Direct measurement of versatile surface plasmon polaritons excited by split polarization

Abstract

We report on the concept, generation, and observation of versatile excited surface plasmon polariton (SPP) patterns via focused split polarization. Unlike the conventional subwavelength features such as holes array, grating, or other protrusion to satisfy the phase matching condition for SPP excitation, we utilized a structured focus to form either counterpropagating interference or a multiple casting plasmonic pattern by means of the arrangement of split polarization and corresponding focus position. The characteristics of the near-field SPP image are in close agreement with the finite-difference time-domain calculation and confirm its feasibility associated with SPP excitations in many areas. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3552673]