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Updated: May 8, 2026

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Colloidal Synthesis of Nanopatch Antennas for Applications in Plasmonics and Nanophotonics
Published on: May 28, 2016
Functional plasmonic nanocircuits with low insertion and propagation losses.
Arian Kriesch1, Stanley P Burgos, Daniel Ploss
1Institute of Optics, Information and Photonics, Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) and Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light , 91058 Erlangen, Germany.
Nano Letters
|August 22, 2013
Summary
We developed efficient plasmonic nanocircuits using optical Yagi-Uda antennas for subdiffraction directional coupling. These circuits achieve high performance with low loss, enabling advanced optical functionalities.
Area of Science:
- Plasmonics
- Nanophotonics
- Optical Engineering
Background:
- Plasmonic nanocircuits offer potential for subwavelength optical devices.
- Efficient free-space coupling to plasmonic structures remains a challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate efficient free-space optical excitation of plasmonic nanocircuits.
- To develop subdiffraction directional couplers with high performance.
Main Methods:
- Utilized optical Yagi-Uda antennas for efficient free-space coupling.
- Designed and integrated ultracompact, highly dispersive directional couplers.
- Employed surface plasmon polariton (SPP) channel waveguides.
Main Results:
- Achieved high coupling efficiency (45%) and total emission (60%) from Yagi-Uda antennas.
- Demonstrated narrow angular directivity (<40°) and low insertion loss.
- SPP waveguides exhibited propagation lengths up to 34 μm.
- Directional couplers showed 30 dB discrimination over a 200 nm bandwidth with only 0.3 dB loss.
Conclusions:
- Plasmonic nanocircuits coupled via Yagi-Uda antennas enable efficient subdiffraction directional coupling.
- The demonstrated devices offer high performance and low loss for integrated optics.
- This work paves the way for advanced nanoscale optical signal processing.

