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Originally published in Science Express on 8 July 2004
Science 6 August 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5685, pp. 847 - 848
DOI: 10.1126/science.1098999
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Reports

Mimicking Surface Plasmons with Structured Surfaces

J. B. Pendry,1* L. Martín-Moreno,2 F. J. Garcia-Vidal3

Metals such as silver support surface plasmons: electromagnetic surface excitations localized near the surface that originate from the free electrons of the metal. Surface modes are also observed on highly conducting surfaces perforated by holes. We establish a close connection between the two, showing that electromagnetic waves in both materials are governed by an effective permittivity of the same plasma form. The size and spacing of holes can readily be controlled on all relevant length scales, which allows the creation of designer surface plasmons with almost arbitrary dispersion in frequency and in space, opening new vistas in surface plasmon optics.

1 Imperial College London, Department of Physics, The Blackett Laboratory, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
2 Departamento de Fisica de la Materia Condensada, Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales, Universidad de Zaragoza, E-50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
3 Departamento de Fisica Teorica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: j.pendry{at}imperial.ac.uk

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