Silicon-based active plasmonic devices for on-chip integration

The unique optical and electronic properties of graphene make possible the fabrication of novel optoelectronic devices. One of the most exciting graphene characteristics is the tunability by gating which allows one to realize active optical devices. While several types of graphene-based photonic modulators have already been demonstrated, the potential of combining the versatility of graphene with subwavelength field confinement of plasmonic waveguides remains largely unexplored. Here we report fabrication and study of hybrid graphene–plasmonic waveguide modulators. We consider several types of modulators and identify the most promising one for telecom applications. The modulator working at the telecom range is demonstrated, showing a modulation depth of >0.03 dB μm−1 at low gating voltages for an active device area of just 10 μm2, characteristics which are already comparable to those of silicon-based waveguide modulators while retaining the benefit of further device miniaturization. Our proof-of-concept results pave the way towards on-chip realization of efficient graphene-based active plasmonic waveguide devices for optical communications.

The potential of graphene in plasmonic electro-optical waveguide modulators has been investigated in detail by finite-element method modelling of various widely used plasmonic waveguiding configurations. We estimated the maximum possible modulation depth values one can achieve with plasmonic devices operating at telecom wavelengths and exploiting the optical Pauli blocking effect in graphene. Conclusions and guidelines for optimization of modulation/intrinsic loss trade-off have been provided and generalized for any graphene-based plasmonic waveguide modulators, which should help in consideration and design of novel active-plasmonic devices.

Buttcoupling is the most efficient way to excite surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waves at dielectric/metal interfaces in order to realize applications in broadband and ultra-compact integrated circuits (IOCs). We propose a reasonable waveguide structure to efficiently excite and collect the SPP waves supported in a plasmonic trench waveguide in the long-haul telecommunication wavelength range. Our simulation results show that the coupling efficiency between the dielectric strip waveguides and a plasmonic trench waveguide can be optimized, which is dominated by the zigzag propagation path length in the dielectric strip loaded on the metal substrate. It is noted that nearly a 100% coupling efficiency can be achieved when the distance between the excitation source and the plasmonic waveguide is about 6.76 μm.

The emerging field of nanophotonics1 addresses the critical challenge of manipulating light on scales much smaller than the wavelength. However, very few feasible practical approaches exist at present. Surface plasmon polaritons2,3 are among the most promising candidates for subwavelength optical confinement3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. However, studies of long-range surface plasmon polaritons have only demonstrated optical confinement comparable to that of conventional dielectric waveguides, because of practical issues including optical losses and stringent fabrication demands3,11,12,13. Here, we propose a new approach that integrates dielectric waveguiding with plasmonics. The hybrid optical waveguide consists of a dielectric nanowire separated from a metal surface by a nanoscale dielectric gap. The coupling between the plasmonic and waveguide modes across the gap enables ‘capacitor-like’ energy storage that allows effective subwavelength transmission in non-metallic regions. In this way, surface plasmon polaritons can travel over large distances (40–150 µm) with strong mode confinement (ranging from λ2/400 to λ2/40). This approach is fully compatible with semiconductor fabrication techniques and could lead to truly nanoscale semiconductor-based plasmonics and photonics. Xiang Zhang and colleagues from the University of California, Berkeley, propose a new approach for confining light on scales much smaller than the wavelength of light. Using hybrid waveguides that incorporate dielectric and plasmonic waveguiding techniques, they are able to confine surface plasmon polaritons very strongly over large distances. The advance could lead to truly nanoscale plasmonics and photonics.

Vertical directional coupling between a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) plasmonic waveguide and a conventional dielectric waveguide is investigated. The coupling length, extinction ratio, insertion loss and coupling efficiency of the hybrid coupler are analyzed. As an example, when the separation between the two waveguides is 250 nm, a maximum coupling efficiency of 73%, an insertion loss of -1.4 dB and an extinction ratio of 16 dB can be achieved at a coupling length of 4.5 microm at 1.55 microm wavelength. A particular feature of this hybrid coupler is that it is highly tolerant to the structural parameters of the plasmonic waveguide and the misalignment between the two waveguides. The performance of this hybrid coupler as a TM polarizer is also analyzed and a maximum extinction ratio of 44 dB and an insertion loss of -0.18 dB can be obtained. The application of this hybrid coupler includes the signal routing between plasmonic waveguides and dielectric waveguides in photonic integrated circuits and the polarization control between TE and TM modes. In addition, it provides an approach for efficiently exciting MIM plasmonic modes with conventional dielectric modes.

The study of the surface plasmons of noble metals has emerged as one of the most rapidly growing and dynamic topics in nanoscience. Key advances in the synthesis of noble metal nanoparticles and nanostructures have resulted in a broad variety of structures whose geometries can be controlled systematically at the nanoscale. Arising from these efforts is a new level of insight and understanding regarding the fundamental properties of localized plasmons supported by these structures, and, in particular, the properties of interacting plasmon systems. This additional insight has led to the design of plasmonic systems that support coherent phenomena, such as Fano resonances. A broad range of applications are emerging for these structures: single- nanoparticle and nanogap chemical sensors, low-loss plasmon waveguides, and active plasmonic devices and detectors. Applications in biomedicine that exploit the strong photothermal response of nanoparticle plasmons have developed and advanced into clinical trials. The Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice has been home to many of these advances. Here, we showcase a variety of functional plasmonic materials and nanodevices emerging from our individual and collaborative efforts.

A feasible optical interconnect on a silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor chip demands epitaxial growth and monolithic integration of diode lasers and optical detectors with guided wave components on a (001) Si wafer, with all the components preferably operating in the wavelength range of 1.3-1.55 μm at room temperature. It is also desirable for the fabrication technique to be relatively simple and reproducible. Techniques demonstrated in the past for having optically and electrically pumped GaAs and InP-based lasers on silicon include wafer bonding, selective area epitaxy, epitaxy on tilted substrates, and use of quantum dot or planar buffer layers. Here, we present a novel monolithic optical interconnect on a (001) Si substrate consisting of a III-nitride dot-in-nanowire array edge emitting diode laser and guided wave photodiode, with a planar SiO 2 /Si 3 N 4 dielectric waveguide in between. The active devices are realized with the same nanowire heterostructure by one-step epitaxy. The electronic properties of the InN dot-like nanostructures and mode confinement and propagation in the nanowire waveguides have been modeled. The laser, emitting at the desired wavelength of 1.3 μm, with threshold current ~350 mA for a device of dimension 50 μm × 2 mm, has been characterized in detail. The detector exhibits a responsivity ~0.1 A/W at 1.3 μm. Operation of the entire optical interconnect via the dielectric waveguide is demonstrated.

Control of the optical properties of metallic nanoparticles (NP) is realized using an electrochemical switch consisting of a thin layer of conducting polymer (CP). It is shown that the quenching of localized surface plasmon (LSP) sustained by oblate particles depends of the frequency of the LSP resonance. This effect is attributed to the variation of the CP dielectric function with wavelength. As a consequence, prolate arrays show total quenching of the LSP resonance along the major axis of the particles whereas modulation and moderate damping are observed along the minor axis. Combining electroactive conducting polymer and prolate NP makes it possible to design active plasmonic devices with anisotropic optical response upon CP switching. In the present case, such devices can be used as active filters or polarizers.

Circular arc plasmonic waveguide couplers between two-dimensional dielectric slab waveguides and plasmonic waveguides

Graphene-based plasmonic waveguide devices for electronic-photonic integrated circuit

Total internal reflection (TIR) is a ubiquitous phenomenon used in photonic devices ranging from waveguides and resonators to lasers and optical sensors. Controlling this phenomenon and light confinement are keys to the future integration of nanoelectronics and nanophotonics on the same silicon platform. We introduced the concept of relaxed total internal reflection in 2014 to control evanescent waves generated during TIR. These unchecked evanescent waves are the fundamental reason photonic devices are inevitably diffraction-limited and cannot be miniaturized. Our key design concept is the engineered anisotropy of the medium into which the evanescent wave extends thus allowing for skin depth engineering without any metallic components. In this article, we give an overview of our approach and compare it to key classes of photonic devices such as plasmonic waveguides, photonic crystal waveguides and slot waveguides. We show how our work can overcome a long standing issue in photonics nanoscale light confinement with fully transparent dielectric media.

The characteristics of plasmonic nano-slot waveguides, in terms of different metallic materials and geometries, are presented in this paper. We numerically investigage how efficiently light can be guided in straight and bend types of metallic waveguide at nanoscle. For numerical simulation the Drude model incorporated finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is used to handle the dispersive nature of the metals such as gold, silver, copper, aluminum at visible and near infra-red (IR) wavelengths. It is demonstrated that the plasmonic waveguide with nano-slot is an efficient candidate for optical interconnects at the visible and near-IR range of electromagnetic spectrum. The performance of stragiht, 90° and Z-bend nano-slot waveguides is discussed by means of transmission and near-field characteristics.

Plasmonics-based waveguiding structures can deliver unprecedented degrees of wave-matter interaction, enhancing linear and nonlinear optical processes such as spectroscopy, sensing and signal processing, all within small form-factors and staggering device density. However, the main obstacle to a wider adoption has always been the excessive losses that scale poorly with optical confinement / localization [1-6]. Also in this work we demonstrate how can one utilize composite plasmonic waveguides with unparalleled alleviation of the loss-confinement tradeoff to achieve record Purcell factors within plasmonic waveguides [6]. Also I this talk we plan to discuss a novel class of nanoscale devices that address unmet performance demands for applications in data communications [1-6]. The performance of emerging generations of high-speed, integrated electronic circuits is increasingly dictated by interconnect density and latency as well as by power consumption. To alleviate these limitations, data communications using photons has been deployed, where photonic circuits and devices are integrated on platforms compatible with conventional electronic technologies. Within the dominant platform; namely Si, dielectric waveguides confine light via total internal reflection. This imposes bounds on minimizing device dimensions and density of integration. Those bounds arise due to the diffraction limit and the cross-coupling between neighbouring waveguides. Nanoscale Plasmonic waveguides provide the unique ability to confine light within a few nanometers and allow for near perfect transmission through sharp bends as well as efficient light distribution between orthogonally intersecting junctions. With these structures as a building block, new levels of optoelectronic integration and performance metrics for athermal transceivers with achievable bandwidths in excess of 500 Gbps as will be overviewed in this talk. In addition opportunities for the role that 2D materials may pay in propelling these record performance metrics even further will be projected [2]. 4.

The mid-infrared (MIR) region is one of the most thriving spectral regions as it contains the vibrational resonances of several molecules of interest, as well as the absorption bands for hot bodies. In this work, we propose a novel dielectric waveguide that confines the light in a nanoscale air gap. This dielectric waveguide is a suitable candidate for on-chip sensing. Detailed dispersion analysis of this 3D waveguide is also provided. The effect of the refractive index change in the gap is studied and shows very high sensitivity and causes significant changes in the modal parameters. We also show that these waveguide modes exhibit plasmonic-like characteristics at the MIR region with controllable plasma frequency, without the inclusion of any metals. This waveguide is also utilized in various on-chip applications with nanoscale confinement at the MIR region.

In this chapter, we will discuss methods of electronically controlling the flow of light in optical waveguides. We will restrict our attention to devices that may be called either modulators or switches. Some of these devices are capable of performing both functions.