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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Determination of the Excitation and Coupling Rates Between Light Emitters and Surface Plasmon Polaritons
Published on: July 21, 2018
Active control and spatial mapping of mid-infrared propagating surface plasmons
T Ribaudo1, E A Shaner, S S Howard
1Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA.
Abstract:
Periodic arrays of subwavelength apertures in metal films have been shown to exhibit strongly enhanced transmission at wavelengths determined by the periodicity of the film as well as the optical properties of the metal and surrounding dielectric material. Here we investigate the coupling between such a grating and a Quantum Cascade Laser. By actively tuning the optical properties of our grating, we control the coupling of laser light to the plasmonic structure, switching our grating from a predominantly transmitting state to a state that allows coupling to propagating surface waves, which can then be imaged on the metallic surface.
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