Coupling of gap plasmons in multi-wire waveguides

We investigate the coupling of gap plasmons in various configurations of neighboring metallic nanowires. Starting with the basic element defining a gap plasmon, consisting of two neighboring silver wires, we study the energy splitting and symmetry properties of hybridized plasmons resulting from the interaction of two wire pairs. The system is shown to display non-avoided crossings of hybridized modes, and it evolves at short distances towards a degenerate system consisting of four wires arranged in a square, where two new gap plasmons emerge from redshifted higher-energy modes. The gap modes of three neighboring wires are also described in a continuous transition from a coplanar configuration to an equilateral triangle arrangement. The interaction between wire pairs is shown to be weak enough to prevent efficient transfer of plasmon signal from a pair to the other one, which is beneficial to avoid crosstalking, but not to produce waveguide couplers. The coupling is significantly increased by placing a wire of rectangular cross section in between the wire pairs, thus allowing us to achieve large plasmon-signal transfers within propagation distances below the attenuation length. Our results can find application in the design of signal-processing devices based upon gap plasmons. (c) 2009 Optical Society of America