LAUSR

We investigate electron spin currents induced optically via plasmonic modes in the Kretschmann configuration. By utilizing the scattering matrix formalism, we take the plasmonic mode coupled to an external laser drive into consideration and calculate induced magnetization in the metal. The spatial distribution of the plasmonic mode is inherited by the induced magnetization, which acts as an inhomogeneous effective magnetic field and causes the Stern-Gerlach effect to drive electron spin currents in the metal. We solve the spin diffusion equation with a source term to analyze the spin current as a function of the spin diffusion length of the metal, the frequency, and the incident angle of the external drive.