Plasmonics is a rapidly developing field concerning light manipulation at the nanoscale with many potential applica- tions, of which plasmonic circuits are promising for future information technology. Plasmonic waveguides are fundamental elements for constructing plasmonic integrated circuits. Among the proposed different plasmonic waveguides, metallic nanowires have drawn much attention due to the highly confined electromagnetic waves and relatively low propagation loss. Here we review the recent research progress in the waveguiding characteristics of metallic nanowires and nanowire-based nanophotonic devices. Plasmon modes of both cylindrical and pentagonal metallic nanowires with and without substrate are discussed. Typical methods for exciting and detecting the plasmons in metallic nanowires are briefly summarized. Be- cause of the multimode characteristic, the plasmon propagation and emission in the nanowire have many unique properties, benefiting the design of plasmonic devices. A few nanowire-based devices are highlighted, including quarter-wave plate, Fabry-Pdrot resonator, router and logic gates.
Using numerical simulation, we investigate the high-order plasmon resonances in individual nanostructures of an Ag nanorice core surrounded by an Al2O3 shell. The peak positions of localized surface plasmon resonances （LSPRs） are red-shifted exponentially with the increase of the dielectric shell thickness. This is due to the exponential decay of electromagnetic field intensity in the direction perpendicular to the interface. This exponential red-shift depends on the wavelength of the resonance peak instead of the resonance order. In addition, we find that the LSPRs in an Ag nanorice of 60-nm width can be perfectly described by a single linear function. These features make nanorice an ideal platform for sensing applications.
