The optical properties of a thin layer of dye deposited on a metallic grating are significantly altered by the coupling between the dye molecules and the surface-plasmon polariton (SPP) modes of the interface. We present experimental results demonstrating that energy gaps which prohibit the propagation of SPPs may be used to control the absorption properties of such molecules. We compare our data with theory, and we use numerical modelling to show how the effect of the gap on the absorption may be optimized by a suitable choice of the grating profile.
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