Characterization of surface-plasmon polaritons at lossy interfaces

Abstract

We characterize surface-plasmon polaritons at lossy planar interfaces between one dispersive and one nondispersive linear isotropic homogeneous media, i.e. materials or metamaterials. Specifically, we solve Maxwell's equations to obtain strict bounds for the permittivity and permeability of these media, such that satisfying these bounds implies surface-plasmon polaritons successfully propagate at the interface, and violation of the bounds impedes propagation, i.e. the field delocalizes from the surface into the bulk. Our characterization of surface-plasmon polaritons is valuable for checking the viability of a proposed application, and, as an example, we employ our method to falsify a previous prediction that surface-plasmon propagation through a surface of a double-negative refractive index medium occurs for any permittivity and permeability; instead, we show that propagation can occur only for certain medium parameters.