Plasmon-polariton modes guided by a metal film of finite width bounded by different dielectrics

Abstract

The properties of some purely bound plasmon-polariton modes guided by an asymmetric waveguide structure composed of a thin lossy metal film of finite width supported by a dielectric substrate and covered by a different dielectric superstrate are presented for what is believed to be the first time. The mode spectrum supported by these structures is quite different from the spectrum supported by corresponding asymmetric slab structures or similar finite-width symmetric waveguides. Unlike these limiting cases, the dispersion with film thickness exhibits an unusual oscillatory character that is explained by a "switching" of constituent interface modes. This mode switching is unique to asymmetric finite-width structures. Above a certain cut-off film thickness, the structure can support a long-ranging mode and its attenuation decreases very rapidly with decreasing film thickness, more so than the long-ranging mode in symmetric structures. Also, the cutoff thickness of the long-ranging mode is larger than the cutoff thickness of the long-ranging mode in the corresponding asymmetric slab waveguide, which implies that propagation along finite-width films is more sensitive to the asymmetry in the structure than propagation along a similar slab structure. Both of these results are potentially useful for the transmission and control of optical radiation.