Spatial Coherence in Complex Photonic and Plasmonic Systems

The concept of cross density of states characterizes the intrinsic spatial coherence of complex photonic or plasmonic systems, independently of the illumination conditions. Using this tool and the associated intrinsic coherence length, we demonstrate unambiguously the spatial squeezing of eigenmodes on disordered fractal metallic films, thus clarifying a basic issue in plasmonics. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.063903