Characterization of polarization states of surface plasmon polariton modes by Fourier-plane leakage microscopy

We demonstrate that the polarization states of guided wave surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes can be unambiguously identified by introducing a linear polarizer in the optical path of the light within a leakage based microscope We show the use of Fourier plane leakage based microscopy as a polarization characterization method to study the polarization states of SPP modes excited in plasmonic waveguides Our results indicate that the inclusion of a linear polarizer provides additional image processing capabilities to leakage based microscopes (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved