Figure 4: Extinction contrast and birefringence imaging.

Extinction map of Au-nanorods for H—polarized (a) and V—polarized (b) light. (c) Extinction contrast . (d) Absolute splitting of the two orthogonally polarized fundamental cavity modes. Scale bars, 10 μm. (e,f) Transmission signal of the cavity while scanning over the nanorods denoted in b. (g) Correlation between relative line splitting and extinction contrast. Measured values (green dots), calculated correlation assuming a fixed (red solid line) and variable (blue solid line) cavity mode orientation are shown. (h) Relative line splitting and extinction contrast in dependence of the orientation of the nanorod.