Plasmonic waveguides based on symmetric and asymmetric T-shaped structures

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Plasmonics
• Terahertz (THz) Science and Technology
• Nanofabrication

Background:

• Plasmonic waveguides are crucial for subwavelength light confinement.
• T-shaped nanostructures offer unique optical properties.
• 3D printing enables rapid prototyping of complex nanostructures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate and characterize novel plasmonic waveguides using T-shaped structures.
• To investigate the influence of geometrical parameters on THz guided-wave transmission.
• To explore the feasibility of tapered structures for mode confinement.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of periodic T-shaped arrays in polymer resin via 3D printing.
• Gold (Au) overcoating of fabricated structures.
• Terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy for transmission measurements.
• Numerical simulations for experimental validation.

Main Results:

• Resonance frequency is primarily dependent on structure height and cap width.
• Lateral width of T-shaped structures shows minimal impact on resonance frequency.
• Tapered waveguides exhibit similar spectral properties with reduced mode size.
• Excellent agreement between experimental measurements and numerical simulations.

Conclusions:

• 3D-printed plasmonic T-shaped structures are viable for THz waveguide applications.
• Geometrical parameters can be tuned to control THz wave propagation.
• Tapered designs show promise for manipulating mode confinement in plasmonic waveguides.