  A rigorous formulation for the scattering of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP)
from a one-dimensional surface defect of any shape that yields the
electromagnetic field in the vacuum half-space above the vacuum-metal interface
is developed by the use of an impedance boundary condition. The electric and
magnetic near fields, the angular distribution of the far-field radiation into
vacuum due to SPP-photon coupling, and the SPP reflection and transmission
coefficients are calculated by numerically solving the k-space integral
equation upon which the formulation is based. In particular, we consider
Gaussian-shaped defects and study the dependence of the above mentioned
physical quantities on their 1/e half-width a and height h. SPP reflection is
significant for narrow defects; maximum reflection (plasmon mirrors) is
achieved for a~lambda/10. For increasing defect widths, protuberances and
indentations behave differently. The former give rise to a monotonic increase
of radiation at the expense of SPP transmission for increasing defect
half-width. Indentations exhibit a significant increase of radiation (decrease
of SPP transmission) for half-widths of the order of or smaller than the
wavelength, but tend to total SPP transmission in an oscillatory manner upon
further increasing the half-width. Light-emitters might thus be associated with
either wide indentations, or protuberances with widths that are of the order of
or smaller than the wavelength.
