ELECTROOPTIC PROPERTIES OF THIN METALLIC LAYERS

The Pockels electro-optic effect at a surface of a centrosymmetric metal is described and is experimentally demonstrated on Ag surfaces in connection with surface plasmon excitation in attenuated total reflection measurements. It is shown that it is sufficient to know only the linear-optical properties of the metal in order to predict its electro-optic properties. The experimental data seem to be in good agreement with the theoretical model even without the introduction of phenomenological fitting parameters into the theory. We predict extremely large electro-optic effects near the plasma edge of the metal.