%0 Journal Article
%T Optical study of lithographically defined, subwavelength plasmonic wires and their coupling to embedded quantum emitters
%A Gregor Bracher
%A Konrad Schraml
%A Marcus Ossiander
%A Simon Frederick
%A Jonathan J. Finley
%A Michael Kaniber
%J Physics
%D 2013
%I arXiv
%R 10.1088/0957-4484/25/7/075203
%X We present an optical investigation of surface plasmon polaritons propagating along nanoscale Au-wires, lithographically defined on GaAs substrates. A two-axis confocal microscope was used to perform spatially and polarization resolved measurements in order to confirm the guiding of surface plasmon polaritons over lengths ranging from $5-20 \mu m$ along nanowires with a lateral dimension of only $\approx 100 nm$. Finite difference time domain simulations are used to corroborate our experimental observations and highlight the potential to couple proximal quantum dot emitters to propagating plasmon modes in such extreme sub-wavelength devices. Our findings are of strong relevance for the development of semiconductor based integrated plasmonic and active quantum plasmonic nanosystems that merge quantum emitters with nanoscale plasmonic elements.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1307.7019v4