Generation of two-dimensional plasmonic bottle beams

Abstract

By analogy to the three dimensional optical bottle beam, we introduce the plasmonic bottle beam: a two dimensional surface wave which features a lattice of plasmonic bottles, i.e. alternating regions of bright focii surrounded by low intensities. The two-dimensional bottle beam is created by the interference of a non-diffracting beam, a cosine-Gaussian beam, and a plane wave, thus giving rise to a non-diffracting complex intensity distribution. By controlling the propagation constant of the cosine-Gauss beam, the size and number of plasmonic bottles can be engineered. The two dimensional lattice of hot spots formed by this new plasmonic wave could have applications in plasmonic trapping.