Longwave plasmonics on doped silicon and silicides

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Photonics

Background:

• Plasmo-electronic integrated circuits require novel materials for efficient signal propagation.
• Silicon photonics is a key area for developing integrated optical devices.
• Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) offer potential for miniaturized optical components.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and model two new plasmonic materials for silicon-based integrated circuits.
• To investigate the propagation characteristics of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on these novel materials.
• To determine the feasibility of using these materials for plasmo-electronic devices.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical modeling and dispersion calculations were performed.
• The optical properties of ion-implanted silicon and thin-layer silicides on silicon were analyzed.
• Propagation lengths and wavelength ranges for SPPs were computed.

Main Results:

• Ion-implanted silicon (n-type or p-type) supports low-loss SPP propagation from 10 to 55 microm (10^20 cm^-3) and 2.8 to 15 microm (10^21 cm^-3).
• Thin-layer silicides (Pd2Si, NiSi, PtSi, WSi2, CoSi2) on silicon enable SPP propagation in the 0.5 to 7.5 microm range with propagation lengths up to 2300 microm.
• SPP mode fields predominantly extend into the air above the plasmonic waveguides.

Conclusions:

• The proposed ion-implanted silicon and silicide materials are promising for realizing plasmo-electronic integrated circuits on silicon chips.
• These materials offer versatile wavelength operation for various integrated photonic applications.
• The findings pave the way for advanced silicon-based optical and electronic device integration.