Nonlinear Fano Profiles in the Optical Second-Harmonic Generation from Silver Nanoparticles

The resonance effects on the optical second harmonic generation from 140 nm silver nanoparticles is studied experimentally by hyper-Rayleigh scattering and numerically by finite element method calculations. We find that the interferences between the broad dipolar and narrow octupolar surface plasmon resonances leads to nonlinear Fano profiles that can be externally controlled by the incident polarization angle. These profiles are responsible for the nonlinear plasmon-induced transparency in the second harmonic generation.