Integrated Vivaldi plasmonic antenna for wireless on-chip optical communications.

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Plasmonics
• Antenna Theory

Background:

• Optical communication systems require efficient antennas for inter- and intra-chip data transfer.
• Existing antenna designs may not meet the demands for high gain and broad bandwidth in the C-band.
• Plasmonic antennas offer potential for miniaturization and enhanced performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and analyze a novel hybrid optical plasmonic Vivaldi antenna.
• To achieve high gain and large bandwidth operation in the 1550 nm wavelength range (C-band).
• To evaluate the antenna's suitability for point-to-point optical communication.

Main Methods:

• Design of a hybrid optical plasmonic Vivaldi antenna fed by a silicon waveguide.
• Full-wave electromagnetic simulations to analyze antenna performance.
• Near-to-far field transformation for parameter extraction.
• Verification using the Friis transmission equation for simulated short links.

Main Results:

• The proposed antenna operates effectively in the standard C telecommunication band (1550 nm).
• The antenna exhibits high gain and a large operational bandwidth.
• The radiation pattern is optimized for point-to-point communication, with a main lobe along the antenna axis.
• Simulations confirmed the accuracy of the derived antenna parameters.

Conclusions:

• The hybrid optical plasmonic Vivaldi antenna is a promising solution for high-performance optical communication.
• Its characteristics are well-suited for both inter- and intra-chip optical interconnects.
• The design validates the use of hybrid plasmonic structures for advanced optical antennas.