Launching focused surface plasmon in circular metallic grating

Abstract

The excitation of focused surface plasma wave (SPW) over a metal–vacuum interface embedded with circular surface grating is investigated theoretically. The normally impinged radiation imparts oscillatory velocity to free electrons that beats with the surface ripple to produce a nonlinear current, driving the SPW. As SPW propagates, it gets focused. The focused radiation has a maximum at the centre of grating and decreases beyond the centre due to diffraction. The amplitude of SPW is fixed for a given groove depth and increases rapidly around the resonance frequency. The intensity at the focus point depends on dimensions of the grating. It increases with the radiation frequency approaching the surface plasmon resonance. The scheme has potential applications for photonic devices and surface enhanced Raman scattering.