Low-loss plasmonic resonance using surface Bloch waves in photoplasmonic metamaterials

We present a method for the suppression of the radiative loss of plasmonic resonant modes by efficiently coupling them with the nonradiative Bloch surface waves in photoplasmonic metamaterials, comprised of a 2D array of plasmonic resonators deposited on the low-index termination layer of a 1D photonic crystal. The number of photonic crystal bilayers plays a crucial role in the plasmonic radiative loss, with Q -values increasing with incrementing photonic crystal bilayers reaching values of ∼580 in the UV-Vis regime. We also show that the fundamental plasmonic mode of the metamaterial split into different energy levels corresponding to surface Bloch waves associated with each bilayer of the photonic crystal.