Properties of Surface Plasmon Polaritons Excited by Higher-Order Radially Polarized Laser Beams

Properties of surface Plasmon polaritons (SPPs) excited by generalized radially polarized higher-order transverse mode beam in high-numerical-aperture microscopic system is investigated theoretically based on vector diffraction theory. A variety of total field distributions such as virtual probe, flat-topped pattern, and doughnut can dynamically be obtained through properly selecting suitable transverse mode and pupil to beam ratio of different mode beams.