Anticrossing behavior of surface plasmon polaritons coupled with vibrational modes in planar plasmon structures

Strong coupling of surface plasmon polaritons with molecular oscillators is an active topic of research. The realization of strong coupling regime using surface plasmon-polaritons was reported for various types of molecules. In this work, we study the response of a planar plasmon structure in the Kretschmann configuration in aqueous environment. The structure supports excitation of the surface plasmon polaritons and the vibrational mode of water molecules. The anticrossing behavior of dispersion curves of the modes caused by their coupling is investigated. The results of the present work can be implemented in studies of light-matter interaction for sensing applications and molecular and material sciences.