Analytical Approach to the Prism Coupling Problem in the Kretschmann Configuration

Prism coupling in the Kretschmann configuration is a well-known method for excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP’s) in a metal film bounded from one side by a prism and from the other side by air. The analysis of the reflectance in the upper medium (prism) is based on the well-known Fresnel’s formula. Due to the fact that this formula cannot be inverted directly to give the complex dielectric permittivity and the thickness of the metal film from measured values of the reflectance at three or more different angles of incidence, an additional analysis is needed. Here, such an analysis is presented. The special case of illumination with He–Ne laser (λ = 632.8 nm) of silver film bounded by air is considered. A new asymptotic formula for the Lorentz dip is derived. Our experimental data for silver film are reported too.