Odd-mode surface plasmon polaritons supported by complementary plasmonic metamaterial

Abstract

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), either on metal-dielectric interfaces in optical frequencies or on structured metal surfaces in the lower frequencies, are dominantly even modes. Here we discover dominant odd-mode SPPs on a complementary plasmonic metamaterial, which is constructed by complementary symmetric grooves. We show that the fundamental SPP mode on such a plasmonic metamaterial is a tightly confined odd mode, whose dispersion curve can be tuned by the shape of groove. According to the electric field distributions of odd-mode SPPs, we propose a high-efficiency transducer using asymmetric coplanar waveguide and slot line to excite the odd-mode SPPs. Numerical simulations and experimental results validate the high-efficiency excitation and excellent propagation performance of odd-mode SPPs on the complementary plasmonic waveguides in the microwave frequencies.