Observation of space-time surface plasmon polaritons

Naoki Ichiji, Hibiki Kikuchi, Murat Yessenov, Kenneth L. Schepler, Ayman F. Abouraddy () and Atsushi Kubo ()
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Naoki Ichiji: University of Tsukuba, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences
Hibiki Kikuchi: University of Tsukuba, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences
Murat Yessenov: Harvard University, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Kenneth L. Schepler: University of Central Florida, CREOL, The College of Optics & Photonics
Ayman F. Abouraddy: University of Central Florida, CREOL, The College of Optics & Photonics
Atsushi Kubo: University of Tsukuba, Department of Physics, Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at metal-dielectric interfaces provide strong out-of-plane confinement enabling nano-scale sensing and imaging, yet diffraction causes spatial delocalization. Conventional strategies to combat diffraction through spatial structuring are inapplicable to dimensionally restricted SPPs, except for nonlocalized cosine plasmons and Airy plasmons that follow curved trajectories. Here we demonstrate space-time SPPs (ST-SPPs), ultrashort (16-fs) diffraction-free SPPs that propagate rectilinearly via precise sculpting of their spatiotemporal spectra. By synthesizing a spatiotemporally structured field in free space and coupling the field to an axially invariant ST-SPP at a metal-dielectric surface, we control the ST-SPP group velocity and propagation characteristics. Time-resolved two-photon fluorescence microscopy reconstructs the surface-bound field in space and time, verifying the predicted spatiotemporal wavefront and diffraction-free propagation. Our work opens new avenues for combining spatiotemporally structured light with the field-localization associated with nanophotonics, and may thus enable novel applications in surface-enhanced sensing and nonlinear optical interactions.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65289-8

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