Compact antenna for efficient and unidirectional launching and decoupling of surface plasmons.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 21905740.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/nl202135w.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Controlling the launching efficiencies and the directionality of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) and their decoupling to freely propagating light is a major goal for the development of plasmonic devices and systems. Here, we report on the design and experimental observation of a highly efficient unidirectional surface plasmon launcher composed of eleven subwavelength grooves, each with a distinct depth and width. Our observations show that, under normal illumination by a focused Gaussian beam, unidirectional SPP launching with an efficiency of at least 52% is achieved experimentally with a compact device of total length smaller than 8 μm. Reciprocally, we report that the same device can efficiently convert SPPs into a highly directive light beam emanating perpendicularly to the sample.