Two important problems in current photonics concern the optimal choice of materials for coupling light into surface plasmons, and for use in high absorbing thin layers for photovoltaic cells. We describe recent work on the use of zirconium nitride and titanium nitride as alternatives to silver in gold in coupling light from free space into surface plasmons,and show all four can provide coupling efficiencies over 87 % for wavelengths between 0.5 and 2.0 micron. We also discuss the physics of achieving ultra-high absorption in layers much thinner than the wavelength, and exhibit results showing total absorption in 40 nm layers of structured di-antimony tri-sulphide.