Mimicking Surface Plasmons with Structured Surfaces

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 305; no. 5685; pp. 847 - 848
• Main Authors: Pendry, J. B., Martín-Moreno, L., Garcia-Vidal, F. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 06.08.2004; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Collective excitations (including excitons, polarons, plasmons and other charge-density excitations); Collective excitations (including plasmons and other charge-density excitations); Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Dielectric materials; Electric fields; Electromagnetism; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electrons; Exact sciences and technology; Light; Magnetic fields; Materials; Metals; Optics; Physics; Plasma frequencies; Plasmons; Raman effect; Resonance; Silver; Surface and interface electron states; Waveguides; Wavelengths; Theoretical study; Radiation matter interactions; Dispersion relations; Surface plasmons
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1098999

Metals such as silver support surface plasmons: electromagnetic surface excitations localized near the surface that originate from the free electrons of the metal. Surface modes are also observed on highly conducting surfaces perforated by holes. We establish a close connection between the two, showing that electromagnetic waves in both materials are governed by an effective permittivity of the same plasma form. The size and spacing of holes can readily be controlled on all relevant length scales, which allows the creation of designer surface plasmons with almost arbitrary dispersion in frequency and in space, opening new vistas in surface plasmon optics.