Perturbation theory of mesoscale plasmonic waveguide with an analytical treatment of nonclassical electromagnetic boundary condition

Abstract: The optical modes of mesoscale plasmonic waveguides (MPWs) are significantly affected by nonclassical quantum effects, which can be comprehensively described by the nonclassical electromagnetic boundary condition (NEBC) formulated with the surface-response Feibelman d-parameters. In this paper, a perturbation theory for the nonclassical waveguide modes (NWMs) supported by MPWs under the NEBC is proposed. In this theory, by adopting the classical waveguide modes (CWMs) under the classical electromagnetic boundary condition (CEBC) as the basis functions and treating the NEBC as a first-order perturbation, a general expression of the propagation constant of the NWM with an analytical dependence on the NEBC is derived. This theory transparently reveals the underlying general relation between the nonclassical effects and the propagation properties of the NWMs, thereby providing an effective tool for the understanding and design of MPW devices, as well as for the experimental measurement of the d-parameters.