Bloch Long-Range Surface Plasmon Polaritons on Metal Stripe Waveguides on a Multilayer Substrate

We propose and demonstrate a thin Au stripe on a truncated 1D dielectric photonic crystal covered with Cytop as a waveguide for Bloch long-range surface plasmon polaritons. High-quality mode outputs were observed and a mode power attenuation of 12-17 dB/mm measured at lambda(0) = 1310 nm for propagation in the plane of the truncated photonic crystal and within its stopband. The truncated 1D photonic crystal advantageously enables the use of a large range of materials for the substrate, breaking free from the constraint of material symmetry to support long-range plasmons. An input grating coupler implemented as a periodic array of nanoscale Au ridges on a Au stripe was used to excite the mode via perpendicularly incident p-polarized light. The output was provided by adding a second grating coupler near the end of a waveguide to diffract light upward or by polishing the output facet and allowing the mode to radiate into a free-space beam. Advantageously, grating coupling eliminates the need for high quality end facets, and optical alignment is simplified. Given its practicality, the structure proposed is of strong interest for biosensing.