Wavelength-Tunable Purcell Effect in a Surface Plasmon Polariton State on a Metamaterial Edge

Abstract Layered metal-dielectric structures are easy-to-fabricate one-dimensional plasmonic metamaterials. Using the effective media approach, we consider surface plasmons that appear on an interface between such metamaterial and a dielectric. We have shown that two types of surface plasmon states appear on an interface. The frequency of the peak in the local density of states of these states is dependent on the fraction of metal in the metamaterial. By reducing the fraction, the frequency can be shifted towards longer wavelengths. There the losses of light in metal are reduced, which, as we have shown, leads to the increase in peak value of the Purcell factor.