Polarization dependence of plasmonic near-field enhanced photoemission from cross antennas

The field enhancement of individual cross-shaped nanoantennas for normal incident light has been measured by the relative photoemission yield using a photoemission electron microscope. We not only measured the electron yield in dependence on the intensity of infrared light (800 nm, 100 fs), but also the polarization dependence. In the normal incidence geometry, the electrical field vector of the illuminating light lies in the surface plane of the sample, independent of the polarization state. Strong yield variations due to an out-of-plane field component as well as changes in the polarization state described by the Fresnel laws are avoided. The electron yield is related to the near-field enhancement as a function of the polarization state of the incident light. The polarization dependence is well explained by numerical simulations.