表面等离子被光激发被叫做平面的表面等离子共振（英语：Surface plasmon resonance，SPR）或纳米尺寸金属结构的局域表面等离子共振（英语：localized surface plasmon resonance，LSPR）。

这一现象是测量材料被吸收到金属平面或金属纳米颗粒表面的许多标准化工具的基础。它是许多基于颜色的生物传感器应用和不同实验室芯片传感器之后的理论基础。

当入射光通过棱镜等在金属表面发生全反射时，倏逝波会与表面等离子波耦合产生共振。

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is the resonant oscillation of conduction electrons at the interface between a negative and positive permitivity material stimulated by incident light. The resonance condition is established when the frequency of incident photons matches the natural frequency of surface electrons oscillating against the restoring force of positive nuclei. SPR in subwavelength scale nanostructures can be polaritonic or plasmonic in nature.