Surface-plasmon-assisted resonant tunneling of light through a periodically corrugated thin metal film

We present experimental results and a numerical model confirming that surface plasmons can resonantly enhance light transmission through a corrugated metal film. A new interpretation in terms of plasmon-assisted light tunneling is given to recent experiments on light penetration through periodic subwavelength holes in a thin metal film. We designed a narrow-band filter suitable for applications in optical communication by optimizing the film and the grating parameters.     

Tunneling mechanism of light transmission through metallic films

A mechanism of light transmission through metallic films is proposed, assisted by tunneling between resonating buried dielectric inclusions. This is illustrated by arrays of Si spheres embedded in Ag. Strong transmission peaks are observed near the Mie resonances of the spheres. The interaction among various planes of spheres and interference effects between these resonances and the surface plasmons of Ag lead to mixing and splitting of the resonances. Transmission is proved to be limited only by absorption. For small spheres, the effective dielectric constant of the resulting material can be tuned to values close to unity, and a method is proposed to turn the resulting materials invisible.     

Evanescent tunneling of an effective surface plasmon excited by convection electrons

We introduce the subwavelength transmission of an effective surface plasmon beyond the light zone via the proximity interaction of convection electrons with a metal grating. A comparative analysis of dielectric homogenization and a finite-difference-time-domain simulation shows that out-of-phase-like modes (pi modes) have strong transmission below the cutoff frequency relying on the parametric condition of structural dimension and electronic energy. The synchronous spatial field and charge distribution of the pi mode system confirms the evanescent tunneling effect of the electron-coupled plasmons.     

Enhanced light transmission through a single subwavelength aperture

The optical transmission through a subwavelength aperture in a metal film is strongly enhanced when the incident light is resonant with surface plasmons at the corrugated metal surface surrounding the aperture. Conversely, the aperture acts as a novel probe of the surface plasmons, yielding useful insights for optimizing the transmission enhancement. For the optimal corrugation geometry, a set of concentric circular grooves, three times more light is transmitted through the central subwavelength aperture than directly impinges upon it. This effect is useful in the fabrication of near-field optical devices with extremely high optical throughput.     

Surface plasmon interferometry: measuring group velocity of surface plasmons

Optical transmission spectroscopy on metal films with slit-groove pairs is conducted. Spectra of the light transmitted through the slit exhibit Fabry-Perot-type interference fringes due to surface plasmons propagating between the slit and the groove. The spectral dependence of the period of interference fringes is used to determine the group velocity of surface plasmons on flat gold and silver surfaces.     

On the origin of light emission by tunnel junctions

Light emission of AlAl₂O₃-Ag structures prepared on periodic gratings was studied. It is shown that most of the observed light originates from the Ag-vacuum surface plasmons scattered by the periodic grating and surface roughness. Surface plasmons are directly excited by tunneling electrons.     

Surface plasmon-polaritons wave fields in the vicinity of a metallic nanohole

It is shown that metal surface with a nanohole can support surface plasmon-polaritons (SPP), whose wave fields are described by Hankel functions. These plasmons can be excited by an electromagnetic wave incident at the metal surface. The optical transmission through subwavelength holes in metal films can essentially be enhanced by interaction of the incident light with surface plasmons. Dependence of excitation of the wave field of SPP on the incidence angle and on the wavelength of incident light is considered.     

Terahertz radiation from interaction between an electron beam and a planar surface plasmon structure

The possibility of an electron beam exciting surface plasmons in conducting metal is discussed in this paper. A planar perfect-structure with subwavelength holes is proposed. The phenomenon that mimicking surface plasmon waves can be excited and amplified by an electron beam is proved theoretically and numerically. The mechanism of transmission through a subwavelength hole array is exploited to enhance the interaction between the electron beam and the mimicking surface plasmons.     

Negative role of surface plasmons in the transmission of metallic gratings with very narrow slits

It is generally admitted that the extraordinary transmission of metallic grating with very narrow slits is mainly due to the excitation of surface plasmons on the upper and lower interfaces of the grating. We show that the surface plasmon contribution is not the prime effect and that waveguide mode resonance and diffraction are responsible for the extraordinary transmission. Additionally and surprisingly, we reveal that the transmittance of subwavelength metallic gratings is always nearly zero for frequencies corresponding to surface plasmon excitation. This finding implies that surface plasmons play a negative role in the transmission.     

Propagation and nanofocusing of infrared surface plasmons on tapered transmission lines: Influence of the substrate

We study the propagation of mid-infrared surface plasmons on non-tapered and tapered two-wire transmission lines on Si and CaF₂ substrates, the two materials representing substrates with large and small refractive index, respectively. A comparative numerical study predicts a larger effective wavelength and an increased propagation length (i.e. weaker damping) for the CaF₂ substrate. By near-field microscopy we image the near-field distribution along the transmission lines and experimentally verify surface plasmon propagation. Amplitude- and phase-resolved near-field images of a non-tapered transmission line on CaF₂ reveal a standing wave pattern caused by back-reflection of the surface plasmons at the open-ended transmission line. Calculated and experimental near-field images of tapered transmission lines on Si and CaF₂ demonstrate that for both substrates the mid-IR surface plasmons are compressed when propagating along the taper. Importantly, the nanofocus at the taper apex yields a stronger local field enhancement for the low-refractive index substrate CaF₂. We assign the more efficient nanofocusing on CaF₂ to the weaker damping of the surface plasmons.     

Surface plasmon photodetectors and their applications

Surface plasmon photodetectors are of vigorous current interest. Such detectors typically combine a metallic structure that supports surface plasmons with a photodetection structure based on internal photoemission or electron‐hole pair creation. Detector architectures are highly varied, involving surface plasmons on planar metal waveguides, on metal gratings, on nano‐particles, ‐islands, or ‐antennas, or involving plasmon‐mediated transmission through one or many sub‐wavelength holes in a metal film. Properties inherent to surface plasmons, such as sub‐wavelength confinement and their ability to resonate on tiny metallic structures, are exploited to convey useful characteristics to detectors in addressing applications such as low‐noise high‐speed detection, single‐plasmon detection, near‐ and mid‐infrared imaging, photovoltaic solar energy conversion, and (bio)chemical sensing. The operating principles behind surface plasmon detectors are reviewed, the literature on the topic is surveyed, and avenues that appear promising are highlighted.     

Role of shape in middle-infrared transmission enhancement through periodically perforated metal films

We report experimental results on the role of aperture shape in middle-infrared enhanced transmission through a metal film perforated with a periodic aperture array. The transmission spectrum is highly dependent on the aperture shape. When the aperture shape changes from circular to cross-dipole or the cross-dipole arm length increases, the transmission spectrum exhibits a large redshift. The enhanced transmission is proposed to be an interplay of surface plasmon polaritions at the metal surface and localized surface plasmons (LSPs) inside the apertures. The shift of the transmission bands is proposed to be due to the redshift of the LSP resonance spectrum of the individual apertures. The role of shape in enhanced transmission in the cascaded structure is also studied.     

Transmission enhancement by conversion of evanescent waves into propagating waves

The convolution between spatial modes of two different parts of an optical system can convert evanescent waves into propagating waves. This principle is applied to different optical systems for analyzing various effects in transmission enhancements experiments. We discuss here the differences between the present principle which is related to broadening of resonances and the near-field optical microscopy based on a tunneling effect by a tip detector. The present analysis is applied in particular to two systems: a) transmission enhancement in one slit by coupling the transmitted radiation with transversal Fabry–Pérot electromagnetic (EM) modes, and b) transmission enhancement by coupling between a metallic film with arrays of holes and surface plasmons (SP). The present approach gives more information on transmission enhancement phenomena than that obtained by conventional treatments and can also solve certain disagreements between different theories. The differences between the present process of converting evanescent waves into propagating waves, and that related to the new development of getting a super-resolution by an hyperlens are discussed. PACS 41.20.Jb; 73.20.Mf; 42.79.Dj     

Electrical excitation of surface plasmons

We exploit a plasmon mediated two-step momentum down-conversion scheme to convert low-energy tunneling electrons into propagating photons. Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating along an extended gold nanowire are excited on one end by low-energy electron tunneling and are then converted to free-propagating photons at the other end. The separation of excitation and outcoupling proves that tunneling electrons excite gap plasmons that subsequently couple to propagating plasmons. Our work shows that electron tunneling provides a nonoptical, voltage-controlled, and low-energy pathway for launching SPPs in nanostructures, such as plasmonic waveguides.     

Dual resonance mechanisms facilitating enhanced optical transmission in coaxial waveguide arrays

We experimentally and computationally demonstrate high transmission through arrays of coaxial apertures with different geometries and arrangements in silver films. By studying both periodic and random arrangements of apertures, we were able to isolate transmission enhancement phenomena owing to surface plasmon effects from those owing to the excitation of cylindrical surface plasmons within the apertures themselves.     

Fano-type interference in the point-spread function of nanohole arrays

Measurement of the point-spread function of metal nanohole arrays by using microscopic imaging reveals two contributions. The first of these is due to propagating resonant surface plasmons and the second to nonresonant transmission through the holes. We observe a Fano-type interference between these contributions.     

STM tip-enhanced photoluminescence from porphyrin film

Tunneling electrons-induced molecular fluorescence in organic film is enhanced by the surface plasmons. The plasmon enhancement can be expected not only by the plasmons of the substrate but also by the noble metal tip of scanning tunneling microscope (STM). In this report we investigate the tip effect in photoluminescence of meso-tetrakis(3,5-di-tertiarybutyl-phenyl)porphyrin (H₂TBPP) film on indium tin oxide (ITO) combined with a STM. The experimental result shows the PL of molecules is enhanced by an Ag tip. This enhancement factor is evaluated larger than 2000.     

Time-resolved STM light emission from an evaporated Au film

STM (scanning tunneling microscope) light emission from an evaporated Au film irradiated by pico second laser pulses has been investigated for various bias voltages of the STM. The observed emission consists of two components. The first component that has the same duration as the incident laser pulse is excited by laser induced tunneling electrons. The second component that has a longer duration than that of the laser pulse is emitted from surface polariton plasmons excited non-linearly by the laser pulse.     

STM-induced photon emission spectroscopy of granular gold surfaces in air

Light emission has been detected under ambient conditions in the tip–sample region of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) consisting of an etched gold tip and a granular gold film. The photon yield as a function of surface geometry (photon mapping) has been studied. By means of STM, it was possible to measure photon emission spectra locally. We have studied the effect of grain size and applied bias voltage on the spectrum. We found that the peak position in the photon emission spectrum shifts to a shorter wavelength when increasing the bias voltage and shifts to a longer wavelength when tunneling to larger grains. These effects can be understood in a simple model which considers tunneling electrons exciting localized surface plasmons which decay by emitting photons.     

Fabry–Pérot-like phenomenon in the surface plasmons resonant transmission of metallic gratings with very narrow slits

The general role of the surface plasmons in the transmission of the metallic grating with very narrow slits has been numerically described using the finite difference time domain method. The straightforward evidence of the surface plasmons existing in the sharp transmission peak has been given by the near-field distribution of the electrical fields normal components. The Fabry–Pérot-like behavior has also been found in the transmission of surface plasmons resonant mode versus the grating depth. It is concluded that whether the peak of surface plasmons resonant transmission emerge or not is mainly determined by the grating depths. Based on the approximate resonant transmission equation proposed in our work, it is revealed that the different physical mechanisms of two resonant modes root in the difference in the power-coupled processes. PACS 42.79.Dj; 71.36.+c; 73.20.Mf; 78.66.Bz