Improved attenuated total reflectance technique for the investigation of dielectric surfaces

Abstract
Guided wave surface polaritons (GWSPs) propagating in a dielectric slab adjacent to a metal surface are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that GWSPs can be used for high-resolution analysis of dielectric surfaces by means of the well-known attenuated total reflectance technique. From our experimental results we conclude that changes in the system equivalent to the adsorption of 1/30 of a monolayer can easily be resolved. A well-established surface characterization method, which had been restricted to few systems up to now, is thus immensely generalized.