Cooperative emission of an excited molecular monolayer into surface plasmons

We propose a new cooperative phenomenon: the conversion of the energy stored in a monolayer of fully excited molecules, located at a distance Df (the fluorescence wave-length) from a metal or doped semiconductor, into the resonant surface-plasmon mode. The effect resembles Dicke's superradiance, with significant modifications the coherent burst is a propagating surface-polariton mode. © 1976 The American Physical Society.