Directional surface plasmon coupled chemiluminescence from nickel thin films: Fixed angle observation

Directional surface plasmon coupled chemiluminescence (SPCC) from nickel thin films is demonstrated. Free-space and angular-dependent SPCC emission from blue, green and turquoise chemiluminescent solutions placed onto nickel thin films attached to a hemispherical prism were measured. SPCC emission was found to be highly directional and preferentially p-polarized, in contrast to the unpolarized and isotropic chemiluminescence emission. The largest SPCC emission for all chemiluminescence solutions was observed at a fixed observation angle of 60°, which was also predicted by theoretical Fresnel calculations. It was found that nickel thin films did not have a catalytic effect on chemiluminescence emission.