  A concept for the efficient generation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs)
with a duration of very few cycles is presented. The scheme is based on grating
coupling and laser pulses with wavefront rotation (WFR), so that the resonance
condition for SPP excitation is satisfied only for a time window shorter than
the driving pulse. The feasibility and robustness of the technique is
investigated by means of simulations with realistic parameters. In optimal
conditions, we find that a $29.5$~fs pulse with $800$~nm wavelength can excite
a $3.8$~fs SPP ($\sim 1.4$ laser cycles) with a peak field amplitude $2.7$
times the peak value for the laser pulse.
