Effect of a dielectric coating on terahertz surface plasmon polaritons on metal wires

The authors present measurements and calculations on the effect of thin dielectric coatings on the propagation of terahertz pulses along the surface of metal wires. Our measurements show that propagation over only a few centimeters of wire having a thin dielectric coating, strongly distorts the terahertz pulse, which results in a several tens of picoseconds long chirped signal. We demonstrate that the terahertz pulses propagate along the wire as surface waves, and show how a thin coating of a nondispersive material makes this propagation strongly dispersive, giving rise to the chirped signal observed in the measurements. Our results show the potential of terahertz surface plasmon polaritons on metal wires for the sensitive detection of thin dielectric layers. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.