Excitation of surface plasmon polariton waves along the direction of periodicity of a one-dimensional photonic crystal

Excitation of surface plasmon-polariton (SPP) waves was investigated at an interface of a metal and a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC) along the direction of periodicity of the photonic crystal in a prism-coupled configuration. The rigorous coupled-wave approach was used to formulate the problem and the absorptance spectra were obtained as a function of the incidence angle, the period, and the thickness of the photonic crystal. The correlation of the absorptance bands with the underlying canonical problem and the spatial power profiles confirmed the excitation of SPP waves. The excitation of SPP waves at the interface of the 1DPC along the direction of the periodicity opens up new avenues for applications.