Mimicking surface plasmons with structured surfaces

Metals such as silver support surface plasmons: electromagnetic surface excitations localized near the surface that originate from the free electrons of the metal. Surface modes are also observed on highly conducting surfaces perforated by holes. We establish a close connection between the two, showing that electromagnetic waves in both materials are governed by an effective permittivity of the same plasma form. The size and spacing of holes can readily be controlled on all relevant length scales, which allows the creation of designer surface plasmons with almost arbitrary dispersion in frequency and in space, opening new vistas in surface plasmon optics.