Surface plasmonic waves have been extensively researched due to their strong surface confinement. The strong surface confinement allows high absorption in an infrared (IR) detector with a thin active absorption region. The excitation of surface plasmonic resonance (SPR) depends on the metallic structures and the interface materials. This enables engineering of plasmonic-enhanced IR detector properties (e.g. detection wavelength, polarization and angular dependence) by properly designing the plasmonic structures. This chapter first gives a brief review of the surface plasmonic waves, followed by the description of SPR excitation in a metallic two-dimensional (2D) sub-wavelength hole array (2DSHA) structure. The applications of the 2DSHA SPR in IR detector enhancement are then presented with a discussion of the polarization and angular dependence.
Part of the book: Nanoplasmonics