Arbitrary super surface modes bounded by multilayered metametal

Abstract

The dispersion of the fundamental super mode confined along the boundary between a multilayer metal-insulator (MMI) stack and a dielectric coating is theoretically analyzed and compared to the dispersion of surface waves on a single metal-insulator (MI) boundary. Based on the classical Kretschmann setup, the MMI system is experimentally tested as an anisotropic material to exhibit plasmonic behavior and a candidate of "metametal" to engineer the preset surface plasmon frequency of conventional metals for optical sensing applications. The conditions to obtain artificial surface plasmon frequency are thoroughly studied, and the tuning of surface plasmon frequency is verified by electromagnetic modeling and experiments. The design rules drawn in this paper would bring important insights into applications such as optical lithography, nano-sensing and imaging. © 2012 by the authors.