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Design, Fabrication, and Experimental Characterization of Plasmonic Photoconductive Terahertz Emitters
Published on: July 8, 2013
Conductor-gap-silicon plasmonic waveguides and passive components at subwavelength scale
Marcelo Wu1, Zhanghua Han, Vien Van
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2V4, Canada. mhwu@ualberta.ca
Optics Express
|July 1, 2010
Summary
New conductor-gap-silicon plasmonic waveguides offer subwavelength light confinement and efficient coupling. These compact, low-loss devices are promising for densely integrated plasmonic circuits on a silicon platform.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Nanotechnology
- Materials Science
Background:
- Silicon photonics offers a scalable platform for optical integrated circuits.
- Plasmonic waveguides enable light confinement beyond the diffraction limit.
Purpose of the Study:
- To theoretically investigate and experimentally demonstrate subwavelength conductor-gap-silicon plasmonic waveguides.
- To develop compact S-bends and Y-splitters for plasmonic circuits.
- To achieve efficient light coupling between plasmonic and silicon photonic waveguides.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical investigation of plasmonic waveguide structures.
- Experimental fabrication on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform.
- Characterization of light propagation length and coupling efficiency.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated subwavelength confinement using a thin SiO2 gap.
- Achieved a propagation length of 40 micrometers.
- Obtained 80% coupling efficiency between plasmonic and silicon photonic waveguides.
Conclusions:
- Conductor-gap-silicon plasmonic devices offer compact size and low loss.
- Efficient coupling and CMOS-compatible fabrication make them suitable for integrated plasmonic circuits.
