Realizing vertical light coupling and splitting in nano-plasmonic multilevel circuits.

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Nanotechnology
• Optoelectronics

Background:

• Efficient light manipulation is crucial for integrated photonic circuits.
• Nanoscale plasmonic slot waveguides (PSWs) offer high light confinement.
• Vertical coupling is a key challenge in multilevel photonic integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel technique for efficient vertical coupling of light in PSWs.
• To introduce a triangular plasmonic slot waveguide rotator for this purpose.
• To propose a power divider for multilevel nano-photonic circuits.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a triangularly-shaped plasmonic slot waveguide rotator.
• Analyzing light coupling between horizontal and vertical propagation directions.
• Investigating a power divider configuration for vertically coupled light.

Main Results:

• Achieved efficient vertical coupling of light over a wide bandwidth.
• Demonstrated efficient light transfer between horizontal and vertical paths.
• Proposed a power divider to split vertically coupled light into two horizontal channels.

Conclusions:

• The triangular plasmonic slot waveguide rotator enables efficient vertical light coupling.
• This technique is suitable for multilevel nano-photonic circuit environments.
• The proposed power divider facilitates advanced photonic circuit designs.