Local observation of plasmon focusing in Talbot carpets

We present a detailed experimental and theoretical study of plasmon Talbot effect. A theoretical model based on simple scattering theory is developed to describe the Talbot self-imaging pattern generated by a linear arrangement of cylindrical nanostructures forming a periodic array. We first show the experimental observation of plasmon Talbot carpets created by propagating surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) interacting with cylindrical nanostructures positioned on a thin Au film using leakage radiation microscopy. Such images provide information on the distribution of the plasmon intensity close to the nanostructures. Next, heterodyne interferometer based near-field imaging is carried out to extract information on the plasmonic modes forming the Talbot carpet deployment. We report the experimental observation of Talbot focal spots with dimensions down to lambda/4. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America