title: Channel plasmon-polariton guiding by subwavelength metal grooves.
abstract: We report on realization of channel plasmon-polariton (CPP) propagation along a subwavelength metal groove. Using imaging with a near-field microscope and end-fire coupling with a tapered fiber connected to a tunable laser at telecommunication wavelengths (1425-1620 nm), we demonstrate low-loss (propagation length approximately 100 microm) and well-confined (mode width approximately 1.1 microm) CPP guiding along a triangular 0.6 microm-wide and 1 microm-deep groove in gold. We develop a simple model based on the effective-index method that accounts for the main features of CPP guiding and provides a clear physical picture of this phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, Aalborg University, Denmark.
authors.forename: Sergey I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Bozhevolnyi
authors.forename: Valentyn S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Volkov
authors.forename: Eloïse
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Devaux
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Ebbesen