Controlling the radiation direction of propagating surface plasmons on silver nanowires

Metal nanowires supporting propagating surface plasmons (SPs) can be used as nanowaveguides and nanoantennas for light manipulation beyond the diffraction limit. Here the control of the propagation and radiation of SPs on silver nanowires is investigated. By covering an Al2O3 layer onto a silver nan...

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Published inLaser & photonics reviews Vol. 8; no. 4; pp. 596 - 601
Main Authors Wang, Zhuoxian, Wei, Hong, Pan, Deng, Xu, Hongxing
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Weinheim Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2014
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
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Summary:Metal nanowires supporting propagating surface plasmons (SPs) can be used as nanowaveguides and nanoantennas for light manipulation beyond the diffraction limit. Here the control of the propagation and radiation of SPs on silver nanowires is investigated. By covering an Al2O3 layer onto a silver nanowire to change the local dielectric environment, the wave vector of the propagating SPs is increased. Thus, the radiation direction of SPs into the substrate is changed according to the phase matching condition, which is experimentally shown by Fourier imaging method. The radiation angle is sensitively dependent on the Al2O3 thickness. By depositing 1 nm Al2O3, the increase of the radiation angle can be close to 1 degree. These results show that dielectric‐layer‐coating provides a simple and effective method to control the propagation and radiation of SPs, which will be of great importance for designing plasmonic circuits, antennas and sensors based on silver nanowires. Metal nanowires supporting propagating surface plasmons (SPs) can be used as nanowaveguides and nanoantennas for light manipulation beyond the diffraction limit. Here the control of the propagation and radiation of SPs on silver nanowires is investigated. By covering an Al2O3 layer onto a silver nanowire to change the local dielectric environment, the wave vector of the propagating SPs is increased. Thus, the radiation direction of SPs into the substrate is changed according to the phase matching condition, which is experimentally shown by Fourier imaging method. The radiation angle is sensitively dependent on the Al2O3 thickness. By depositing 1 nm Al2O3, the increase of the radiation angle can be close to 1 degree. These results show that dielectric‐layer‐coating provides a simple and effective method to control the propagation and radiation of SPs, which will be of great importance for designing plasmonic circuits, antennas and sensors based on silver nanowires.
Bibliography:istex:93368EE744557B7D87000361F5CF2092F1FB7705
ArticleID:LPOR201300215
Ministry of Science and Technology of China - No. 2012YQ12006005
Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS
National Natural Science Foundation of China - No. 11134013; No. 11227407; No. 11004237; No. 61210017
Knowledge Innovation Project - No. KJCX2-EW-W04
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ISSN:1863-8880
1863-8899
DOI:10.1002/lpor.201300215