Jennifer A. Dionne

We present a numerical analysis of surface plasmon waveguides exhibiting both long-range propagation and spatial confinement of light with lateral dimensions of less than 10% of the free-space wavelength. Attention is given to characterizing the dispersion relations, wavelength-dependent propagation, and energy density decay in two-dimensional $\mathrm{Ag}∕\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{O}}_2∕\mathrm{Ag}$ structures with waveguide thicknesses ranging from $12\mathrm{nm}\text{to}250\mathrm{nm}$. As in conventional planar insulator-metal-insulator (IMI) surface plasmon waveguides, analytic dispersion results indicate a splitting of plasmon modes—corresponding to symmetric and antisymmetric electric field distributions—as $\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{O}}_2$ core thickness is decreased below $100\mathrm{nm}$. However, unlike IMI structures, surface plasmon momentum of the symmetric mode does not always exceed photon momentum, with thicker films $(d\sim 50\mathrm{nm})$ achieving effective indices as low as $n=0.15$. In addition, antisymmetric mode dispersion exhibits a cutoff for films thinner than $d=20\mathrm{nm}$, terminating at least $0.25\mathrm{eV}$ below resonance. From visible to near infrared wavelengths, plasmon propagation exceeds tens of microns with fields confined to within $20\mathrm{nm}$ of the structure. As the $\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{O}}_2$ core thickness is increased, propagation distances also increase with localization remaining constant. Conventional waveguiding modes of the structure are not observed until the core thickness approaches $100\mathrm{nm}$. At such thicknesses, both transverse magnetic and transverse electric modes can be observed. Interestingly, for nonpropagating modes (i.e., modes where propagation does not exceed the micron scale), considerable field enhancement in the waveguide core is observed, rivaling the intensities reported in resonantly excited metallic nanoparticle waveguides.

A numerical analysis of surface plasmon dispersion, propagation, and localization on smooth lossy films is presented. Particular attention is given to determining wavelength-dependent behavior of thin Ag slab waveguides embedded in a symmetric $\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{O}}_2$ environment. Rather than considering Ag as a damped free electron gas, the metal is defined by the experimentally determined optical constants of Johnson and Christy and Palik. As in free electron gas models, analytic dispersion results indicate a splitting of plasmon modes—corresponding to symmetric and antisymmetric field distributions—as film thickness is decreased below $50\mathrm{nm}$. However, unlike free electron gas models, the surface plasmon wave vector remains finite at resonance with the antisymmetric-field plasmon converging to a pure photon mode for very thin films. In addition, allowed excitation modes are found to exist between the bound and radiative branches of the dispersion curve. The propagation characteristics of all modes are determined, and for thin films (depending upon electric field symmetry), propagation distances range from microns to centimeters in the near infrared. Propagation distances are correlated with both the field decay (skin depth) and energy density distribution in the metal and surrounding dielectric. While the energy density of most long-range surface plasmons exhibits a broad spatial extent with limited confinement in the waveguide, it is found that high-field confinement does not necessarily limit propagation. In fact, enhanced propagation is observed for silver films at ultraviolet wavelengths despite strong field localization in the metal. The surface plasmon characteristics described in this paper provide a numerical springboard for engineering nanoscale metal plasmon waveguides, and the results may provide a new avenue for integrated optoelectronic applications.