Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Milestones
  • Published:

Milestone 20

Small and beautiful

Plasmonics

Nature Materials volume 9, pages S18–S19 (2010)Cite this article

Modern plasmonics started with a publication in 1998 by Thomas Ebbesen and colleagues, who observed a surprisingly efficient light transmission through a thin metal film with holes ten times smaller than the wavelength of light. Additionally, more light was transmitted through the film than was incident onto the area of the holes. Eventually, Ebbesen was able to explain his observations with the properties of surface-plasmon polaritons (SPPs).

SPPs consist of photons that interact with the surface motions of free electrons in metals. Plasmonic effects have inadvertently been exploited by glass makers since at least the fourth century, for example to generate the colours used in stained-glass windows in medieval cathedrals.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Garnett, J. C. M. Colours in metal glasses and in metallic films. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 203, 385–420 (1904)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Mie, G. Beirträge zur Optik trüber Medien, speziell kolloidaler Metallosungen. Ann. Phys. 25, 37 (1908)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Kretschmann, E. & Reather, H. Radiative decay of nonradiative surface plasmon excited by light. Z. Naturf. 23A, 2135–2136 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Otto, A. Excitation of nonradiative surface plasma waves in silver by the method of frustrated total reflection. Z. Phys. 216, 398–410 (1968)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fleischmann, M., Hendra, P. J. & McQuillan, A. J. Raman spectra of pyridine adsorbed at a silver electrode. Chem. Phys. Lett. 26, 163–166 (1974)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Jeanmarie, D. L. & Van Duyne, R. P. Surface Raman spectroelectrochemistry. Part I. Heterocyclic, aromatic, and aliphatic amines adsorbed on the anodized silver electrode. J. Electroanal. Chem. 84, 1–20 (1977)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Ebbesen, T. W., Lezec, H. J., Ghaemi, H. F., Thio, T. & Wolf, P. A. Extraordinary optical transmission through sub-wavelength hole arrays. Nature 391, 667–669 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hirsch, L. R. et al. Nanoshell-mediated near-infrared thermal therapy of tumors under magnetic resonance guidance. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 100, 13549–13554 (2003)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bergman, D. J. & Stockman, M. I. Surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation: quantum generation of coherent surface plasmons in nanosystems. Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 027402 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bozhevolnyi, S. I., Volkov, V. S., Devaux, E., Laluet, J. Y. & Ebbesen, T. W. Channel plasmon subwavelength waveguide components including interferometers and ring resonators. Nature 440, 508–511 (2006)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

FURTHER READING

  1. Raether, H. Surface Plasmons on Smooth and Rough Surfaces and on Gratings (Springer Verlag, 1988)

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Associate Editor, Nature Photonics,

    David Pile

Authors
  1. David Pile
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pile, D. Small and beautiful. Nature Mater 9 (Suppl 1), S18–S19 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2657

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2657

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing