L. Levesque et Be. Paton, LIGHT SWITCHING IN A GLASS-AG-POLYMER STRUCTURE USING ATTENUATED TOTAL-REFLECTION (ATR), Canadian journal of physics, 72(9-10), 1994, pp. 651-657
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and a photon-tunneling modes were obse
rved in the visible spectrum using a glass-silver-PVC-Mylar structure.
This structure was used as an electro-optic device to modulate the re
flected intensity of a He-Ne (632.8 nm) beam by more than a factor of
2. Low-frequency switching was achieved in the 0-40 Hz range with a dr
iving amplitude in excess of 50 V. Results suggest the low-frequency r
esponse is governed mostly by ionic migration within the polymer and t
he perturbation of the evanescent field matching condition at the silv
er-PVC interface results in the modulation. As light-switching time is
related to species mobility, the technique should be a good probe for
studying ionic migration in polymers or biological membranes.