Controllable and enhanced nanojet effects excited by surface plasmon polariton

Nanojet effects excited by surface plasmon polariton at the shadow-side surfaces of dielectric microdisks positioned on gold films are reported. The surface plasmon nanojet can propagate over several optical wavelengths while still maintaining a subwavelength full-width at half-maximum transverse. Due to the nature of surface plasmon wave, the electric field of the highly confined nanojet at metal-dielectric interface is enhanced by about 30 times. By varying thickness of the dielectric microdisk, the formation of surface plasmon polariton nanojet can be flexibly controlled. The surface plasmon polariton nanojet shows great promise for enhanced Raman scattering and integrated plasmonic circuits. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC