Stable spatial plasmon solitons in a dielectric-metal-dielectric geometry with gain and loss

Using a combination of numerical and analytical techniques we demonstrate that a metal stripe surrounded by the active and passive dielectrics supports propagation of stable spatial surface-plasmon solitons. Our analytical methods include the multiple scale reduction of the Maxwell's equations to the coupled Ginzburg-Landau system, and the soliton perturbation theory developed in the framework of the latter. © 2011 Optical Society of America.