Discrete plasmonic nano-waveguide: Numerical and theoretical studies

The spaced metal nanoparticles arranged along a chain can interact through the near-field of surface plasmon-polariton modes of adjacent particles. The advantage of such propagation is that the mode confinement is below the diffraction limit of light, which is impossible with classical wave guides. The guiding of the electromagnetic wave along the chain becomes consequently possible. In this paper, we present the Finite Element Method (FEM) with adaptive mesh to investigate the plasmon resonaces of interracting metallic nanoparticles and describe the propagation of electromagnetic energy through functional structures. We propose, a general simulation tool to determine the various transmission coefficients through plasmonic discrete structures using multiple scattering computations based on a tight-binding Green function approach. We apply our theoretical and numerical approaches to investigate plasmonic discrete waveguides.