Surface Plasmon Polaritons: Propagation Characteristics of Surface Plasmon Waves on Au and Ag at Optical Wavelengths

The existence of Surface Plasmons (SPs) is possible only if the metal have a negative dielectric constant at the corresponding optical frequency. In this paper the propagation characteristics of Surface Plasmon Waves (SPWs) which exists on noble metals like gold (Au) and silver (Ag) due to the formation of Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs), have been evaluated theoretically and simulated with the help of MATLAB programming language. The variation of the propagation constant (PC), the attenuation coefficient (AC) and the penetration depth (PD) inside the metals and the dielectric has been determined. It has been found that highly conducting metals Au and Ag provide a strong confinement to the SPWs at optical frequencies.