Surface-plasmon polaritons on metal-dielectric nanocomposite films.
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.
Shi
Zhimin
Z
The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA. zshi@optics.rochester.edu
Piredda
Giovanni
G
Liapis
Andreas C
AC
Nelson
Mark A
MA
Novotny
Lukas
L
Boyd
Robert W
RW