Critical coupling in dissipative surface-plasmon resonators with multiple ports

Abstract

We theoretically investigate resonant absorption in a multiple-port surface-plasmon polaritons (SPP) resonator near the condition of critical coupling at which internal loss is comparable to radiation coupling. We show that total absorption is obtainable in a multiple-port system by properly configuring multiple coherent lightwaves at the condition of critical coupling. We further derive analytic expressions for the partial absorbance at each port, the total absorbance, and their sum rule, which provide a non-perturbing method to probe coupling characteristics of highly localized optical modes. Rigorous simulation results modeling a surface-plasmon resonance grating in the multiple-order diffraction regime show excellent agreements with the analytic expressions. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America