840 Q. Wang et al.
low-cost devices in THz-band are still quite lacking, which has limited the potential
applications of THz-band. In recent years, the development of metamaterials and devices
of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) has brought new vitality to the development of
manipulation technologies and devices of THz wave [5–12]. With great application value
in the electronics and photonics, SPPs are the fastest growing and one of the most
attractive areas in photonics recently. It refers to the coupling between light and
collective oscillations of the electron plasma at the conductor–dielectric interface.
It exhibits that the electromagnetic wave is confined on the surface and propagates
along the interface with exponential decay in the lateral dimension at frequencies
close to the surface plasma frequency. The coupling efficiency between electromagnetic
waves and free electrons depends on the complex permittivity of the conductor. With low
absolute value of permittivity in the visible region, metals can cause strong coupling
between incident electromagnetic wave and electrons. However, metals at THz
frequencies have very large permittivities with typical absolute values in five orders of
magnitude, causing rather weak confinement strength of the electromagnetic wave at the
metal surfaces. The research on the properties of SPPs in THz band has important
significance owing to the great application value of the THz wave. To manipulate THz
wave by effectively exciting SPPs in THz frequency band, two main methods are
proposed currently: one is to fabricate periodic notches, holes and other microstructural
on the thin metal films to excite SPPs. The other is to excite SPPs on semiconductor
surfaces instead of metal surfaces.
With permittivities at THz frequencies similar to that of metals within the visible
region, semiconductors can achieve strong coupling between THz wave and electrons.
Thus, THz wave SPPs can be effectively excited at the interface of dielectric and
semiconductor. Compared with metals, semiconductors (such as n-Si, n-GaAs, InSb)
owing unique advantages such as the complex permittivity can be changed by doping,
heat, light. Thus, the SPPs characteristics of THz wave can be tuned accordingly [13–15].
We studied the excitation and propagation properties of THz wave SPPs on the surfaces
of semiconductors through calculating and analysing the factors of confinement strength
of surface plasma and its propagation length. The effects of temperature on the
propagation characteristics of SPPs at the surface of InSb are presented as well.
Theoretical analysis demonstrates that the confinement strength of surface plasma and its
propagating length are a trade-off. We can design and optimise devices in THz-band
according to the propagation characters of THz wave SPPs on the surfaces of
semiconductors.
2 Theory of SPPs for semiconductors in THz-band excitation of SPPs
SPPs wave is excited by TM polarised electromagnetic wave incident on the interface of
conductor and dielectric. The dispersion relation showing in equation (1) can be obtained
by solving Maxwell equations with boundary conditions.
()
spp 0
sd
sd
kk
εε
εε
=
+
(1)
where ε
d
and ε
s
represent the relative permittivity of dielectric and semiconductor,
respectively. k
0
is the free-space wavenumber of incident electromagnetic wave while k
spp