We present an experimental and theoretical study of Babinet's principle of complementarity in plasmonics. We have used spatially-resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence to investigate electromagnetic response of elementary plasmonic antenna: gold discs and complementary disc-shaped apertures in a gold layer. We have also calculated their response to the plane wave illumination. While the qualitative validity of Babinet's principle has been confirmed, quantitative differences have been found related to the energy and quality factor of the resonances and the magnitude of related near fields. In particular, apertures were found to exhibit stronger interaction with the electron beam than solid antennas, which makes them a remarkable alternative of the usual plasmonic-antennas design. We also examine the possibility of magnetic near field imaging based on the Babinet's principle.

Central European Institute of Technology Brno University of Technology Purkyňova 123 612 00 Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Physical Engineering Brno University of Technology Technická 2 616 69 Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Scientific Instruments Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 147 612 00 Brno Czech Republic

Materials Physics Center CSIC UPV EHU Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 5 20018 San Sebastián Spain

University Service Centre for Transmission Electron Microscopy TU Wien Wiedner Hauptstraße 8 10 1040 Wien Austria

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Plasmonic sensing using Babinet's principle

Spatio-spectral metrics in electron energy loss spectroscopy as a tool to resolve nearly degenerate plasmon modes in dimer plasmonic antennas