A theoretical study of “structure-induced” surface plasmon polariton modes on metals and semiconductors using ATR

The possibility is theoretically examined, of the observation of “structure-induce” surface plasmon polariton modes on semi-finite free electron metals and semiconductors, using the Otto ATR configuration. This is achieved by introducing spatial dispersion into a model double step-function surface density profile. For both metals and semiconductors it is shown that well-defined minima in the reflectivity plots are associated with structure-induced modes. Furthermore, these modes occur quite strongly below the critical angle, which suggests that they are best developed in their radiative form.