Dark modes and field enhancements in dielectric dimers illuminated by cylindrical vector beams

Dielectric antennas possess a complex multipolar response comprising both electric and magnetic resonances. These various modes can be selectively enhanced or suppressed using illumination beams of varying symmetries. However, such demonstrations are currently limited to single-particle antennas. Here, the authors address this issue with a theoretical study of dielectric dimer antennas illuminated by cylindrical vector beams (CVBs). They excite and study hybridized multipolar resonances in both horizontal and vertical dimer systems and show how the different beam symmetries of CVBs can selectively excite electric and magnetic modes in vertical systems, as well as couple to dark multipolar modes. The authors design an antenna system that yields unprecedented magnetic field enhancement and establishes the dielectric dimer antenna as a useful test bed for further experimental investigation.