PHOTONIC SURFACES FOR SURFACE-PLASMON POLARITONS

We examine the propagation of surface-plasmon polaritons on textured s urfaces. Specifically, we look at how a grating surface produces a ban d gap in the propagation of this mode and how the band gap depends on the propagation direction of the mode. This naturally leads to a discu ssion of a surface profile suitable for blocking surface mode propagat ion in all directions. By using a diffractive-optics-based theoretical modeling approach we examine the requirements for such a surface. We then confirm these expectations experimentally by producing a surface exhibiting a band gap for surface-plasmon polariton modes in all direc tions in the energy range 1.91-2.00 eV. (C) 1997 Optical Society of Am erica.