Structureless excitation and manipulation of dynamic holographic plasmonic slides.

Zhang, Yuquan; Ma, Haixiang; Ju, Zhendong; Chen, Xusheng; Chen, Yixuan; Xie, Xi; Du, Luping; Min, Changjun et al. · Nat Commun · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Surface plasmons are bound modes at metal-dielectric interfaces and enable a wide range of applications. However, holographic plasmonic fields are usually realized with complex nanostructures, introducing diffraction background and limiting flexibility and dynamic reconfigurability. Here, we propose a structureless holographic approach for generating complex plasmonic fields and controlling their energy flow through a reverse-designed algorithm. Both theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that holographic plasmonic fields can be effectively excited and flexibly modulated on a flat metal film. Furthermore, by loading orbital angular momentum onto the holographic plasmonic field, a controllable energy flow aligned with the plasmonic field can be achieved, visualizing through gold particles transporting along the designed trajectory like a surface slide. This work offers a promising structureless pathway for generation and manipulation of holographic plasmonic fields as well as other surface-wave fields, demonstrating significant potential for controllable on-chip optical energy and particle transmission.