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Determination of the Excitation and Coupling Rates Between Light Emitters and Surface Plasmon Polaritons
Published on: July 21, 2018
A submicron broadband surface-plasmon-polariton unidirectional coupler
Huimin Liao1, Zhi Li, Jianjun Chen
1State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics and Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Scientific Reports
|June 4, 2013
Summary
Researchers developed a submicron surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) unidirectional coupler using nanogrooves. They observed anomalous bandwidth shrinking due to near-field effects at subwavelength scales, enabling ultracompact optical device design.
Area of Science:
- Optics and Nano-optics
- Plasmonics
Background:
- Light propagation control is crucial in optics with applications in nano-optics.
- Interference effects are key for manipulating light at subwavelength scales.
Purpose of the Study:
- To realize a submicron broadband surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) unidirectional coupler.
- To investigate anomalous bandwidth shrinking in SPP unidirectional couplers at subwavelength scales.
Main Methods:
- Manipulating interference between two nanogrooves on a metal surface.
- Analyzing the contribution of near-field quasi-cylindrical waves, propagating SPPs, and groove dispersion effects.
Main Results:
- Successfully realized a submicron broadband SPP unidirectional coupler.
- Observed anomalous bandwidth shrinking behavior when groove separation reached one-quarter of the SPP wavelength.
- Explained the abnormal behavior by incorporating near-field effects.
Conclusions:
- Near-field effects are critical for understanding SPP unidirectional couplers at subwavelength scales.
- The findings offer new avenues for designing ultracompact optical devices.
