Slot plasmonic waveguide based on doped-GaAs for terahertz deep-subwavelength applications

A new plasmonic waveguide for deep-subwavelength field localization at the terahertz (THz) range of frequency is proposed. GaAs with optimum doping level is used as the plasmonic material. The waveguide structure is a narrow slot in a thin GaAs film on top of the quartz substrate. The waveguide characteristics are analyzed, and its dimensions are optimized to minimize the losses. It is shown that the mode size of the proposed waveguide is less than λ/16 by λ/16. The proposed plasmonic waveguide can be a platform for numerous THz plasmonic-based integrated devices, such as integrated sensors and imagers.