Subfemtosecond and Nanometer Plasmon Dynamics with Photoelectron Microscopy: Theory and Efficient Simulations

Abstract

We develop a theoretical model of the excitation and interference of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waves with femtosecond laser pulses and use the model to understand the features in images from subfemtosecond time-resolved two-photon photoelectron microscopy (2PPE-PEEM). The numerically efficient model is based on the optics of SPP modes on multilayer thin films and takes account of the excitation and interference by the incident light, its polarization, the boundary shape on the film where the plasmons are generated, the pulsed form of the excitation and the time integration associated with the PEEM method. The model explains the dominant features observed in the images including the com..