Enhanced backward scattering by surface plasmons on silver film

Abstract

Surface plasmon and its potential application in nanotechnology have attracted a remarkable amount of attention recently due to their novel properties. In this work we present an angularly resolved surface plasmon scattering study on a primitive metal surface. Using a reversed attenuated total reflection (RATR) setup in the experiment, we obtained a double-crescent shaped and enhanced scattering pattern at far field. The scattering pattern as a function on the variation of angle and polarization of incident beam are studied. Both theoretical and experimental results reveal an enhanced backward scattering by surface plasmon excitation. Consequently, it is shown that this angularly resolved surface plasmon scattering measurement can be employed for resolving a richness of nanoscale surface textures. © Springer-Verlag 2007.