Coherent Plasmonics – what, why and how?

Structured materials which allow nanoscale control of light are necessary for achieving compact, integrated photonic devices. Surface plasmon polaritons, coupled modes of free electron oscillations and photons, are low dimensional excitations, strongly confined at metal-dielectric interfaces. While the size of standard optical components is limited by the wave diffraction limit, these essentially two-dimensional waves may be confined to nanoscale dimensions much smaller than optical wavelengths. As such, surface plasmons have been envisioned to facilitate the future emergence of highly compact, integrated photonic devices incorporating sub-micron plasmonic components which allow control, diagnostics and manipulation of information on the nanoscale. In this talk I will discuss some well-known optical coherence properties and their manifestation in plasmonic systems. This approach enables a qualitative as well as quantitative description of universal coherence phenomena such as electromagnetically induced transparency, Fano interference and stimulated emission. Possible applications and major limitations of nano-plasmonic systems will also be addressed.