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Journal of Modern Optics

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Surface Plasmon-polaritons on an
Anisotropic Substrate
a a
S.J. Elston & J.R. Sambles
a
Thin Film and Interface Group, Department of Physics ,
University of Exeter , Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QL,
England
Published online: 01 Mar 2007.

To cite this article: S.J. Elston & J.R. Sambles (1990) Surface Plasmon-polaritons
on an Anisotropic Substrate, Journal of Modern Optics, 37:12, 1895-1902, DOI:
10.1080/09500349014552101

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500349014552101

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 JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 1990, VOL . 37, NO . 12, 1895-1902

Letter

Surface plasmon-polaritons on an anisotropic substrate

S. J . ELSTON and J . R. SAMBLES

Thin Film and Interface Group, Department of Physics,
University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, England
Downloaded by [George Mason University] at 00:46 27 May 2014

(Received 20 July 1990)

Abstract. The case of a surface plasmon-polariton (excited by transverse

magnetic light) propagating at the interface between an isotropic metal (silver)
and an anisotropic (uniaxial) substrate is considered . The field distribution
within the system is illustrated when the optic axis of the substrate is not
orthogonal in the plane of light propagation . It is seen that in this case a
component of the electric field perpendicular to the plane of propagation exists,
and in certain circumstances this can become a propagating transverse electric
mode . Thus a transverse electric re-radiation occurs, which is enhanced by the
surface plasmon resonance, this could form the basis of an electro-optic switch
using the anisotropic properties of a liquid crystal layer .

1. Introduction
Surface plasmon-polaritons (SPPs) are surface localized electromagnetic re-
sonances which can be supported at the interface between media for which the real
part of the dielectric constants are of opposite sign [1] . At visible light wavelengths
these are normally a metal (negative real part of dielectric constant) and dielectric
substrate (positive dielectric constant) . It is an E-field across the interface which
supports a surface charge density and thus SPPs are transverse magnetic (TM)
modes, where the magnetic component of the field is perpendicular to the plane of
light propagation . The momentum of a SPP along a metal/dielectric interface is
given approximately by
Er I/2
EE'1 2
kspp
C '1 + E '2

where ci is the real part of the dielectric constant of the dielectric (C = i:'+ it") and the
metallic material is assumed to be only weakly absorbing . It is then seen that the
momentum of this surface wave is greater than the momentum of a wave in the
dielectric . It is thus necessary to enhance the momentum of the exciting light in some
way [1] . SPPs were first observed on the surface of metallic diffraction gratings in the
early part of this century by Wood [2] . In this case the extra momentum is supplied
by the grating scattering vector . In the 1960s more convenient methods of excitation
were developed by Otto [3] and Kretschmann and Raether [4] . In each of these
methods the enhanced momentum is gained by passing the incident light through a
medium of high refractive index. The SPP is then excited by evanescently coupling
to the surface mode . In the Otto geometry the tunnelling gap is the dielectric material
against which the SPP propagates . In the Kretschmann-Raether geometry the

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 1896 S. J . Elston and J . R . Sambles
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Figure 1 . The Kretschmann geometry used in this work . Light is incident through the first
medium (high index glass, n =1 . 8) at an angle 0 to the surface, and evanescently tunnels
through the metal (silver) layer to couple to the SPP on the silver/substrate interface .
Here the light is chosen to be He/Ne radiation (632 . 8 nm in free space) and the dielectric
constant of the silver film is chosen to be c = -17 . 5 +0. 7i . Axes are set up as shown, and
the Euler angles twist and tilt are as illustrated .

material with negative real part of dielectric constant (a metal at visible wavelengths)
forms the tunnelling gap . This is illustrated in figure 1, and it is this geometry which
will be considered here .
In this geometry the momentum of the SPP is greater than the momentum of
light propagating in the dielectric material (termed the substrate) so the SPP is
excited beyond the critical angle between the incoming medium (glass) and the
substrate . In the case when the substrate is isotropic, reflectivity as a function of
angle of incidence of light within the glass shows the SPP resonance . This is shown in
figure 2 (a), the parameters of the system are listed in the figure caption . It is possible
to calculate the field profile within this system [5] . The TM- field (H-field in the y
direction) at the SPP minimum is shown in figure 2 (b) . This shows the surface
resonance of the SPP, the field strength evanescently decaying into the metal and the
dielectric substrate . In this case there is no component of electric field in the y
direction (perpendicular to the plane of propagation) that is, no transverse electric
(TE) field component .
In the case when the substrate is anisotropic, SPPs can also be supported [6], and
it is the nature of these which is considered here .

2. Uniaxial substrate
In order to limit the area covered we consider the specific case when the substrate
is a uniform uniaxial dielectric material . Further we limit the situation to that when
the dielectric constants are purely real, with c 11 > c (i.e . the dielectric constant along
the optic axis is greater than that perpendicular to the optic axis) . This corresponds
well to the case of common liquid crystal materials, which due to their nature allow
controlled orientation of the optic axis in an external applied electric or magnetic field
[7] . Thus in calculations here, the dielectric constants used will be those of the
nematic liquid crystal material E7 . The orientation of the optic axis in the uniform
substrate is defined by the first two Eulerian angles, termed twist and tilt . Twist is the
rotation of the optic axis out of the plane of light propagation about an axis
 Surface plasmon-polaritons 1897

1 20

1 .00

P
0 .80

0 .60

0 .10

0 .20

0 .00
60 62 64 66 68 70
ANGLE/DEGREES

(a)
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2000

-1 .00 -0 .50 0 .00 0 .50 1 .00

HY
(b)
Figure 2 . (a) The SPP resonance observed for a silver film with t = - 17. 5 + 0 . 7i and a
thickness of 45 nm . This leads to a good coupling into the SPP, and a resulting deep
resonance . The substrate here is chosen to be isotropic, thus there is no TE component
in the resonance . (b) The TM-field distribution at the minimum of the SPP resonance .
The continuous line represents the envelope of the field, and the dashed line represents
an arbitrary instantaneous value in the system . The incident medium (glass) is at the
bottom of the figure, followed by the thin silver film, and the isotropic substrate . The
evanescent decay of the TM-field in the substrate is clearly seen .

perpendicular to the substrate . Tilt is the rotation of the optic axis about an axis
parallel to the substrate surface but perpendicular to the current optic axis . These are
illustrated in figure 1 .
When the optic axis lies parallel to or perpendicular to the plane of light
propagation (termed as being orthogonal in this plane) the SPP resonance curve and
field distribution will be as illustrated in figure 2 . Although with the optic axis in the
plane of propagation but not parallel to the substrate surface strong coupling
between the E-fields in the x and z directions can occur [6], but no TE-field exists .
However the case when the optic axis is not orthogonal in this plane is most
interesting .
 1 89 8 S . J . Elston and J . R . Sambles

2 .1 . Twisted optic axis

Consider first the case when the optic axis is twisted by a few degrees from the
plane of light propagation . Now there are components of the optic dielectric tensor of
the substrate which are not orthogonal in the plane of propagation and this can lead
to TM-TE mixing ; TM-fields in the substrate can, due to the off-diagonal
components in the optic dielectric tensor, excite TE-fields . In the case of the SPP,
the TM component in the substrate is evanescent, as shown in figure 2 (b) . It may
therefore be expected that any TE component which may exist in the substrate (due
only to TM-TE mixing) would have a similar field profile . However the TE
component is an E-field parallel to the substrate/metal interface, and the E-tangental
component at a perfectly conducting surface tends to zero . Here the metallic surface
is not an ideal conductor, thus we might expect to see a non-zero, but small E-
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tangental component at the metal surface .

The field profile can be calculated using a 4 x 4 matrix approach [5, 8, 9] . Doing
this with an optic axis twisted by 20° from the plane of light propagation leads to the
TE-field profile shown in figure 3 (curve (a)) . This is distinguished from figure 2 (b)
in that the field decays towards the metallic surface as well as into the dielectric

5545

E
c
E
d
N
T

LL
d
T
d (b) ,'

(a)

0
-1 .00 - .50 0 .00 0 .50 1 .00
ly

Figure 3 . (a) The TE-field distribution at the SPP resonance when the substrate consists of a
uniaxial slab of material with the optic axis twisted from the plane of light propagation
by 20° . The s 1 and c of the substrate are chosen to be 2 . 305 and 3 . 025 respectively,
being those of E7 liquid crystal . The system is otherwise as shown in figure 2 (b) . It is
seen that this field decays evanescently into the substrate, as does the TM-field, but also
decays near the silver surface . (b) The dotted line shows the TE-field distribution when
the twist angle is 50°, showing that the penetration depth of the TE-field increases .
 Surface plasmon-polaritons 1899

substrate . This is as expected from the reasoning above . Thus we see that the
surface-localized SPP has associated with it a TE-field which is also surface bound,
and is small at the metal/dielectric interface .

2 .2 . Propagating TE mode
Now consider the situation as the twist angle of the optic tensor is increased . Due
to the larger value of the dielectric constant along the optic axis it is apparent that at
some stage the TE component of light can become a propagating mode in the
substrate at an angle of incidence where a TM-like SPP is supported . This is indeed
seen to be the case, as twist is increased the depth of penetration of the TE
component of the mode increases (see figure 3, curve (b)), until when the critical
angle for TE light passes the SPP a propagating mode occurs . This has been seen
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before in a ferroelectric liquid crystal [10] .

For example at a twist angle of 70° the TE-field is a propagating mode, and is as
illustrated in figure 4 . Again the TM-field is very similar to that shown in figure 2 (b) .
The TE-field however is now not evanescent in the substrate, but is a propagating
mode . Thus an incident TM wave is coupled to an outgoing TE wave via the TM-
TE mixing due to the twist angle of the optic dielectric tensor of the substrate .
Further this TM-TE mixing is enhanced by the presence of the SPP resonance .
Here the TE propagating mode has an intensity of over 50% of the incoming TM
illumination, without the SPP surface enhancement it would be only -1% .

5545

e
c
e
.~N
U,
U
N
i
d
U

0
-1 .00 -0 .50 0 .00 0 .50 1 .00
Ey

Figure 4 . The TE-field distribution in the system when the twist angle is 70° . Now the TE
component is below the glass/substrate critical angle, thus the TM-TE mixing
occurring in the SPP field leads to a propagating TE mode .
 1 900 S. J . Elston and J. R . Sambles

0 .80 -

F
CO
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a 0 .20

0 .00 '~ 1 [
I

0 .00 10 .00 20 .00 30 .00 40 .00

90 ° -Twist of optic axis
Figure 5 . The variation of the intensity of transmitted TE light at the SPP minimum with
the twist angle of the optic axis . (a) The case for the silver film of 45 nm . (b) The case for
silver film of 35 nm . Clearly when the twist angle is 90° there is no coupling, but as the
twist angle decreases the coupling increases and a TE propagating mode exists down to
about 65° where the SPP minimum and TE mode critical angle cross . (Note : the
abscissa is 90°-twist) .

0 .80 -

0 .00
O .CO 5 .00 10 .00 15 .00 20 .00 25 .00 , 0 .00
Tit of optic ax !s

Figure 6 . Variation of transmitted TE light with tilt angle of the optic axis . It is seen that in
case (a) with 45 nm of silver that the TM-TE mixing increases for increasing tilt, but
reaches a maximum for a tilt of -10' and then decreases . This is because of the
additional loss mechanism in the SPP due to TE re-radiation . This is seen in (b) where
the silver film is reduced to 35 nm, the peak then shifts to a higher tilt angle .
 Surface plasmon-polaritons 1901

The variation of the intensity of TM-TE coupling as a function of the optic-axis

twist angle is illustrated for this case in figure 5 (curve (a)) . This clearly drops to zero
when the twist angle is 90° since then the optic dielectric tensor is orthogonal in the
plane of light propagation and no TM-TE mixing occurs . Also there is a cut off in the
mixing at a twist angle of 65 ° as this is where the TE mode critical angle passes the
SPP excitation angle . Below this the TE mode is also evanescent as shown earlier (see
figure 3) . In this case the maximum TM-TE coupling is - 50%, but with a greater
degree of anisotropy in the substrate (i .e . not limited to the liquid crystal E7) this
could be increased .

2.3 . Tilted optic axis

Alternatively we consider the case when the optic axis is tilted from a position
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perpendicular to the plane of light propagation (i .e . twisted by 90° in the previous

case and then tilted) . Here the TM- and TE-field profiles are very much similar to
those shown in the previous case (see figures 3 and 4) . However due to the direct
coupling between the dominant z direction electric field component in the SPP and
the TE-field, via the off-diagonal components in the optic dielectric tensor, the mode
mixing strength may be larger . Plotting as before the transmitted TE mode intensity
at the SPP minimum as a function of the tilt angle of the optic tensor we obtain the
curve shown in figure 6 (curve (a)) . This is clearly most interesting . In this a
propagating TE mode exists in the SPP for tilts between zero and 25 ° where the TE
critical edge crosses the TM-like SPP minimum . It is seen now however that the
maxinum TM-TE conversion does not occur adjacent to this critical edge, but at
- 10° tilt . Clearly the off-diagonal components in the optic dielectric tensor increase
with the tilt angle (up to 45°), so why does the TM-TE mixing tail off?

2.4 . Metal thickness

The reason for this is the radiation loss in the system . The thickness of the metal
(silver) film has been chosen to lead to a well coupled SPP resonance in the isotropic
case . Then the only loss in the system is due to the non-real dielectric constant of the
metal film, and it is this which dictates the ideal coupling condition . For the silver
parameters of c = -17 . 5 + 0. 7i used, this requires a film thickness of about 45 nm,
leading_ to the well coupled SPP shown in figure 2 (a) . Now however there is an
additional loss mechanism in the transmitted TE radiation . Thus the SPP ideal
coupling condition would occur for a thinner layer of metal . It is this additional re-
radiation loss and consequent poor coupling to the SPP which causes the tail-off in
the transmitted TE curve of figure 6 (curve (a)) . Re-plotting the curve with a film
thickness of 35 nm leads to the curve shown in figure 6 (curve (b)), which tails off at a
larger tilt angle . The effect of a thinner film on the twist TM-TE plot is also shown in
figure 5 (curve (b)) . With this thinner metal layer the SPP minimum is not so deep as
that shown in figure 2 for an isotropic substrate, and is over coupled . The additional
loss of TE transmission with a highly twisted or tilted substrate however again leads
to a deep SPP resonance . This then couples more energy into the TM evanescent
field, which is then re-radiated as more TE intensity .

3. Conclusions
In summary we have seen that TM-TE conversion in a SPP excited at the
interface between a metal and an anisotropic substrate leads to very interesting TE-
field profiles . It is seen that the TE-field in the substrate decays near the metallic
 1902 Surface plasmon-polaritons

interface due to the requirement for a small tangental electric field at a metal surface .
This leads to a trapped TM-TE mixed mode at the surface . However, if the TE
component in the substrate is below the critical angle then a propagating TE-mode
can occur which is enhanced due to the presence of the SPP resonance . The intensity
of this increases towards the critical angle, but can roll off if the SPP becomes under
coupled due to the additional loss mechanism of TE radiation .
This may have interesting device applications . The substrate has been chosen in
this work to represent the liquid crystal E7 as this can be conveniently aligned in
external fields . Use of aligned liquid crystal, together with the excitation of SPPs and
enhanced TM-TE mixing could allow switches to be developed using these effects .
Practical work of this nature is currently being undertaken .
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Acknowledgment
SJE acknowledges the Wolfson Trust and the SERC for financial support .

References
[1] INNES, R . A ., and WELFORD, K . R . (editors), 1988, Surface Plasmon-Polaritons, IOP
short meetings series no . 9 (Bristol : IOP) .
[2] WOOD, R . W., 1912, Phil. Mag ., 23, 310 .
[3] OTTO, A., 1968, Z. Phys ., 261, 398 .
[4] KRETSCHMANN, E ., and RAETHER, H ., 1968, Z. Natur., 23a, 2135 .
[5] INNES, R . A ., WELFORD, K . R ., and SAMBLES, J . R ., 1987, Liq . Cryst ., 2, 843 .
[6] HARTSTEIN, A ., BURSTEIN, E ., BRION, J . J ., and WALLIS, R . F., 1973, Surf. Sex ., 34, 81 .
[7] CHANDRASEKHAR, S ., 1980, Liquid Crystals (Cambridge University Press) .
[8] AZZAM, R . M . A., and BASHARA, N . M ., 1979, Ellipsometry and Polarized Light
(Amsterdam : North-Holland).
[9] Ko, D . Y . K ., and SAMBLES, J . R ., 1988, J . opt . Soc. Am . A, 5, 1863 .
[10] ELSTON, S . J ., SAMBLES, J . R ., and CLARK, M . G ., 1989, J . mod Opt ., 36, 1019 .