Surface plasmon propagation on gold over 0.1-1.6 micrometer distances for plasmon energies in the range 1.6 - 3.5 eV was characterized. Surface plasmons were excited by an electron beam near a grating milled in the gold. The spectra of out-coupled radiation reveal increasingly strong propagation losses as surface plasmon energy increases above 2.8 eV, but little effect in the range 1.6 - 2.8 eV. These results are in partial agreement with theoretical expectations.
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