Frustrated total internal reflection and critical coupling in a thick plasmonic grating with narrow slits

Abstract

We demonstrate the possibility of critical coupling through frustrated total internal reflection in a thick plasmonic grating below the first diffraction order. Differently from conventional approaches relying on the excitation of surface plasmon-polaritons, here we exploit the light coupling with the leaky modes supported by the grating. This mechanism entails a wide-angle coupling and effectively access spectral bands that would otherwise be difficult to probe using conventional plasmonic critical coupling techniques, such as the Otto configuration. Our finding may pave the way to efficient plasmonic bio-sensor devices.