We study plasmonic nanostructures in single-crystal gold with scanning electron and femtosecond photoemission electron microscopies. We design an integrated laser coupling and nanowire waveguide structure by focused ion beam lithography in single-crystal gold flakes. The photoemission results show that the laser field is efficiently coupled into a propagating surface plasmon by a simple hole structure and propagates efficiently in an adjacent nano-bar waveguide. A strong local field is created by the propagating surface plasmon at the nano-bar tip. A similar structure, with a decreased waveguide width and thickness, displayed significantly more intense photoemission indicating enhanced local electric field at the sharper tip.

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Yu Gong, Alan G. Joly, Patrick Z. El-Khoury, and Wayne P. Hess, "Efficient coupling and transport of a surface plasmon at 780 nm in a gold nanostructure," Proc. SPIE 9547, Plasmonics: Metallic Nanostructures and Their Optical Properties XIII, 95470H (Presented at SPIE Nanoscience + Engineering: August 10, 2015; Published: 28 August 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2190449.