Manipulating light at subwavelength scale by exploiting defect-guided spoof plasmon modes

We study the defect-guided modes supported by a set of metallic rods structured at the subwavelength scale. Following the idea of photonic crystal waveguide, we show that spoof plasmon surface waves can be manipulated at subwavelength scale. We demonstrate that these waves can propagate without leakage along a row of rods having a different length than the surrounding medium and we provide the corresponding dispersion relation. The principle of this subwavelength colored guide is validated experimentally. This allows us to propose the design of a wavelength demultiplexer whose efficiency is illustrated in the microwave regime.