Propagation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) along the interface between a metal and a dielectric has attracted significant\nattention due to its unique optical properties, which has inspired a plethora of fascinating applications in photonics and\noptoelectronics. However, SPPs suffer from large attenuation because of the ohmic losses in the metal layer. It has become the\nmain bottom-neck problem for the development of high performance plasmonic devices. This limitation can be overcome by\nproviding the material adjacent to the metal with optical gain. In this paper, a review of gain compensation to SPPs is presented.\nWe focus on the spontaneous radiation amplification and simulated radiation amplification. The ohmic loss of metal was greatly\nimproved by introducing optical gain. Then we introduce several gain mediums of dye doped, quantum dots, erbium ion, and\nsemiconductor to compensate optical loss of SPPs. Using gain medium mentioned above can compensate losses and achieve many\npotential applications, for example, laser, amplifier, and LRSPP discussed.
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