Surface polaritons on the interface between an enhanced dielectric and a nanocomposite media

•Review of surface wave propagation along the planar interface between an enhanced dielectric and a nanocomposite media.•Absorption in the nanocomposite media and amplification in the dielectric result in deformation of the dispersion relations compared to a passive structure.•The analysis indicates the possibility of a flexible control over dispersion characteristics of surface polariton using an enhancing dielectric.•The presence of enhancement significantly narrows the surface polariton slowing area which can be useful in the development of optical resonators. The features of the surface polaritons propagation are studied at the interface of an enhanced isotropic dielectric and a nanocomposite media with spherical metal inclusions. For each media, the frequency dependences of the propagation constant and the wave vector transverse components, group velocity and path length, penetration depth and longitudinal energy flow have been obtained and represented by diagrams. A significant impact of the imaginary part of dielectric permittivity on the wave characteristics of surface polaritons has been shown.