Surface plasmon polarization filtering in a single mode dielectric waveguide

We demonstrate that metallic electrodes symmetrically placed about a single mode dielectric waveguide can effectively polarize the mode by excitation of surface plasmons. The transmission through the metal electrode waveguide structure is examined as a function of mode polarization and electrode spacing. It is found that modes polarized perpendicular to the metal surface can resonantly excite surface plasmons, extinguishing the mode in the waveguide core, while modes polarized parallel to metal surface only suffer mode attenuation due to the presence of the metal. The phase matching conditions for excitation of surface plasmons are examined and the polarization and insertion loss of the transmitted mode is experimentally verified. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.