Giant enhancement of sum-frequency generation upon excitation of a surface plasmon-polariton

The generation of the sum frequency of visible (0.5235 mu m) and IP (10 mu m) radiation on smooth and corrugated silver surfaces is investigated. The sum-frequency signal obtained with a visible-range surface plasmon-polariton excited on a corrugated silver-air interface is found to be more than four orders of magnitude stronger than the signal from a smooth silver surface. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-3640(97)00221-1].