Effect of cross-sectional shape on the propagation characteristics of fundamental plasmon mode guided along Au and Ag nanowires

We numerically examine the effect of the cross-sectional shape on the propagation characteristics of the fundamental surface plasmon polariton (SPP) mode guided along Au and Ag nanowires. It is observed that as the cross-sectional symmetry decreases from circular to triangular via pentagonal and square, the modal confinement, loss and dispersion increases. Further the difference in propagation characteristics between circular and other cross-sections increases rapidly as the wavelength of operation decreases. The study should be useful for selecting the cross-sectional shape of the nanowire for a particular application.