Dispersion of metal-insulator-metal plasmon polaritons probed by cathodoluminescence imaging spectroscopy

Cathodoluminescence imaging spectroscopy is used to excite and characterize the resonant modes of Fabry-Perot resonators for surface plasmon polaritons confined in a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) geometry. The smallest MIM plasmon wavelength derived from the observed mode pattern is found to be 160 nm in cavities with a 10 nm SiO2 layer for a free-space wavelength of 645 nm. The measured wavelength agrees well with values from analytical dispersion relation calculations. Calculations of the excitation probability show that the resonant excitation of MIM plasmons depends strongly on the electron energy due to phase retardation effects resulting from the finite electron velocity.

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