En route to low loss nanoplasmonics: elongating surface plasmon propagating length without gain

We have demonstrated that an addition of highly concentrated rhodamine 6G chloride dye to the PMMA film adjacent to a silver film causes three-fold reduction of the imaginary part of the dielectric constant of Ag (absorption loss in metal) and 30% elongation of the propagation length of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP). The possibility to elongate the SPP propagation length without optical gain opens a new technological dimension to low-loss nanoplasmonics.