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When are surface plasmon polaritons excited in the Kretschmann-Raether configuration?

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep09929· OSTI ID:1200853
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
  2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA (United States)

It is widely believed that the reflection minimum in a Kretschmann-Raether experiment results from direct coupling into surface plasmon polariton modes. Our experimental results provide a surprising discrepancy between the leakage radiation patterns of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) launched on a layered gold/germanium film compared to the K-R minimum, clearly challenging this belief. We provide definitive evidence that the reflectance dip in K-R experiments does not correlate with excitation of an SPP mode, but rather corresponds to a particular type of perfectly absorbing (PA) mode. Results from rigorous electrodynamics simulations show that the PA mode can only exist under external driving, whereas the SPP can exist in regions free from direct interaction with the driving field. These simulations show that it is possible to indirectly excite propagating SPPs guided by the reflectance minimum in a K-R experiment, but demonstrate the efficiency can be lower by more than a factor of 3. We find that optimal coupling into the SPP can be guided by the square magnitude of the Fresnel transmission amplitude.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1200853
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1392069
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 05 Vol. 5; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (9)

Near‐field enhancements and surface plasmon polaritons with multifunctional oxide thin films journal August 2018
Plasmonic layer-selective all-optical switching of magnetization with nanometer resolution journal October 2019
Dual-color near-field imaging by means of thin-film plasmonic waveguide with precise beam control of multiple wavelengths journal October 2019
Towards the nonlinear acousto-magneto-plasmonics journal August 2016
ZnO for performance enhancement of surface plasmon resonance biosensor: a review journal January 2020
Kretschmann-Raether configuration: Revision of the theory of resonant interaction journal October 2017
Influence of the dielectric substrate on the effective optical constants of silver plasmonic films journal January 2019
Corrugation-assisted metal-coated angled fiber facet for wavelength-dependent off-axis directional beaming journal January 2017
Optical resonances in Kretschmann and Otto configurations journal January 2018

Figures / Tables (4)


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