Low bending loss characteristics of hybrid plasmonic waveguide for flexible optical interconnect

The bending loss characteristics of the hybrid plasmonic waveguide are investigated theoretically and experimentally. Simulation results showed that the guided mode is confined mainly into outer high index slab as the bending radius decreases. Thus, the radiation loss due to bending is greatly suppressed. We fabricate flexible hybrid plasmonic waveguide consisted of 5 nm-thick Au stripe and flexible multiple polymer cladding layers. The measured bending loss is lower than 1 dB/180° at a wavelength of 1310 nm for the bending radii down to 2 mm.