We have theoretically and numerically investigated an analog of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in plasmonic systems consisting of multiple cascaded nanodisk resonators, aperture-side-coupled to metal-insulator-metal bus waveguides. A simplified theoretical model is established to study spectral features in the plasmonic waveguide-resonator systems, and the calculated results are in good agreement with finite-difference time-domain simulations. The main dependent factors of EIT-like spectral response, namely, the resonance detuning, intrinsic Drude loss, and especially cavity-cavity separation, are discussed in detail. Similar to multiple EIT in quantum systems, multiple induced-transparency peaks are found in the areas of strong dispersion generated in our plasmonic system. The group indices and quality factors of transparency resonances with high transmission can reach levels of ∼35 and ∼200, respectively. These results pave a way toward dynamic control of light in the nanoscale domain, which can actualize some new devices for fundamental study and applications of plasmonic nanostructures.

• Received 30 November 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.85.053803