Amplifying of surface plasmon-polariton in a metal–gain medium–vacuum structure

Propagation of a surface plasmon-polariton in a three-layer system consisting of the half-space filled with a metal, a layer of the gain medium of a finite thickness, and a half-space filled with vacuum is considered. The existence of the optimum thickness of the amplifying layer at which the plasmon is amplified several times stronger than in the case of infinite thickness is demonstrated. In particular, the plasmon loss can be compensated at a lower pumping intensity than in the case of infinite thickness of the gain layer.