ABSTRACT
Surfaces of metals and their interfaces with dielectrics support electromagnetic excitations known as surface plasmon polaritons. Their field is localized near the boundary in a narrow region of a thickness that is less than the wavelength of the optical radiation. This remarkable property has been used in a number of metal nanostructures to generate, control, and manipulate electromagnetic fields on a nanoscale. This field forms the subject matter of plasmonics that is reviewed in this entry. Both fundamentals and a variety of applied aspects of plasmonics related to engineering nanoscale electromagnetic fields are surveyed in this entry.
