Abstract: In this paper, two kinds of modified surface plasmonic waveguides formed by nanometric parallel lines are proposed. The finite-difference frequency-domain method is used to study propagation properties of the fundamental mode supported by these surface plasmonic waveguide structures. Results show that the transverse magnetic field of the fundamental mode is mainly distributed in the face to face region formed by two rods. With the same geometrical parameters and the same working wavelength of 632.8 nm, in the case of rods with a triangular cross-section, the degree of localization of field is strong, i.e. the mode area is small, but the fraction of the modal power in the metal increases, so the effective index increases and the propagation length of the mode decreases. With the same geometrical parameters, relative to the case of a working wavelength of 632.8 nm, when working wavelength is large, the mode area of transverse magnetic field distribution is large, i.e. the degree of localization of field is weak, and the interaction of field and silver is weak too, then the effective index decreases, so the propagation length increases. The rounded radii of rods have a great influence on the performance of the surface plasmonic waveguides with rounded triangular cross-sections, but have little influence on the performance of surface plasmonic waveguides with rounded square cross-sections. Since the distribution of transverse magnetic field, effective index, propagation length and the mode area can be adjusted by the geometrical parameters, this kind of modified surface plasmonic waveguide can be applied to the field of photonic device integration and sensors.

Key words: surface plasmon polaritons, optical waveguides