ABSTRACT
We now look at the necessary theory behind plasmonics. A plasma is an neutrally charged group of positively and negatively charged particles (approximately the same number of each). A plasma oscillation is when one group of charges moves relative to the other, such as in a metal with electrons moving with respect to the positive ions. The quantum of the plasma oscillation is a quasi particle referred to as a plasmon. It is a boson, so it follows Bose-Einstein statistics and has integer spin, although we will not look at it in that much detail in waveguide analysis.
