Abstract
Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are traditionally excited by plane waves within the Rayleigh range of a focused transverse-magnetic (TM) Gaussian beam. Here we investigate and confirm the coupling between SPPs and two-dimensional Gaussian and Bessel–Gauss wave packets, as well as one-dimensional light sheets and space-time wave packets. We encode the incoming wavefronts with spatially varying states of polarization; then we couple the respective TM components of radial and azimuthal vector beam profiles to confirm polarization-correlation and spatial-mode selectivity. Our results do not require material optimization or multi-dimensional confinement via periodically corrugated metal surfaces to achieve coupling at a greater extent, hereby outlining a pivotal, yet commonly overlooked, path towards the development of long-range biosensors and all-optical integrated plasmonic circuits.
© 2022 Optica Publishing Group
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Naoki Ichiji, Murat Yessenov, Kenneth L. Schepler, Ayman F. Abouraddy, and Atsushi Kubo
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 41(3) 396-405 (2024)
Hiroshi Kano, Dai Nomura, and Haruki Shibuya
Appl. Opt. 43(12) 2409-2411 (2004)
Hiroshi Kano, Seiji Mizuguchi, and Satoshi Kawata
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 15(4) 1381-1386 (1998)