A numerical simulation of surface wave excitation in a rectangular planar-type plasma source

The principle of surface wave plasma discharge in a rectangular cavity is introduced simply based on surface plasmon polariton theory. The distribution of surface-wave electric field at the interface of the plasma-dielectric slab is investigated by using the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method (3D-FDTD) with different slot-antenna structures. And the experimental image of discharge with a novel slot antenna array and the simulation of the electric field with this slot antenna array are both displayed. Combined with the distribution of surface wave excitation and experimental results, the numerical simulation performed by using 3D-FDTD is shown to be a useful tool in the computer-aided antenna design for large area planar-type surface-wave plasma sources.     

Numerical Studies of s-Polarized Surface Plasmon Polaritons at the Interface Associated with Metamaterial

The s-polarized surface plasmon polaritons （SPPs） at the interface between dielectric and metamaterial are studied, and the dispersion relations of SPPs are also presented. Using the prism coupling mechanism, we obtain the attenuated total reflection （ATR） spectra in the frequency regime based on the Otto configuration. It is found that the thickness of the dielectric in the configuration and the small damping of the metamaterial affect the coupling strength significantly without changing the coupling frequency. Furthermore, the optimized thickness of the dielectric decreases with a larger damping, and the coefficient F of the metamaterial also determines the coupling frequency and strength.     

Numerical studies of surface and bulk modes in attenuated total reflection spectra

The dispersion relations of normal modes in the layered constructions are studied. In the frequency region with negative permittivity, we investigate the normal modes near the air--metal and the air--matematerial interfaces and compare them. An extra bulk mode appearing in a pass band of two media is found near the air--matematerial interface, which is different from the air--metal case. Moreover, the bulk mode will be further proved by the attenuated total reflection (ATR) technique, in which the coupling between the incident electromagnetic waves and the normal modes is studied. For p-polarized incident waves, the ATR spectra based on the Otto and the Kretschmann configurations are obtained numerically, where the dips present the excitations of the surface and bulk modes. Furthermore, we also discuss the influences of the middle layer thickness, the incident angle and the damping term on the reflection in detail. It is found that the coupling frequencies and the maximum strength are strongly dependent on the above media parameters.