Radio Frequency Electromechanical Control over a Surface Plasmon Polariton Coupler

We explore the impact of ∼500 MHz surface acoustic waves traveling across a commensurable plasmonic grating coupler. A stroboscopic technique involving surface acoustic waves synchronized to a modelocked optical source allows to time-resolve the dynamical impact of the electromechanically induced perturbation. The surface acoustic wave periodically enhances or decreases the surface ripple of the static grating. Most remarkably, the dynamic surface deformation deliberately modulates the coupler’s efficiency by ±2% during the ∼2 ns acoustic cycle.