Pressure-Tuned Plasmonic Propagation on a Silver Nanowire

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in metallic nanowires have emerged as powerful candidates for nanoscale optical circuitry, yet their practical application is often limited by significant plasmonic losses and short propagation distances. While prior studies have extensively characterized nanowires under ambient conditions, little is known about how extreme external stimuli modify plasmon transport. To address this knowledge gap, we report measurements of SPP propagation with silver nanowires loaded in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) at hydrostatic pressures up to 6 GPa. By increasing the hydrostatic pressure to 6 GPa, we reveal a doubled propagation distance for the same individual nanowire. The pressure dependence suggests a suppression of dominant damping channels, including suppression of electron-phonon scattering and electron-electron scattering, as supported by density functional theory calculations. These results highlight pressure as a novel tuning knob for plasmonic transport and suggest possible applications in high-pressure optical sensing and adaptive plasmonic wave guides.