Guided Plasmon Modes of Elliptical Cross Section Silver Nanoridges

Propagating two-dimensional plasmon modes guided by elliptical cross section silver nanoridges are investigated in this paper. Mode field profiles, dispersion curves, propagation distances, and figure-of-merits of the plasmon ridge modes are calculated for various elliptical cross sections. It is found that an elliptical cross section metal nanoridge, if designed properly, can support a well-confined plasmon mode with a longer propagation distance and a higher figure-of-merit than the flat-top nanoridge plasmon waveguide of the same width. The optimal ridge waveguide cross section is obtained when the elliptical ridge top has a semicircular cross section. When the curvature of the elliptical nanoridge is large, the mode approaches the tightly confined wedge plasmon mode.