Slit Arrays for Plasmon-enhanced Vibrational Circular Dichroism: Characterization of the Local Field Enhancement

We present mid-infrared arrays of resonant chiral plasmonic nanostructures (chiral slit pairs) that are designed to feature a strong circular dichroism and an enhanced near-field optical chirality. We fabricated both right- and left-handed arrays and characterized them by means of both reflection and transmission infrared spectroscopy. Moreover, as a preliminary step towards surface-enhanced vibrational circular dichroism experiments, we experimentally studied the local field enhancement within the individual slits.