Unidirectional Plasmon Propagation in Metallic Nanowires

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2000 papers

Abstract

We report the observation of unidirectional plasmon propagation in metallic nanowires over distances >10 μm. Through control of the incident excitation wavelength and rod composition, we demonstrate the selective coupling of photons into the plasmon mode of a 20 nm diameter nanowire. This mode then propagates in a nonemissive fashion down the wire length before being emitted as an elastically scattered photon at the distal end. As expected from previous studies of plasmon excitation in nanoparticles and thin films, we observe a strong wavelength and material dependence of this phenomenon. This metal-dependent plasmon propagation is exploited to produce a wire through which plasmons propagate unidirectionally. A bimetallic wire with a sharp Au/Ag heterojunction is shown to display both wavelength dependence and unidirectionality with respect to plasmon propagation across the heterojunction. It is expected that these results will contribute to the growing interest in optical energy transport in molecular-level and nanoscale devices.

Related Papers

• → Characteristics of surface plasmon polaritons at a chiral–metal interface(2014)59 cited
• → Optical tunneling effect of surface plasmon polaritons and localized surface plasmon resonance(2002)79 cited
• → Surface-plasmon-polariton-induced suppressed transmission through ultrathin metal disk arrays(2010)55 cited
• → Optical Tunneling Effect and Surface Plasmon Resonance from Nanostructures in a Metallic Thin Film(2007)2 cited
• → Optical interaction in a plasmonic metallic particle chain coupled to a metallic film(2013)2 cited