LAUSR

Abstract We present engineering of modes of a planar dielectric waveguide by inclusion of plasmonic nanoparticles inside the guiding layer. In presence of the nanoparticles, the waveguide supports angle independent modes even when the guiding layer thickness is smaller than the critical thickness necessary to support the normal waveguide modes. The strength and occurrence of this induced mode can be tailored by varying the volume fraction of the metallic inclusions, and the modes occur even for weak doping. Furthermore, the spectral position of the induced mode remains unaffected by the variation of the guiding layer thickness. We also obtain strong controllable coupling of the normal mode with the induced mode resulting in split modes of higher quality factor.