Tunable directive radiation of surface-plasmon diffraction gratings.

We experimentally demonstrate tunable radiation from a periodic array of plasmonic nanoscatterers, tailored to convert surface plasmon polaritons into directive leaky modes. Extending our previous studies on efficient directional beaming based on leaky-wave radiation from periodic gratings driven by a subwavelength slit, we experimentally show dynamic beam sweeping by tuning the directional leaky-wave mechanism in real-time. Two alternative tuning mechanisms, wavelength- and index-mediated beam sweeping, are employed to modify the relative phase of scattered light at each grating edge and provide the required modification of the radiation angle.