Abstract

A one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal structure with a terminal palladium layer supporting long-range surface plasmon polariton (LRSPP) waves in any gaseous environment is described. We show that LRSPP propagation may be achieved not only along “good plasmonic” metals such as Ag and Au but also along lossy metals such as Pd, which does not usually support plasmon propagation in the visible spectral range with ordinary Kretschmann excitation. The possibility of the LRSPP propagation along catalytically active metals such as Pd or Pt opens up new perspectives for studying of (photo)chemical surface reactions and offers the potential for more applications in the general area of catalysis, photocatalysis, and plasmon-mediated chemistry. We present experimental results that demonstrate the hydrogen sensitivity of this photonic structure incorporating a catalytically active $8\text{-}\mathrm{nm}$-thick Pd final layer. A 3% hydrogen concentration in nitrogen is detected with a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 300, with a response time of about $10\mathrm{s}$ at room temperature.

© 2009 Optical Society of America

Surface-plasmon polaritons on metal-dielectric nanocomposite films

Zhimin Shi, Giovanni Piredda, Andreas C. Liapis, Mark A. Nelson, Lukas Novotny, and Robert W. Boyd
Opt. Lett. 34(22) 3535-3537 (2009)

Long-range surface plasmon polaritons

Pierre Berini
Adv. Opt. Photon. 1(3) 484-588 (2009)

Multilayered structures for p- and s-polarized long-range surface-plasmon-polariton propagation

Yi-Jun Jen, Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Ching-Wei Yu, and Tzu-Yi Chan
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 26(12) 2600-2606 (2009)

Long-range surface plasmon-polariton waveguide sensors with a Bragg grating in the asymmetric double-electrode structure

Yang Hyun Joo, Seok Ho Song, and Robert Magnusson
Opt. Express 17(13) 10606-10611 (2009)

Refractive index dependence of the coupling characteristics between long-range surface-plasmon-polariton and dielectric waveguide modes

Fang Liu, Ruiyuan Wan, Yidong Huang, and Jiangde Peng
Opt. Lett. 34(17) 2697-2699 (2009)