title: Excitation of bound plasmons along nanoscale stripe waveguides: a comparison of end and grating coupling techniques.
abstract: In this paper we excite bound long range stripe plasmon modes with a highly focused laser beam. We demonstrate highly confined plasmons propagating along a 50 µm long silver stripe 750 nm wide and 30 nm thick. Two excitation techniques were studied: focusing the laser spot onto the waveguide end and focusing the laser spot onto a silver grating. By comparing the intensity of the out-coupling photons at the end of the stripe for both grating and end excitation we are able to show that gratings provide an increase of a factor of two in the output intensity and thus out-coupling of plasmons excited by this technique are easier to detect. Authors expect that the outcome of this paper will prove beneficial for the development of passive nano-optical devices based on stripe waveguides, by providing insight into the different excitation techniques available and the advantages of each technique.
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Vernon
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Funston
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eftekhari
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Davis