Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are electromagnetic (EM) modes propagating along metal‐dielectric interfaces, in which surface collective excitations of free electrons in the metal are coupled to evanescent EM fields in the dielectric. Various SPP modes can be supported by flat and curved, single and multiple surfaces, exhibiting remarkable properties, including the possibility of concentrating EM fields beyond the diffraction limit, i.e. on the nanoscale, while enhancing local field strengths by several orders of magnitude. This unique feature of SPP modes, along with the ever-increasing demands for miniaturization of photonic components and circuits, generates an exponentially growing interest in SPP-mediated radiation guiding and SPP-based waveguide components. Here we review the current status of this rapidly developing field, starting with a brief presentation of the main planar SPP modes along with the techniques employed for their excitation and manipulation by sets of nanoparticles. We then describe in detail various SPP-based waveguide configurations that ensure two-dimensional mode confinement in the plane perpendicular to the propagation direction and compare their characteristics. Excitation of SPP waveguide modes and recent progress in the development of SPP-based waveguide components are also discussed, concluding with our outlook on challenges and possible future developments in this field. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal) This article was invited by Horst-Guenter Rubahn.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0034-4885/76/1/016402/pdf

Radiation guiding with surface plasmon polaritons

In contrast to designing nanophotonic devices by tuning a handful of device parameters, we have developed a computational method which utilizes the full parameter space to design linear nanophotonic devices. We show that our method may indeed be capable of designing any linear nanophotonic device by demonstrating designed structures which are fully three-dimensional and multi-modal, exhibit novel functionality, have very compact footprints, exhibit high efficiency, and are manufacturable. In addition, we also demonstrate the ability to produce structures which are strongly robust to wavelength and temperature shift, as well as fabrication error. Critically, we show that our method does not require the user to be a nanophotonic expert or to perform any manual tuning. Instead, we are able to design devices solely based on the user's desired performance specification for the device.

Nanophotonic computational design

We present an improved analytical model describing transmittance of a metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) waveguide coupled to an arbitrary number of stubs. The model is built on the well-known analogy between MDM waveguides and microwave transmission lines. This analogy allows one to establish equivalent networks for different MDM-waveguide geometries and to calculate their optical transmission spectra using standard analytical tools of transmission-line theory. A substantial advantage of our model compared to earlier works is that it precisely incorporates the dissipation of surface plasmon polaritons resulting from ohmic losses inside any metal at optical frequencies. We derive analytical expressions for transmittance of MDM waveguides coupled to single and double stubs as well as to N identical stubs with a periodic arrangement. We show that certain phase-matching conditions must be satisfied to provide optimal filtering characteristics for such waveguides. To check the accuracy of our model, its results are compared with numerical data obtained from the full-blown finite-difference time-domain simulations. Close agreement between the two suggests that our analytical model is suitable for rapid design optimization of MDM-waveguide-based compact photonic devices.

Improved transmission model for metal-dielectric-metal plasmonic waveguides with stub structure

The realization of practical on-chip plasmonic devices will require efficient coupling of light into and out of surface plasmon waveguides over short length scales. In this letter, we report on low insertion loss for polymer-on-gold dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguides end-coupled to silicon-on-insulator waveguides with a coupling efficiency of 79 ± 2% per transition at telecommunication wavelengths. Propagation loss is determined independently of insertion loss by measuring the transmission through plasmonic waveguides of varying length, and we find a characteristic surface-plasmon propagation length of 51 ± 4 μm at a free-space wavelength of λ = 1550 nm. We also demonstrate efficient coupling to whispering-gallery modes in plasmonic ring resonators with an average bending-loss-limited quality factor of 180 ± 8.

/pdf/efficient-coupling-between-dielectric-loaded-plasmonic-and-3zlcd7hshd.pdf

Efficient Coupling between Dielectric-Loaded Plasmonic and Silicon Photonic Waveguides

We develop a highly efficient approach for the modulation of photonic signals at the nanoscale, combining an ultrasubwavelength plasmonic guiding scheme with a robust electroabsorption effect in degenerate semiconductors. We numerically demonstrate an active electro-optical field-effect nanoplasmonic modulator with a revolutionary size of just 25 × 30 × 100 nm(3), providing signal extinction ratios as high as 2 at switching voltages of only 1 V. The design is compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology and allows low-loss insertion in standard plasmonic and Si-photonic circuitry.

/pdf/photonic-signal-processing-on-electronic-scales-electro-52ox0w2y0d.pdf

Photonic signal processing on electronic scales: electro-optical field-effect nanoplasmonic modulator.

In this paper, we present novel designs and analysis of ultra-compact couplers and 1 x 2 splitters based on plasmonic waveguides. Numerical simulation shows coupling efficiency up to 88% for the former one and 45% for each branch for the latter one. The proposed coupler design has the advantages of improving the alignment tolerance of the plasmonic waveguide with respect to the dielectric waveguide and broadening the spectrum response of the splitter.

Nanoplasmonic couplers and splitters

An efficient coupler between a dielectric waveguide and a plasmonic metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide is proposed, modeled, fabricated, and characterized. Based on the platform of a silicon slot waveguide, a quasi-MIM plasmonic junction is formed via e-beam lithography and lift-off process. Coupling efficiency between the silicon slot waveguide and plasmonic waveguide up to 43% is obtained after normalizing to reference waveguides at 1550 nm. This coupling scheme can be potentially used for fast optical switching and small-footprint optical modulation.

Efficient light coupling between dielectric slot waveguide and plasmonic slot waveguide

Nanoplasmonic directional couplers and Mach-Zehnder interferometers

In this paper, we experimentally show an effective method of coupling light between dielectric waveguides and metal-dielectric-metal plasmonic waveguides using an air-slot waveguide that extends into both types of waveguides. Our experimental results validate the theoretical calculation results of the proposed coupler. In addition, we investigated the sensitivity of our design to different fabrication challenges that may result in changing the width and length of the targeted optimum values in our design. Numerical simulation results show that the cut-off wavelength can be shifted by either changing the width of the dielectric or slot waveguide. The shift occurs because, as the waveguide’s width changes, the mode size changes and consequently the impedance mismatch between the dielectric and slot waveguide changes. We also found that changing the position of the air-slot waveguide with respect to the center of the dielectric waveguide resulted in a reduction in the coupling efficiency due to the reduction in the overlapped area between the mode supported by the slot waveguide and that of the dielectric waveguide.

Experimental and theoretical investigations of an air-slot coupler between dielectric and plasmonic waveguides.

We present novel design and fabrication steps of an ultracompact air-slot coupler based on plasmonic waveguides. The theoretical result at 1550 nm is about 50%. The proposed coupler operates at broad frequency range.

Rami A. Wahsheh

Papers

Nanoplasmonic couplers and splitters

Efficient light coupling between dielectric slot waveguide and plasmonic slot waveguide

Nanoplasmonic directional couplers and Mach-Zehnder interferometers

Experimental and theoretical investigations of an air-slot coupler between dielectric and plasmonic waveguides.

Nanoplasmonic Air-Slot Coupler: Design and Fabrication