Propagation of THz plasmon pulse on corrugated and flat metal surface

Abstract

We report here experiments on surface plasmon excitation and propagation along corrugated and smooth aluminum surface in the terahertz frequency range. Narrowband plasmon excitation by a subpicosecond terahertz pulse is shown to be a transient process and plasmon propagation sufficiently changes its measured time profile. Plasmon propagation during its excitation and detection changes measured signal. We suggest to use parameters T (plasmon duration) and τ (plasmon lifetime) to describe the narrowband THz plasmon pulse. Plasmon duration and lifetime were defined and plasmon propagation lengths on smooth and corrugated surface were measured. Plasmon propagation length on flat surface turned out to be much smaller than it is predicted by the Drude model.