title: Surface-plasmon polaritons on metal-dielectric nanocomposite films.
abstract: We observe experimentally that the reflectances of metal-dielectric nanocomposite films in the Kretschmann configuration show different characteristics, depending on the metal fill fraction f, that fall into one of three distinct regimes. In the "metallic" regime, in which f is large, the film supports conventional surface-plasmon polaritons (SPPs), and one can tailor the properties of the SPPs by controlling the value of f. In the "dielectric" regime, in which f is small, the film does not support any surface modes. In the intermediate "lossy" regime, the nanocomposite film supports a SPP mode that is different from that of a "metallic" film. These results are explained by using an anisotropic effective medium model and mode analysis.
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA. zshi@optics.rochester.edu
authors.forename: Zhimin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piredda
authors.forename: Andreas C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Liapis
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Novotny
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Boyd