Abstract
Researchers employed various well-developed concepts from conventional optics in designing novel plasmonic devices, which allow us to construct a framework to describe the propagation, diffraction, and interference of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on a chip. Here we present what we believe to be the first direct mapping of the UV SPPs on an Al2O3/Al surface using a LTV-compatible near-field scanning optical microscope system. LTV SPP modes launched by one-dimensional slits or two-dimensional groove arrays and corresponding interference phenomenon were both observed, which may enrich the studies on subwavelength optics on a chip. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America