Regensburg 2002 – scientific programme
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O: Oberflächenphysik
O 5: Rastersondentechniken (I)
O 5.3: Talk
Monday, March 11, 2002, 11:45–12:00, H44
Transmission, Control and Coherent Propagation of Surface Plasmons in Metal Nanostructures — •Viktor Malyarchuk1, Christoph Lienau1, J. W. Park2, K. H. Yoo2, S. C. Hohng3, Y. C. Yoon3, and D. S. Kim3 — 1Max-Born-Institut, Max-Born-Str. 2A, 12489 Berlin — 2Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Taejon 305-600, Korea — 3Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
Surface plasmon resonances are responsible for the extraordinarily enhanced optical transmission through sub-wavelength periodic hole arrays in optically thick metal films [1]. So far, however, a microscopic understanding of this phenomenon is still lacking. In particular the role that surface plasmons play in enhancing the transmission is under debate. Here, direct imaging of the emission pattern using nano-optical techniques is likely to provide detailed insight. In this contribution, we study, for the first time, the spatial emission pattern of nanometric hole arrays with sub-100 nm spatial resolution for excitation of plasmon resonances. We demonstrate that, in striking contrast to earlier expectations, the near-field emission patterns of these nanostructures are mainly governed by surface plasmons that propagate along the non-illuminated metal-air interface and experience multiple scattering at the holes. By spatially imaging the coherent propagation of these surface plasmons, we show that such nanostructures may serve as novel and highly efficient emission surface plasmon sources. [1] T. W. Ebbesen et al., Nature 391, 667 (1998).