Surface plasmon induced spot and line formation at interfaces of ITO coated LiNbO3 slabs and gigantic nonlinearity.

Remarkable spots and lines were clearly observed at the two interfaces of indium-tin-oxide coated Z-cut Fe-doped lithium noibate plates under illumination by milliwatt continuous-wave laser light; this occurred because of the visible surface plasmons (SPs) supported by the promising non-metal plasmonic system. The intriguing observations are here explained via the SP-strengthened nonlinear effect, through consideration of the electrostatic field (which is comparable to the atomic field) and its large gradient; this hints at a promising, highly sensitive plasmonic system. The gigantic nonlinear effect discussed in this paper should be ubiquitously existed in many oxide ferroelectric/semiconductor combinations and is promising for visible plasmonic applications.