Long-range surface plasmon polariton (LRSPP) modes in an asymmetrical system,in which the thin metal film is sandwiched between a semi-infinite substrate and a high permittivity polymer film with a finite thickness,are theoretically calculated and analyzed.Due to the high permittivity of the polymer film,at proper polymer film thicknesses,the index-matching condition of the dielectrics at both sides of the metal can be satisfied for supporting LRSPP modes,and the electromagnetic field above the metal can be localized well.It is found that these LRSPP modes have both long propagation lengths and subwavelength mode expansion above the metal at the optimal polymer film thicknesses.Furthermore,the requirements on the refractive index and the thickness of the polymer film to support LRSPP modes at the optimal thicknesses are found to be not critical.
Using the finite-difference time-domain(FDTD) method,we simulate the coupling between a gold nanorod and gold nanoparticles with different plasmonic resonant frequencies/volumes as well as that between the nanorod and a dielectric nanosphere.The influences of coupling with different nanoparticles on the excitation of a forbidden longitudinal surface plasmon mode of the nanorod under normal incidence are investigated.It is found that the cause of this excitation is the broken symmetry of the local electric field experienced by the nanorod resulting from the charge pileup on the other nanoparticle.This result is valuable for understanding the near-field optical characterization of plasmonic metal nanoparticles.
