Quantization of electromagnetic modes and angular momentum on plasmonic nanowires*

Abstract

Quantum theory of surface plasmons is very important for studying the interactions between light and different metal nanostructures in nanoplasmonics. In this work, using the canonical quantization method, the SPPs on nanowires and their orbital and spin angular momentums are investigated. The results show that the SPPs on nanowire carry both orbital and spin momentums during propagation. Later, the result is applied to the plasmonic nanowire waveguide to show the agreement of the theory. The study is helpful for the nano wire based plasmonic interactions and the quantum information based optical circuit in the future.