Energy Levels of Coupled Plasmonic Cavities^*

We demonstrate the hybridization of the plasmonic modes in directly coupled whispering gallery cavities fabricated on silver films and present the mode patterns and energy levels using cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. Although the energy of the most antisymmetrically coupled modes is higher than that of the corresponding symmetrically coupled ones, the contrary cases happen for small quantum number modes. We attribute the phenomenon to the different surface plasmon polariton paths between the symmetrically and antisymmetrically coupled modes. These results provide an understanding of the resonant properties in coupled plasmonic cavities, which have potential applications in nanophotonic devices.