Abstract

Anderson localization of the electromagnetic surface plasmon polariton (SPP) on a randomly rough metal surface has been predicted theoretically. The physical basis of the localization is the same as in the case of an electron in a random potential; i.e., the diffusion coefficient vanishes because of the coherence interference between scattered waves from random scatterers. However, there are yet no experiments for the observation of these effects. We show that such effects can be observed in reflection and transmission experiments on the SPP on a rough metal surface. For example, in reflection experiments, a back-scattered peak with twice the intensity compared to diffused scattered intensity is expected. The use of an attenuated total reflection prism is suggested for converting an incident photon into a SPP and back into a photon for better coupling efficiency.

© 1988 Optical Society of America