Material-Specific Mapping of Plasmonic Modal Dispersion via Discrete Momentum-Space Probes

Abstract

Abstract Accurate measurement of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) dispersion remains challenging, as conventional angle-resolved techniques are limited by surface quality, diffraction artifacts, and geometry-induced band folding. Here, we show that SPP dispersion can be reconstructed from transmission spectra of plasmonic gratings with subwavelength apertures acting as Fabry-Pérot (FP) cavities. The approach harnesses modal hybridization between localized FP modes and SPPs, resolved using non-Hermitian eigenmode decomposition and validated by finite-difference time-domain simulations. ω-k dispersion mapping is achieved by varying the grating periodicity, with each structure probing a distinct in-plane momentum state. Geometry- and material-dependent corrections for aperture-induced leakage and dispersive phase shifts yield reconstructed relations in close agreement with eigenmode calculations across non-dispersive, Drude, and Drude-Lorentz models as well as experimental optical datasets spanning metals, oxides, and nitrides. The method is material-agnostic and requires no momentum-resolved instrumentation. Sensitivity to fabrication-induced wall roughness is also assessed: FP resonance positions remain spectrally stable with no measurable linewidth broadening across the explored perturbation range, and the modal field topology is largely preserved throughout. However, transmitted amplitude decreases monotonically owing to enhanced ohmic absorption at the perturbed boundaries.