Surface-magnetoplasmon nonreciprocity effects in noble-metal/ferromagnetic heterostructures

Abstract

We demonstrate magnetic field control of surface plasmon excitations in noble-metal/ferromagnetic/noble metal trilayers, analogous to the effects previously observed in semiconductor structures. We show that the coupling of an external magnetic field to the surface plasmon-polariton wave vector is greatly enhanced in the metallic structure due to the ferromagnetic nature of one of its constituents. The observed coupling could be used to modulate the surface plasmon response in ultrasensitive spectroscopic applications.