Pierre Berini

Long-range surface plasmon polaritons

Long-range surface plasmon polaritons (LRSPPs) are optical surface waves that propagate along a thin symmetric metal slab or stripe over an appreciable length (centimeters). Vigorous interest in LRSPPs has stimulated a large number of studies over three decades spanning a broad topical landscape. Naturally, a good segment of the literature covers fundamentals such as modal characteristics, excitation, and field enhancement. But a large portion also involves the LRSPP in diverse phenomena, including nonlinear interactions, molecular scattering, fluorescence, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, transmission through opaque metal films and emission extraction, amplification and lasing, surface characterization, metal roughness and islandization, optical interconnects and integrated structures, gratings, thermo-, electro- and magneto-optics, and (bio)chemical sensing. Despite the breadth and depth of the research conducted to date, much remains to be uncovered, and the scope for future investigations is broad. We review the properties of the LRSPP, survey the literature involving this wave, and discuss the prospects for applications. Avenues for further work are suggested.

Experimental observation of plasmon–polariton waves supported by a thin metal film of finite width

What are believed to be the first experimental observations of the existence of long-range plasmon-polariton waves, guided by a thin metal film of finite width, are presented. A waveguide composed of an 8-mum-wide, 20-nm-thick, 3.5-mm-long Au metal film embedded in SiO (2) was successfully excited at a free-space wavelength of 1.55 mum in an end-fire experiment. The theoretical nature of the phenomenon is described, and experimental observations of field confinement provided by this metal waveguide are presented in detail.

Demonstration of integrated optics elements based on long-ranging surface plasmon polaritons

An experimental investigation of long-ranging surface plasmonpolariton waves guided along thin finite width Au structures embedded in a homogeneous background dielectric is reported. The operation of key passive integrated optics elements such as straight waveguides, s-bends, y-junctions and couplers is demonstrated at a free space optical wavelength of 1550 nm. The influence of some important design parameters on the performance of these elements is presented and discussed.

Figures of merit for surface plasmon waveguides

Three figures of merit are proposed as quality measures for surface plasmon waveguides. They are defined as benefit-to-cost ratios where the benefit is confinement and the cost is attenuation. Three different ways of measuring confinement are considered, leading to three figures of merit. One of the figures of merit is connected to the quality factor. The figures of merit were then used to assess and compare the wavelength response of hree popular 1-D surface plasmon waveguides: the single metal-dielectric interface, the metal slab bounded by dielectric and the dielectric slab bounded by metal. Closed form expressions are given for the figures of merit of the single metal-dielectric interface.

Characterization of long-range surface-plasmon-polariton waveguides

Measurements of the attenuation and excitation efficiency of the long-range surface-plasmon-polariton mode supported by waveguides comprised of one or many thin metal films of finite width embedded in dielectric were made in the near infrared (λ0=1550nm). Au films 31, 25, and 20 nm thick, and Ag films 20 nm thick were used to implement the structures. The lowest attenuations measured among the Au and Ag waveguides are 0.42 and 0.32dB∕mm, respectively, corresponding to propagation lengths of 10 340, and 13572μm, respectively. These propagation lengths are longer than those of the single-interface surface-plasmon polariton in the corresponding semi-infinite structures by factors of 93 and 138, respectively. These factors are the largest reported to date for long-range surface-plasmon-polariton waves. The largest excitation efficiency measured among the set of Au structures is 98%. Theoretical results were obtained for all of the structures characterized experimentally using an accurate electromagnetic-field...

Plasmon–polariton modes guided by a metal film of finite width

The properties of purely bound plasmon-polariton modes guided by a symmetric thin metal film of finite width are described for what is believed to be the first time, and a suitable mode nomenclature for identifying them is proposed. The dispersion characteristics of the modes as a function of film thickness are presented. It has been found that long-range plasmon-polariton modes exist in a symmetric film structure and that one of them may be suitable for optical signal transmission.

Bulk and surface sensitivities of surface plasmon waveguides

The potential of surface plasmon waveguides for bulk and surface (bio)chemical sensing was assessed theoretically, anticipating their use in an integrated optics sensor such as a Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI). The performance of a generic MZI implemented with attenuating waveguides was assessed initially, revealing that attenuating waveguides constrain the sensing length to an optimal length equal to the propagation length of the mode used. The MZI sensitivities for bulk and surface sensing were found to be proportional to the ratio of the waveguide sensitivity to its normalized attenuation: H=(∂neff/∂nc)/keff for bulk sensing and G=(∂neff/∂a)/keff for surface sensing. Maximizing H or G maximizes the corresponding MZI sensitivity and minimizes its detection limit, leading to preferred waveguide designs and operating wavelengths. The propagation constant, the sensitivities, and the H and G parameters were then determined for the surface plasmon in the single interface, the sb mode in the metal–insulator–metal (MIM) waveguide and the sb mode in three variants of the insulator–metal–insulator (IMI) waveguide, as a function of dimensions, for wavelengths spanning 600≤λ0≤1600 nm, assuming Au and H2O as the materials and adlayers representative of biochemical matter. The principal findings are: (i) the surface sensitivity in the thin MIM can be 100× larger than in the single interface, whereas that in the thin IMI is up to 5× smaller; (ii) the bulk sensitivity in the thin MIM can be 3× larger than in the single interface, whereas that in the IMI is slightly smaller; (iii) G in the thin MIM can be 3× larger than in the single interface, whereas G in the IMI is about 10× larger; and (iv) H in the thin MIM can be 10× smaller than in the single interface, whereas H in the thin IMI is about 10× larger. The IMI and the MIM both offer an improvement in sensitivity and detection limit for surface sensing over the single interface in an integrated MZI (or Kretschmann–Raether) configuration, despite the fact that they are at opposite ends of the confinement–attenuation trade-off. Preferred wavelengths for surface sensing were found to be near the short wavelength edge of the Drude region, where detection limits of about 0.1 pg mm−2 are predicted. With regard to bulk sensing, only the IMI offers an improvement over the single interface. The results are collected in a form that should be useful for investigating other sensor architectures implemented with these waveguides or variants thereof.

Figures of merit for 2D surface plasmon waveguides and application to metal stripes.

Three figures of merit, useful as quality measures for 2D surface plasmon waveguides, are discussed and applied to help trade-off mode confinement against attenuation for the symmetric mode propagating along metal stripes. Different stripe geometries are considered, and Au, Ag and Al are compared as the stripe metal over the wavelength range from 200 to 2000 nm. Depending on which figure of merit is used, and on how mode confinement is measured, different preferred designs emerge. For instance, given a mode area, narrow thick stripes are better than wide thin ones, but given a distance from the light line, the opposite is true. Each of the metals analyzed show wavelength regions where their performance is best. The figures of merit are generally applicable and should be useful to help compare, assess and optimize designs in other 2D surface plasmon waveguides or in other absorbing waveguides.

Passive integrated optics elements based on long-range surface plasmon polaritons

Waveguides and passive integrated optics elements constructed from thin metal films of finite width embedded in a homogeneous background dielectric and propagating long-range surface plasmon polaritons (LRSPPs) have been characterized experimentally at free-space optical wavelengths near 1550 nm. Straight and curved waveguides, s-bends, four-port couplers, y-junctions, and Mach-Zehnder interferometers have been carefully characterized. Additionally, rigorous models based on modal decomposition have been proposed for all of these elements and validated via comparisons with the measurements. Excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement between theory and experiment is observed for all structures over all measurement wavelengths. It is hoped that this work will help further establish this new integrated optics technology, taking it beyond demonstrators.

Thin-Film Schottky Barrier Photodetector Models

Phenomenological models for the internal quantum efficiency of Schottky barrier photodetectors suitable for the detection of optical radiation below the bandgap energy of the semiconductor are presented and discussed. The detection mechanism is internal photoemission from the metal film into the semiconductor substrate. Three detector configurations are considered: the first consists of a thick metal film on a semiconductor substrate forming a single Schottky barrier; the second consists of a thin metal film on a semiconductor substrate also forming a single Schottky barrier; and the third consists of a thin metal film buried in semiconductor and forming two Schottky barriers (one along each metal-semiconductor interface). In the three cases, illumination through the semiconductor substrate is assumed. The two thin-film configurations provide enhanced internal quantum efficiencies due to multiple hot carrier reflections within the metal film, with the double-barrier case providing the greatest enhancement due to emission over two barriers. The models proposed are based on assessing the emission probability of hot carriers as a function of their energy, taking into account multiple reflections within the metal film and energy losses due to internal scattering (e.g., with phonons and cold carriers). The thin-film single-barrier model was tested via comparisons with responsivity measurements reported in the literature for PtSi/p-Si and Pd2Si/p-Si detectors.