Compact Antenna for Efficient and Unidirectional Launching and Decoupling of Surface Plasmons Auteur(s): Baron Alexandre, Devaux Eloïse, Rodier Jean-Claude, Hugonin Jean-Paul, Rousseau E., Genet Cyriaque, Ebbesen Thomas, Lalanne Philippe (Article) Publié: Nano Letters, vol. 11 p.4207 (2011) Texte intégral en Openaccess : Ref HAL: hal-00675332_v1 PMID 21905740 DOI: 10.1021/nl202135w WoS: 000295667000030 Exporter : BibTex | endNote 152 Citations Résumé: Controlling the launching efficiencies and the directionality of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) and their decoupling to freely propagating light is a major goal for the development of plasmonic devices and systems. Here, we report on the design and experimental observation of a highly efficient unidirectional surface plasmon launcher composed of eleven subwavelength grooves, each with a distinct depth and width. Our observations show that, under normal illumination by a focused Gaussian beam, unidirectional SPP launching with an efficiency of at least 52% is achieved experimentally with a compact device of total length smaller than 8 μm. Reciprocally, we report that the same device can efficiently convert SPPs into a highly directive light beam emanating perpendicularly to the sample. |