Beam Propagation Method Calculating Attenuated Total Reflection Spectra to Excite Hybridized Surface Plasmon Polaritons

Using the beam propagation method, an analytical expression of the reflection spectra of a Kretschmann configuration is derived in order to excite hybridized surface plasmonic polaritons (HSPPs). In this configuration, the cladding is a uniaxial dielectric with the optical axis parallel to the interface. The validity of the analytical expression is confirmed by a finite-difference time-domain algorithm and a reported experimental result, respectively. Based on this expression, the properties and the conditions for excitation of the HSPPs are discussed in detail, with regard to the strongly anisotropic cladding and the weakly anisotropic cladding.