Surface plasmon polaritons in a semi-bounded degenerate plasma: Role of spatial dispersion and collisions
- School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)
Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in a semi-bounded degenerate plasma (e.g., a metal) are studied using the quasiclassical mean-field kinetic model, taking into account the spatial dispersion of the plasma (due to quantum degeneracy of electrons) and electron-ion (electron-lattice, for metals) collisions. SPP dispersion and damping are obtained in both retarded ({omega}/k{sub z}{approx}c) and non-retarded ({omega}/k{sub z} Much-Less-Than c) regions, as well as in between. It is shown that the plasma spatial dispersion significantly affects the properties of SPPs, especially at short wavelengths (less than the collisionless skin depth, {lambda} Less-Than-Or-Equivalent-To c/{omega}{sub pe}). Namely, the collisionless (Landau) damping of SPPs (due to spatial dispersion) is comparable to the purely collisional (Ohmic) damping (due to electron-lattice collisions) in a wide range of SPP wavelengths, e.g., from {lambda}{approx}20 nm to {lambda}{approx}0.8 nm for SPP in gold at T = 293 K and from {lambda}{approx}400 nm to {lambda}{approx}0.7 nm for SPPs in gold at T = 100 K. The spatial dispersion is also shown to affect, in a qualitative way, the dispersion of SPPs at short wavelengths {lambda} Less-Than-Or-Equivalent-To c/{omega}{sub pe}.
- OSTI ID:
- 22068872
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 11; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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