In the quest of lossless slow light at surface plasmons

Abstract

Surface plasmons, namely, the waves guided at the boundaries between metals and dielectrics, are employed in a variety of engineering applications, spanning from photodetection and near-field scanning to biosensing and medical imaging. The spatial confinement of this effect makes it ideal for a quest towards low-loss guiding of slow light along the interfaces of similar heterostructures. Numerous pairs of materials are considered to determine the conditions for the emergence of strong surface waves, once the visible-light frequency is selected to secure minimum phase velocity or minimum propagation losses. The reported results can offer multiple optimal alternatives in the forward and inverse design of photonic components calling for high-intensity, low-loss slow light being guided across two-dimensional boundaries.