Light propagation in nonuniform plasmonic subwavelength waveguide arrays

We study light propagation in nanoscale periodic structures composed of dielectric and metal in the visible range. We demonstrate that diffraction curves of nonuniform waveguide arrays can be tailored by varying the geometric and dielectric features of the waveguides. The results obtained from a proper formulation of coupled mode theory for nonuniform arrays are validated through numerical solution of Maxwell equations in frequency domain.