Dispersion of surface plasmons in dielectric-metal coatings on concave diffraction gratings

Anomalies in the intensity ofp-polarized light from concave diffraction gratings (Wood's anomalies) have been used to obtain surface plasmon dispersion curves for dielectric-metal layers on the grating surface. These include a 350 Å MgF₂ layer and Al₂O₃ layers varying from a few angstroms to over 800 Å on an Al substrate. The wavelength range of the incident and diffracted light is from the visible to the vacuum ultraviolet (7,500?500 Å). Anomalous polarization peaks for Al₂O₃ layers in the vacuum ultraviolet (at ～ 1,600 Å) are shown to shift significantly to longer wavelengths for only a few angstroms (up to 50 Å) of oxide thickness, while for thicknesses greater than ～ 50 Å any further shift is small. In the visible region (> 4,000 Å), on the other hand, the wavelength shifts are small for dielectric thicknesses up to ～ 50 Å, but are large for thicknesses of several hundred angstroms. These results are in substantial agreement with the theoretical dispersion curves for these cases. Also considered are some of the effects of diffusion pump oil.     

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.     

Zero-dispersion waveguide of sub-skin-depth terahertz plasmons using metallic nanowires

Global change in the dispersive behavior of terahertz （THz） plasmons on metal wires with wide radii ranging from 5 nm to 0.5 mm is systematically investigated. Through rigorous numerical calculations, we find that the dispersion of a metal wire with a radius of 5 nm increases by about 4-6 orders of magnitude compared with the case of a metallic wire with a radius of 0.5 mm. Zero-dispersion points appear when the frequency is lower than 3 THz, and the positions of the zero-dispersion points can shift with the frequency. Finally, we provide an explicit expression that agrees verv well with the numerical calculations.     

Multiple coupling of surface plasmons in quasiperiodic gratings

Whereas periodic gratings enable us to couple light into a surface plasmon polariton only at a specific angle and wavelength, we show here that quasiperiodic gratings enable the coupling of light at multiple wavelengths and angles. The quasiperiodic grating can be designed in a systematic manner using the dual-grid method, thereby enabling us to control the coupling strength and grating dimensions. We verified the method experimentally by efficiently coupling light into a surface plasmon from several different illumination angles using a single quasiperiodic grating.     

Optical generation of terahertz plasmons on comb-shaped surface of metal

The possibilities of a recently proposed (Opt. Express 17, 9323 (2009)) method for generating terahertz surface plasmons on a microstructured (comb-shaped) metal surface using a nonlinear polarization pulse that moves with a superluminal velocity and is induced by an ultrashort laser pulse in a strip of electrooptic material deposited on the surface are theoretically studied. For an arbitrary direction of motion of the nonlinear source along the comb-shaped surface, fields of excited terahertz plasmons and the angular spectral distribution of the radiated energy are calculated. It is shown that the spectral and energy characteristics of plasmons can be efficiently controlled by varying the direction of motion of the source. Conditions (parameters of the comb-shaped structure, direction and velocity of motion of the source) that ensure the maximal efficiency of the optical-to-terahertz conversion are found. The developed method of terahertz generation is promising for surface terahertz spectroscopy.     

Dispersion relation of surface plasmons on gold- and silver gratings

The propagation velocity and damping of surface plasmons on sinusoidally modulated gold- and silver surfaces with different grating constants (ca. 4000 Å, 8000 Å and 15000 Å) are measured at wavelengths of 6471 Å and 5682 Å as function of the amplitude of the grating (up to ca. 300 Å). Earlier measurements of the changes of the dispersion relation produced by the sinusoidal profile could be improved by reducing the contribution of a second harmonic to the grating profile to less than about 0.06. Observed and calculated data, obtained with the Rayleigh method, show good agreement.     

Band gaps in the terahertz frequency range in quasiperiodic one-dimensional magnonic crystals

In this work we investigate magnonic band gaps, in the terahertz (THz) frequency range, in periodic and quasiperiodic (Fibonacci sequence) magnonic crystals formed by layers of Cobalt (Co) and Permalloy (Py). Our theoretical model is based on a magnetic Heisenberg Hamiltonian in the exchange regime, together with a transfer-matrix treatment within the random-phase approximation (RPA). For periodic arrangements the bulk band structure is analogous to those found in photonic crystals, while for quasiperiodic multilayers it presents additional pass bands similar to those found in doped electronic materials.     

X-ray Bragg diffraction on periodic surface gratings

We report on the X-ray Bragg diffraction analysis of periodic surface gratings on (100) GaAs crystals. We show that the X-ray Bragg diffraction is a very powerful method to investigate ultrafine surface gratings and allow us to determine not only the grating period but, in particular, the width of the grooves and to characterize the quality of the sidewalls, which is not easily possible with optical methods. The X-ray diffraction on surface crystal gratings is analogue to the Fraunhofer diffraction of multiple slits or reflection gratings.     

The ATR spectra of multipole surface plasmons

A bulk-selvedge coupling theory is developed which greatly simplifies the calculation of multipole surface plasmon dispersion relations, and attenuated total reflection spectra, at optical and near-UV frequencies. We present sample calculations made using the hydrodynamic theory of the electron gas, and indicate how the coupling theory we develop can be used with more realistic theories of the electron dynamics.     

Characteristics of light emission from surface plasmons based on rectangular silver gratings

We investigated the characteristics of transmitted light from propagating surface plasmons based on rectangular silver gratings. The results calculated by rigorous coupled-wave analysis presented that silver diffraction gratings can produce significant transmittance and conversion efficiency, comparable to the case of dielectric gratings. Especially, silver gratings optimized at a wide range of grating thickness and period may lead to an improved diffraction efficiency larger than 64%. Moreover, the effect of silver oxide layer on the transmittance was examined and a bimetallic structure with a thin gold coating was introduced to prevent an oxidation of silver substrates. As a practical sensor application, silver grating-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) configuration showed an enhanced sensitivity associated with an increase of surface reaction area and strong excitations of local plasmon fields, outperforming a conventional thin-film-based SPR structure.     

Broadly tunable one-way terahertz plasmonic waveguide based on nonreciprocal surface magneto plasmons

One-way-propagating broadly tunable terahertz plasmonic waveguide at a subwavelength scale is proposed based on a metal-dielectric-semiconductor structure. Unlike other one-way plasmonic devices that are based on interference effects of surface plasmons, the proposed one-way device is based on nonreciprocal surface magneto plasmons under an external magnetic field. Theoretical and simulation results demonstrate that the one-way-propagating frequency band can be broadly tuned by the external magnetic fields. The proposed concept can be used to realize various high performance tunable plasmonic devices such as isolators, switches and splitters for ultracompact integrated plasmonic circuits.     

Absorption of surface plasmons in a metal-cladding layer-air structure in the terahertz frequency range

The effect of a thin dielectric cladding layer of a metal on the absorption of surface plasmons (SPs) in the terahertz frequency range is studied experimentally and numerically. It is found that, as the radiation wavelength increases, the attenuation of SPs caused by the cladding layer can increase by a factor of ～10⁴ as compared to the absorption of SPs propagating along the unperturbed metal-air interface. Data obtained in experiments with germanium-cladded aluminum specimens using radiation from a terahertz free-electron laser (v = 90 cm^?1) confirm that application of a dielectric cladding on the metal surface causes the SP absorption to increase.     

Extremely narrow plasmon resonances based on diffraction coupling of localized plasmons in arrays of metallic nanoparticles

We experimentally demonstrate extremely narrow plasmon resonances with half-width of just several nanometers in regular arrays of metallic nanoparticles. These resonances are observed at Rayleigh's cutoff wavelengths for Wood anomalies and based on diffraction coupling of localized plasmons. We show experimentally that reflection from an array of nanoparticles can be completely suppressed at certain wavelengths. As a result, our metal nanostructures exhibit pi-jump for the phase of the reflected light.     

The influence of surface plasma oscillations on the diffraction orders of sinusoidal surface gratings

We have investigated the intensity of p-polarized light diffracted by sinusoidal surface gratings. The structure of resonance anomalies found in the light intensities of the diffraction orders is shown for silver coated gratings with various groove depths.     

Electrically controlled surface diffraction gratings in nematic liquid crystals

Photorefractive diffraction gratings were studied in cells of homeotropically aligned pentyl-cyanobiphenyl liquid crystal. These holographic gratings were induced by the simultaneous and nonsimultaneous application of dc and coherent optical electric fields. The observed behavior was consistent with a predominantly surface-mediated photorefractive effect. Beam coupling was observed in all cases and led to a model involving screened and unscreened interfacial trapped charges driving a modulation of the easy axis. Holographic gratings could be switched on and off by the application of a small voltage.     

Highly selective surface-wave resonators for terahertz frequency range formed by metallic Bragg gratings

In the frame of the quasi-optical approach we solve the diffraction problem and describe surface modes confined at a metallic plate with a shallow grating of finite length. We prove that such planar grating can form a highly selective surface-wave Bragg resonator. For a given material conductivity and grating length, we find the optimum corrugation depth that provides the maximum value of Q factor. These results are applicable for developing resonators for terahertz frequency bands.     

Resonant coupling of surface plasmons to radiation modes by use of dielectric gratings

Efficient outcoupling of surface-plasma waves to radiation modes by use of dielectric diffraction gratings on a flat metallic surface is discussed. The dielectric gratings, which have a surface-relief structure with only several tens of nanometers in peak-to-trough height on a flat metal surface, can efficiently extract radiation modes propagating in free space from the surface-plasmon modes. An outcoupling efficiency of 50% is estimated with the rigorous coupled-wave diffraction theory, and it is confirmed by the experiment.     

Spoof surface plasmons resonance effect and tunable electric response of improved metamaterial in the terahertz regime

We propose an improved design and numerical study of an optimized tunable plasmonics artificial material resonator in the terahertz regime. We demonstrate that tunability can be realized with a transmission intensity as much as ～ 61% in the lower frequency resonance, which is implemented through the effect of photoconductive switching under photoexcitation.In the higher frequency resonance, we show that spoof surface plasmons along the interface of metal/dielectric provide new types of electromagnetic resonances. Our approach opens up possibilities for the interface of metamaterial and plasmonics to be applied to optically tunable THz switching.     

Modal coupling in fiber tapers decorated with metallic surface gratings

An interference-based scheme for fabricating periodic metal gratings on one side of the uniform waist of optical fiber tapers has been developed. Optical characterization of a 5 mm long, 511 nm period gold grating fiber taper with a 10 microm diameter reveals backward coupling to both guided and radiation modes that is explained by using an analytical mode-coupling analysis. A refractometer based on this grating taper has a high and constant sensitivity over a large refractive index operating range of 1 to 1.41.