title: Gain assisted propagation of surface plasmon polaritons on planar metallic waveguides.
abstract: The propagation of surface plasmon polaritons on metallic waveguides adjacent to a gain medium is considered. It is shown that the presence of the gain medium can compensate for the absorption losses in the metal. The conditions for existence of a surface plasmon polariton and its lossless propagation and wavefront behavior are derived analytically for a single infinite metal-gain boundary. In addition, the cases of thin slab and stripe geometries are also investigated using finite element simulations. The effect of a finite gain layer and its distance from the SPP waveguide is also investigated. The calculated gain requirements suggest that lossless gainassisted surface plasmon polariton propagation can be achieved in practice.
authors.forename: Maziar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nezhad
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tetz
authors.forename: Yeshaiahu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fainman