a novel way to amplify high angular momentum plasmonic modes of nanoparticles by means of a simple uniform optical pump. In analogy with parametric resonance in dynamical systems, PPR originates from the temporal modulation of one of the parameters governing the evolution of the state of the system. As opposed to conventional localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR), we show that in principle any plasmonic mode of arbitrarily high order is accessible by PPR with a spatially uniform optical pump. Moreover, in contradistinction with other mechanisms of plasmonic amplification, the coherent nature of PPR lends itself to a more straightforward experimental detection approach. The threshold conditions for PPR are analytically derived. Schemes of experimental realization and detection are also discussed.

• Received 16 June 2016
• Revised 21 January 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.97.081401