Microscopic origin of surface-plasmon radiation in plasmonic band-gap nanostructures.

We report spatial domain measurements of the damping of surface-plasmon excitations in metal films with periodic nanohole arrays. The measurements reveal a short coherent propagation length of a few microm inside nanohole arrays, consistent with delays of about 10 fs in ultrafast transmission experiments. This implies that the transmission spectra of the entire plasmonic band-gap structure are homogeneously broadened by radiative damping of surface-plasmon excitations. We show that a Rayleigh-like scattering of surface plasmons by the periodic hole array is the microscopic origin of this damping, allowing the reradiation rate to be controlled.