Low-loss fiber accessible plasmon waveguide for planar energy guiding and sensing

A metal nanoparticle plasmon waveguide for electromagnetic energy transport utilizing dispersion engineering to increase lateral energy confinement via a two-dimensional pattern of Au dots on an optically thin Si membrane is described. Using finite-difference time-domain simulations and coupled-mode theory, we show that phase-matched evanescent excitation from conventional fiber tapers is possible with efficiencies >90% for realistic geometries. Energy loss in this waveguide is mainly due to material absorption, allowing for 1/e energy decay distances of about 320 mum for excitation at telecommunication frequencies. This concept can be extended to the visible regime and promises applications in optical energy guiding, optical sensing, and switching. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.