Dispersion-sensitive surface plasmon wave assisted by incoherent gain

A three-level system with pumped electric-dipole allowed transition for incoherent-gain negative permittivity is suggested in order to realize dispersion-sensitive surface plasmon wave. The present surface wave modes occurring at an interface between an incoherent-gain negative-permittivity “plasmonic” medium (e.g., a semiconductor-quantum-dot material) and an ordinary dielectric can be amplified due to population transfer in the three-level system of the negative-permittivity medium. The issues of complex phase constant and the attenuation coefficients in the adjacent media are considered for addressing the problem of loss compensation of surface plasmon wave. The effect of incoherent-gain amplification exhibited by the dispersion-sensitive surface plasmon wave can be utilized for designing new quantum optical and photonic devices, e.g., photonic transistors and logic gates.