Surface-plasmon-polariton wave propagation guided by a metal slab in a sculptured nematic thin film

摘要

Surface-plasmon-polariton~(SPP) wave propagation guided by a metal slab in aperiodically nonhomogeneous sculptured nematic thin film~(SNTF) was studiedtheoretically. The morphologically significant planes of the SNTF on both sidesof the metal slab could either be aligned or twisted with respect to eachother. The canonical boundary-value problem was formulated, solved for SPP-wavepropagation, and examined to determine the effect of slab thickness on themultiplicity and the spatial profiles of SPP waves. Decrease in slab thicknesswas found to result in more intense coupling of two metal/SNTF interfaces. Butwhen the metal slab becomes thicker, the coupling between the two interfacesreduces and SPP waves localize to one of the two interfaces. The greater thecoupling between the two metal/SNTF interfaces, the smaller is the phase speed.