  We investigated surface plasmon polariton (SPP) propagation in a
metal-semiconductor-metal structure where semiconductor is highly excited to
have optical gain. We show that near the SPP resonance, the imaginary part of
the propagation wavevector changes from positive to hugely negative,
corresponding to an amplified SPP propagation. The SPP experiences a giant gain
that is 1000 times of material gain in the excited semiconductor. We show that
such a giant gain is related to the slowing down of average energy propagation
in the structure
