Plasmonic channel waveguides in random arrays of metallic nanoparticles

We report detailed characterization of surface plasmon-polariton guiding along 1-, 1.5- and 2-μm-wide channels in high-density (~75 μm−2) random arrays of gold 70-nm-high and 50-nm-wide nanoparticles fabricated on a 70-nm-thin gold film supported by a 170-μm-thick silica substrate. The mode propagation losses, effective index dispersion, and scattering parameters are characterized using leakage-radiation microscopy, in direct and Fourier planes, in the wavelength range of 740–840 nm. It is found that the mode supported by 2-μm-wide channels propagates over > 10 μm in straight waveguides, with the corresponding S-bends and Y-splitters functioning reasonably well. The results show that the SPP waves can efficiently be guided by narrow scattering-free channels cut through randomly corrugated surface regions. The potential of this waveguiding mechanism is yet to be fully explored by tuning the scattering mean-free path and localization length via the density and size of random nanoparticles. Nevertheless, the results obtained are encouraging and promising diverse applications of these waveguide components in plasmonic circuitry.