Engineering optical gradient force from coupled surface plasmon polariton modes in nanoscale plasmonic waveguides**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11474106) and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (Grant No. 2016A030313439).

Abstract

We explore the dispersion properties and optical gradient forces from mutual coupling of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes at two interfaces of nanoscale plasmonic waveguides with hyperbolic metamaterial cladding. With Maxwell’s equations and Maxwell stress tensor, we calculate and compare the dispersion relation and optical gradient force for symmetric and antisymmetric SPP modes in two kinds of nanoscale plasmonic waveguides. The numerical results show that the optical gradient force between two coupled hyperbolic metamaterial waveguides can be engineered flexibly by adjusting the waveguide structure parameters. Importantly, an alternative way to boost the optical gradient force is provided through engineering the hyperbolic metamaterial cladding of suitable orientation. These special optical properties will open the door for potential optomechanical applications, such as optical tweezers and actuators.