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Updated: Jun 22, 2026
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Determination of the Excitation and Coupling Rates Between Light Emitters and Surface Plasmon Polaritons
Published on: July 21, 2018
Summary
New figures of merit evaluate surface plasmon waveguides by balancing light confinement against signal loss. These metrics assess common waveguide designs, aiding in selecting optimal structures for specific applications.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Nanotechnology
- Optics and Photonics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Surface plasmon waveguides are crucial for miniaturized optical devices.
- Evaluating their performance requires robust quality measures.
- Existing metrics may not fully capture the trade-offs between confinement and loss.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce novel figures of merit for assessing surface plasmon waveguide quality.
- To quantify the benefit-to-cost ratio of confinement versus attenuation.
- To compare the wavelength response of different 1-D surface plasmon waveguide configurations.
Main Methods:
- Defined three figures of merit based on confinement and attenuation.
- Investigated three distinct methods for measuring light confinement.
- One figure of merit was linked to the waveguide's quality factor.
- Derived closed-form expressions for the single metal-dielectric interface.
Main Results:
- Presented three figures of merit as quantitative quality measures.
- Assessed the wavelength-dependent performance of three common 1-D surface plasmon waveguides.
- Provided analytical solutions for the simplest waveguide structure.
Conclusions:
- The proposed figures of merit offer a comprehensive approach to evaluating surface plasmon waveguides.
- The study provides a framework for comparing different waveguide designs based on key performance indicators.
- Results facilitate the selection of optimal waveguides for integrated photonic applications.
